The recent U Future Leaders Summit by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) was organised to prepare participants for the future by broadening their perspectives on Singapore’s dynamic digital landscape. The one-day conference saw over 1,200 participants and we’ve distilled many gems from the distinguished speakers from companies like Microsoft and LinkedIn for your easy reference below.
Jaclyn Lee – Senior Director, Human Resources and Organisation Development of SUTD
Be active on social media as the social media space is the way to go. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, please go and set up one. You need to put yourself out there and be visible.
Networking is also very important. Network a ton! Get to know as many people because you never know where your networks are going to take you. You should always look out for opportunities to network, such as conferences.
Jessica Tan – Managing Director Microsoft
One big skill is the ability to collaborate, being comfortable collaborating and communicating.
4 essential skills that you have to pick up:
- You have to able to be clear and focused – clarity
- You have to prioritise
- Being able to innovate
- Communicating
But it is also not just about the skills that you pick up, but your ideas and how to apply them.
Olivier Legrand – Managing Director of LinkedIn
Establish your professional brand – tell your story, tell who you are. And use social media to do this, whether on LinkedIn or other platforms. But in order to do that well on LinkedIn, the first thing you need to do is have a profile picture! It’s been proven that profiles with a picture get 20 times more chance for your profile to be viewed.
Elaine Yew – Managing Partner (Singapore) of Egon Zehnder
I think there is a natural hesitation about what is seen to be self-promotion but as one gets more senior, things like communicating, engaging and sharing ideas become important.
The adaptability to show yourself in one way in some situations and show yourself in another way while being authentic but showing different aspects of yourself.
Moving ahead
There are actually many initiatives to help PMES, one is NTUC’s Future Jobs, Skills and Training (FJST) that aims to identify high growth sectors and develop programmes to help workers plug these skill gaps to be prepared for tomorrow’s jobs. An Innovation Exchange Programme (IEX) that allows local PMEs to get insights from visiting innovation labs will also be rolled out next year. That said, it’s very important for working people to embrace a mindset of learning and take onus of their continual upskilling. With many of these initiatives in place and great tips from top business leaders to remain relevant, we hope the sage advice will come in useful in helping you land yourself a job of tomorrow.
