DESPITE the economic downturn, fresh graduate Tan Peiling had no problems looking for a job. The 23-year-old found employment a month after graduating in mid-April this year.
Miss Tan, who graduated from the Singapore Management University with a Bachelor of Science (Economics) and a second major in Corporate Communications, was recruited by Citibank Singapore (Citi) under its one-year Citi Banking Trainee Programme.
She said: 'I thought that there would be fewer jobs on offer or that it would take me longer to find one.'
But her job hunt proved more smooth-sailing than she had anticipated. She applied for 10 jobs, and received the offer from Citi three weeks after she had applied.
The Citi Banking Trainee Programme is supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Finance Graduate Immersion Programme (FGIP).
The FGIP was introduced to encourage financial institutions to provide fresh graduates with industry and research attachments during this period to develop talent in preparation for the upturn.
Apart from Citi, a number of financial institutions have signed on to the FGIP, including DBS, UOB, OCBC and Standard Chartered Bank.
Miss Tan said she had found out about the programme via word-of-mouth.
She said: 'My friend, who'd previously worked in my department, told me what the job entails. I'd always wanted to work in a bank, so I didn't want to miss this opportunity.'
Trainees are deployed across the bank's corporate, consumer and private banking departments, and may be trained in front, middle or back office operations.
Miss Tan is now a Relationship Management trainee in the Corporate Banking department.
She said: 'The learning curve has been steep because I've had to learn about the systems and processes of the bank, and pick up finance terminology from scratch.
'But I've received a lot of on-the-job training. Citi is a great place for a fresh graduate as the people here are very motivated, and you can learn a lot if you take the initiative.
At the end of the programme, trainees may be offered full-time positions.
Fresh graduates who prefer to create employment opportunities for themselves can turn to SPRING Singapore's Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Startups (YES! Startups) for first-time entrepreneurs.
Launched last November, the scheme helps provide youths under the age of 26 with the necessary start-up capital to turn innovative business ideas into reality.
The scheme has helped recent Nanyang Technological University (NTU) graduates, Miss Fan Shufen and Miss Chen Yijun, both 23, to start their own company, E-thermnity, with two other schoolmates.
E-thermnity was granted funding of $50,000 from YES! Startups to develop a line of new and improved milk bottles.
The group decided to improve on milk bottles available on the market for a school project in the third year of their Bachelor of Science in Material Engineering (Hons) course.
Miss Fan said: 'The problem with current milk bottles made of polycarbonide is that they leach a toxic chemical after a prolonged period of use, say after six months, or when the bottles are scratched when they are washed.
'Studies showed that this chemical induces hyperactivity in infants and, in worst-case scenarios, neural damage.'
E-thermnity's milk bottles are made with a durable and non-toxic material. The improved milk bottle will also feature a built-in temperature indicator.
Miss Chen said: 'We coated the exterior of the milk bottles with a thermal ink that changes colour based on the temperature of the milk.
'When the bottle turns green, the temperature of the milk is just right. If the bottle is red, the milk's too hot; if it's blue, the milk's too cold. It's very intuitive.'
The group came up with a business plan for their product and entered the NTU Business Plan Competition '08.
They made it to the finals and had to set up a booth at a mock venture capitalist fair to promote their product.
That was when representatives from SPRING Singapore invited them to apply for YES! Startups funding.
Applicants to the scheme receive $4 from SPRING Singapore - up to $50,000 per venture - for every $1 that they raise through self-funding or school-funding or via a third-party. YES! Startups is available over a five-year period.
E-thermnity came in second and received a cash prize of $6,000 and another $500 for the Best Video Award.
The group then won the first prize of $10,000 in the Startup@Singapore business plan competition organised by the National University of Singapore in May.
They injected a total of $12,500 into the company and received $50,000 from SPRING Singapore, which is also putting the group in touch with patent lawyers and prototype manufacturers.
Of the 64 YES! Startups applications received so far, 17ventures have been approved.
- The New Paper
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