C A M P U S U P D AT E S
Training To Take On Tomorrow NUS seeks to boost the future-readiness of students and graduates with a new digital skills marketplace and networking platform.
STUDENTS FROM THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE (NUS) will soon be able to offer their skills and talents for hire, and receive alerts on internship opportunities at companies keen to engage them for short-term job assignments. In addition, they can look forward to greater connectivity with the University’s alumni and tap on their wealth of knowledge and experience as they chart their career journey. These innovations through new digital platforms — the Internship-As-A-Service (IAAS) and conNectUS — are the latest offerings from the University as it seeks to boost the future-readiness of NUS students and graduates and prepare them for the fast-changing workplaces of tomorrow. The two platforms were launched on 28 January by Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, at the Kent Ridge campus, where industry partners, students and alumni shared with him their experiences and features of the platforms.
NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye (Science ’85) said, “In today’s rapidlyevolving business landscape, it is vital that our students and graduates remain nimble and constantly reinvent themselves. These new digital platforms — the IAAS and conNectUS — will enhance our suite of future-ready offerings for them, which include lifelong learning, interdisciplinary learning, internship opportunities and career guidance programmes. They can get an early start in building their career journeys by tapping on the gig economy to market their talents to industry, while building global networks and opportunities with NUS alumni in Singapore and across the world.”
PROFILING SKILLS AND TALENTS IN A CONNECT ED MARKETP LACE Led by NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates (NUS CFG) and NUS Enterprise, IAAS is designed as a skills marketplace to provide NUS students with the ability to
self-market their skills and talents, such as programming, data analysis, graphic design, music composition, copywriting and more, to potential employers. The platform also connects companies which can engage this talent pool and offer internships or “gigs” (short-term jobs or freelance work) such as video-editing, translation and digital marketing projects. For a start, more than 60 industry partners — ranging from multinational corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups, including companies such as Baxter Singapore, Oracle, Grab, Invigilo and Augmentus — have come onboard the platform which went “live” in early January this year. The platform currently has over 400 projects available. Among the key benefits of IAAS is the expansion of opportunities and flexibility for students, who can now embark on short-stint internships and projects. This is in addition to the longerterm structured internship programmes that students may have through their
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