In a bid to reinvent myself, I had decided a few months ago that I needed to learn new skills. An old dog needs to learn new tricks to survive in this ever-changing world, else I will be left behind. In a happy coincidence, the government has also finally realized that there are a lot of older displaced PMETs like myself that has a lot of work experience but encountering an ever increasingly challenging work environment as we age. Companies prefer youth over experience, costs before long-term profits and greater perceived hunger of the millennials versus Gen X. Hence there has been a big push in the skillsfuture initiative, where PMETs like me are encouraged to sign up for courses at a heavily subsidized rate to learn new skills.
The first one I signed up with 3 good buddies was more of a fun one which we discovered online (The science and business of wine – free, after all the subsidies :-). The 2 months of Monday night classes were really memorable which we will probably talk about in many years to come.
The second one was on a more serious note – Starting a small business ($81 after subsidies). I am halfway through this now. It is a good crash course to help a newbie like me avoid common mistakes when starting a business. But it was more about F&B as the trainer has the relevant background experience. It was interesting to see that my coursemates were around the same age group as myself, all thinking about plan B. One interesting observation – there were about 7 (out of 17) who were from the education sector.
The third one that I had just started this week was the one that impressed me the most. It made me feel like a student again. This was a 6 months Part 1 course that will eventually earn me a Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics. The Polytechnic even had a briefing session 2 weeks before the start for all students taking the Specialist Diploma courses. There were probably a few hundred attendees. I found out that the one I was taking had overwhelming demand (300 applied for 120 places) and that they had decided to open up another new batch in Nov. It was very professionally conducted and each of us even had a student matriculation card for the school library and tech support to help us configure our laptops for classes and e-learning lessons. The school is really progressive and will even kick-start a Fintech course early next year. Another one that I can apply…
The first class started this Monday and I met my other 29 colleagues for the first time. The group was pretty diverse, from sectors like programming/technology, operations, financial (front/middle/back offices) and there was a wide age range. I think I was one of the oldest there… It seemed quite daunting to me at first, given my lack of technical skills compared to the millennials who are more tech savvy. Though there are no exams, this course will have a lot of project and assessment work.
In the second class on Thursday, we were briefed on the project work required for the next 2 terms. We had to form a team of 4 and my team has quite a good mix – programmer, operations, consultancy and marketing experiences.
The evening classes have broadened my mind to endless possibilities as I cross my half-time period. The fear of embarking on new things and taking risks which comes with age has subsided. The brave new world is not as scary as it looks. Happy Halloween!!
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