I concluded a 6-month full-time virtual classroom program recently, courtesy of government subsidies. I wrote about it last week as that chapter of my lifelong learning journey closes. What’s next for me now? By writing this down in my blog this week, I hope to crystallize my thoughts and develop a new game plan going forward.
Before I start, it would be much clearer if I explained how I got to where I am now. This would help set the framework for my next steps.
I left my last full-time job in Oct 2017, after a disastrous episode of trying to get back into the banking rat race. Upon starting this new role in Nov 2016, the supervisor that had hired me lost his job in Feb 2017. Things didn’t work out for me with the new boss and we agreed to part ways shortly after.
I then stumbled onto the world of part-time Treasury consultancy work by chance and started to be more open to contract work. An ex-colleague asked me to help him with a Myanmar company as a part-time consultant and I began my monthly trips to Yangon starting from Jan 2018. Since then, I have done a number of other contract work for the last 3 years. My ex-evil banker days had also afforded me a relatively comfortable financial base for retirement to let my career take a backseat. I cannot imagine myself going into a rat race again with political animals trying to kill you at every turn. I came to accept the fact that my halftime journey had begun and I would have to deal with it accordingly.
I knew that I needed to refocus my energies on something else which would have a long runway that I can execute. One of the ways I read in a number of retirement help books that kept being repeated was to never stop learning. With the government Skillsfuture program that started in 2015, I decided that I should embark on my lifelong learning path.
It started in Jul 2017 during my gardening leave. I encouraged a group of friends to sign up for a fun 2 months course on “The Science and Business of Wine”. It opened up my eyes to the big, wide world of learning. Initially, I took anything that interested me. There was “Starting a small business”, Aquaponics and “How to read a financial statement”. Then more serious stuff like overseas trips to Hangzhou for the Alibaba e-commerce training and Blockchain in Seoul. There were also a number of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) with certification that I took. I made use of the unlimited 90% subsidies given to citizens above 40 years of age. It was a way to take back some of the tax dollars I have paid over my working life.
Given that I was not in a full-time job by then, I plunged into some serious long term student commitment and took up 1 year of night classes to eventually earn a Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics. It felt great when I wore the graduation gown at the graduation ceremony in Mar 2018.
My focus had gradually gravitated me towards new technology like AI, Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Big Data – Fintech’s ABCD terminology. With the advent of Covid and its disastrous effect on job security, the authorities started to conceptualize modules with the private sector called SGUnited to help mid-career people switch to the new technologies.
This is where I took up IBM’s AI module in Feb 2021 which I had just recently completed in Aug. Never had I done this classroom training with projects and exams totally online in my life, having only met my classmates only once physically. I guess an old dog needs to learn new tricks.
Where do I go from here now? I kinda like being a full-time student and to continue to learn new skills to further sharpen my saw. It was timely that another new initiative from the Institue of Banking and Finance came up around this time which I encouraged my classmates to apply to. There are a total of 10 specialization routes with internships attached. I applied for 5 of them and am currently waiting for the selection process to play itself out. Successful candidates will be given an offer by Oct and the program will start in Dec for either 12 or 18 months, depending on the technology area. https://www.ibf.org.sg/programmes/Pages/TFIP.aspx
Depending on how things turn out, I hope I can get one of them eventually. The competition looks fierce and it’s a bit messy at the moment as this is the first time IBF is organizing this program. Let’s see how things turn out.
There are a few more backup plans I intend to initiate, just in case. There is a 2 months full-time Digital Marketing program which I am interested in that is being offered. https://form.gov.sg/#!/609555e30142ca0011975f77
Microsoft is also working with the Generation S’pore initiative to start a Business Intelligence and Data Analysis course in Dec which I have expressed my interest https://singapore.generation.org/programs/business-intelligence-and-data-analyst/ .
Nvidia is also working on an AI Innovation and Training program that has a preview session next week which I had registered for https://www.rp.edu.sg/ace/short-course/Detail/nvidia-ai-innovation-and-training-programme?utm_source=Mothership&utm_medium=advertorial&utm_campaign=SOI-Nvidia.
Google also has a new program that includes an internship which I also had expressed interest in https://grow.google/intl/ALL_sg/skillsignitionsg/#?career–ready-with-google_activeEl=career–learning-plans
But some of the courses above may be limited by the fact that one can only take an SGUnited course once and I had already done that for the IBM one. But never say never and I will just try them until I hit a brick wall.
I always believe that when one door closes behind you, many new doors will open in front of you. That has been my case for the last 4 years. It requires proactive planning ahead and one cannot remain still and do nothing. If you do not plan, you plan to fail.
Being optimistic and staying positive helps too. We must not give up but count our blessings every day. There is much to be happy about in this life even in the midst of Covid. The Man upstairs has given us much to be joyful about. Once you are focused on actionable plans, things will eventually work out and it is not for the lack of trying – so says the guy who did 60+ one on one job interviews in 2012 😉 #StayingHappyandHealthy
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