FASS 2.0 Experiences – NUS Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

Discover Our Students’ FASS 2.0 Experiences

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Elijah Wong: Connect the Dots to Develop a Purposeful Career Plan

Mark Soh: Attain Hard (and Heart) Skills to Stay Relevant

Connect the Dots to Develop a Purposeful Career Plan

Meet Elijah Wong
Banking and Finance Track

"Transitioning from being a student to having a full-time career can be daunting, but it does not have to be that way. FASS 2.0 is a good place to bridge that gap as we start exploring our career options. By engaging with different people from various modules in the programme, I was able to put together pieces of the puzzle to see the bigger picture of what my early career would look like."

Elijah Wong, Economics Major

Why did you choose to study Economics?

Economics is an area of study that I first took an interest in by wanting to understand how the macroeconomy works and the implications that policies have on the state, firms, and individuals. As a social science, it has taught me to view things through a different lens and break down complex problems into bite-sized bits. Developing both the macroeconomic intuition and documented problem-solving skills are primary reasons why I chose to study this major.

Do you think FASS 2.0 complemented your major? If so, how?

How did you do your planning to ensure you are able to fulfil the requirements before graduation?

Building on my internship experience in the Financial and Payment Technology Industry, I decided to pursue FASS 2.0 Industry Track – Banking & Finance. I sat down with my career advisor, Ms Leng Leng, to map out my graduation plan. She was instrumental in the preparation and internship hunt, for which I am grateful for the guidance given to me. By recommending suitable internships for my consideration, I was then able to quickly apply and secure interview sessions for my internship applications.

In addition, I will also like to specially mention Ms Chau Woon, the program manager for FASS 2.0. She not only provided strong support between NUS and my internship company but also ensured that I was able to complete the required assessments for the programme in a timely manner.

What was the most interesting aspect of doing FASS 2.0?

Apart from the flagship FASS Internship Programme, I found that FAS3550: FASS Industry Seminar was particularly insightful. Being able to gain thought leadership from various industries (FMCG, FinTech, Logistics) business leaders has allowed me to make an informed decision on the career path that I was exploring. Besides being an attentive audience, we also had the chance to interact with the invited speakers and network with other like-minded individuals which I found was personally helpful.

Do you have any tips or advice for students who may be interested in pursuing the programme?

With the changing job landscape in mind, my advice to juniors will be to first discover the sectors that you are passionate about, find out the skillsets and tools required for you to be successful and keep honing them. Next, find yourself a suitable mentor, as part of the FAS3551: FASS Capstone Career Preparation course, who can provide you with career guidance and point you in the right direction. With the relevant industrial skills and knowledge, you will be able to secure your ideal internship.

Attain Hard (and Heart) Skills to Stay Relevant

Meet Mark Soh
Public Administration Track

"The program exposed me to what the industry needed. This gave me a sense of direction as to what software skills I had to learn and how to better position myself when applying for jobs. It was a more purpose driven approach towards learning such hard skills because I knew exactly what type of coding I needed to learn and where to focus my attention on."

Mark Soh, Psychology Major

What do you enjoy about Psychology?

I actually find doing research the most interesting part about psychology. So this means running data analysis and doing literature reviews. It might sound really boring, but it is nice to see how arguments and viewpoints develop and how the data that I have collected has an impact on the people around me. As of now, I really enjoy doing research within social psychology just because I like to see how our interaction with people affects the behaviour that we tend towards.

What motivated you to pursue the FASS 2.0 Industry Tracks Programme?

Do you think FASS 2.0 complemented your major? If so, how?

Yes it did. The thing about psychology is that we are very focused on developing the soft skills. Not that they are bad, it is just that many companies want evidence of both hard skills and soft skills. FASS 2.0 gave me the bridge to be proficient in both my hard and soft skills. It also gave me relevant industry knowledge about what hard skills to pick up, especially since the industry standards change over time, and often times faster than what our University syllabus can adapt to. FASS 2.0 helps me to stay industrially relevant and at the same time pursue the knowledge that I want to gain in psychology.

What was the most interesting aspect of doing FASS 2.0?

What tips and advice do you have for students who are interested in the programme?

The internship course is probably the most important course in the programme. Do your best to talk to your managers and supervisors. They can really provide a very different perspective when it comes to searching for a job and what you want to look out for in your career. It is also useful to also observe the effort that your supervisors or colleagues put into their work to get an idea of how working life would be like. This is because I realised that we spend a lot of time preparing to get a job but we do not spend time to prepare from this transition from University to work.