FSLA 2020 | Group Award: Ho Zhi Hui and Felix Tan, Skilio Industry Immersion Programme (SIIP)
FASS Student Leadership Award 2020 (Group Category) recipients Ho Zhi Hui and Felix Tan share with us their reasons for establishing Skilio and what they have been doing to make it increasingly more helpful to jobseekers.
Could you tell us about Skilio Industry Immersion Programme (SIIP) and your motivations for initiating it?
As part of the Skilio Industry Immersion Programme, the Skilio team helped match students with short term industry immersion experiences in Singaporean companies/organisations. On top of that, Skilio provided our Skilio portfolio account free charge to all participating students to track their employability skills growth during these industry immersion experiences. Skilio wanted students to gain exposure to the working environment, and build up their network and skillsets in the spirit of changing economic paradigms, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Skilio Industry Immersion Programme provided students with an attachment opportunity lasting 1 month, to grant them the flexibility to explore and find their passion areas.
What was the impact of your project?
The Skilio team had a total of 40 companies, 82 projects and 225 participating students who have joined us on this journey of employability skill development and industry exposure.
What challenges did your group face while working on it and what motivated you to keep going?
Adapting to the new work-from-home norm with a remote team was challenging, but it also taught us how to manage such a shift in working environment and what the other partner companies were experiencing as well. It was also the first time running a project like this, and with the relatively lack of experience, we had to learn how to manage expectations of the stakeholders (students, employers and team members). Nevertheless, the increasing uptake of each cohort and the words of encouragement from our stakeholders kept us going!
Are there any recent developments or updates to your project?
Two years down, the Skilio team is still working on supporting students with the school-to-work transition. With skillsets that students have acquired in school, the Skilio team hopes to move beyond the traditional proxy of grades in judging one's potential contributions to the workforce.
Are there any other projects you have worked/are working on?
Currently, we are working on building the largest skills-based Gen Z talent community to support them in their school-to-work transition with their employability skillets.
What are your fondest memories of NUS?
My fondest memories of NUS were the times I made mistakes, and realised how there were mentors who took time off to give me constructive criticism - be it in an academic context or in an extra-curricular context. Looking back, those were the times when I had the most room for mistakes, time to grow and an nurturing environment to tolerate the errors which came with inexperience.
What have you all been up to since you graduated from NUS?
The team has still been working on growing Skilio and touching the lives of more jobseekers out there!