On 26 May 2020, Singapore’s then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat announced a $2 billion SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package to strengthen employment and training support for workers in Singapore. The package consists of a new SGUnited Mid-Career Traineeships scheme which targets to provide 4,000 traineeships that specifically caters to the needs of mid-career individuals. Our latest hire in Clicks®, Joseph, saw great potential in the programme and capitalised on this golden opportunity.
As a Sports Wellness & Services diploma holder, Joseph has always been interested in programming and dreamt to become a programmer/app developer one day. When he read about the announcement for the SGUnited programme, he knew this was his chance to finally fulfil his dream. Without much hesitation, he signed up for the programme administered by RACE and completed it in June of this year.
With his newly obtained competencies and a national level accreditation under his belt, Joseph began his quest of executing an almost impossible manoeuvre for his career. His confidence was further boosted when he started to secure interviews for programmer related jobs. Within 2 months of completing the programme, Joseph landed himself a job at Clicks® as a Jr App Developer.
“To be honest, Joseph’s resume was not very impressive as the only part that is related to programming is the SGUnited programme which he had completed in Jun’21. However, as this was a national-level accreditation, it gave us the confidence that he should possess the competencies needed to be a programmer. The management of Clicks® had a discussion and we decided to give him a chance for an interview even though he has no actual work experience in programming. To our surprise, not only does he possess the necessary knowledge, he also has great attitude and a very crucial skill in today’s context – learning agility. This set him apart from other applicants for the role. We later find out that one of the reason for this is that apart from ensuring the participants of the programme obtain the necessary skills and knowledge, RACE made it a point to inculcate the right mindset. This, to me, is the most important in today’s ever-changing world. I must say, RACE did a great job here in imparting the crucial competencies needed for a successful career switch.” – Chee Yeng (Founder, Clicks®).
“I took up a course from RACE under SGUnited Programme to further enhance my technical skills and get myself exposed to new areas of engineering. During the course, RACE has taught me the fundamentals of programming and how we can adjust our mindset to be a better programmer. Upon learning some C and Python languages from RACE I was amazed by how we can single-handedly develop a program. From there my programming journey begins, I was highly motivated, eager to learn and started trying out different projects to further learn and challenge myself altogether.
RACE was a stepping stone for me to really venture out in to the industry, without RACE I wouldn't know how or where to get started. The course has equipped us with all the necessary skills, both soft and hard to prepare us for what is to come next.” - Joseph (Jr App Developer, Clicks®)
To find out more about Joseph’s performance during the programme and also about the course, Clicks® reached out to RACE and they kindly agreed to provide their inputs.
About RACE*
Robotics Automation Centre of Excellence (RACE) is an independent training academy powered by PBA Group, a local Robotics & Automation enabler. RACE is committed to the education and promotion of robotics, automation and digital manufacturing technologies. It differentiates by directly inducting talents into the deep technology industry through mentorship and applied training, drawing on the real-world project experience of its technology partners. RACE partners with a valuable network of core technology owners, solution providers, trade associations, government agencies, research communities and academia within and beyond Singapore.
About SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme – Company Training (SCT)
As the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies increases globally, demand for Robotics & Automation talent will continue to grow. Robotics Automation Centre of Excellence (RACE), an independent training academy powered by PBA Robotics, offers the 6-month SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme – Company Training (SCT) for R&A, a training programme that equips you with skills to be future-ready for a career in Robotics & Automation.
Created for Singapore Citizens and PRs, SCT is a full-time training programme conducted in a modular format. The course fees have been heavily subsidised and trainees will receive a monthly allowance of $1,500. Trainees will also receive career advisory and employment assistance in their search for relevant jobs that will utilise their newly acquired skills.
About Autonomous Mobile Robotics
The 6-month course is divided into two phases: 3 months of Training phase and another 3 months of Project phase. This course dives into Autonomous Mobile Robotics (AMR), learning core programming languages in C++ and Python, as well as Robotic Operating Systems (ROS). On top of that, they also earn analytical programming skills and embedded programming skills, as well as soft skills such as project management, design thinking and career coaching.
During the projects phase, students will be working on project exercises to further deepen their skills.
*All information relating to RACE and its programme is provided by RACE.