By Calista Chong
Hi there! I am a History and Politics undergraduate at the University of Oxford and I am on the Enterprise Singapore Global Executive Scholarship.
In this article, I will discuss my reasons why I chose the scholarship; my three-month summer internship experience this year; and end by demystifying some questions about the scholarship.
Why did I choose the Enterprise Singapore Global Executive scholarship?
I chose the ESG scholarship because the nature of work aligned with my career outlook. Further, the organisational culture is very positive from my personal experience. I understand that a career at Enterprise Singapore allows you to gain insight into international business and liaise with business leaders from diverse backgrounds.
This appealed to me as (I like to think that) I am a ‘people person’. Forming relationships with SMEs, trade associations and other important stakeholders enables me to see my impact in a much more tangible way. ESG may be a governmental statutory board, but ESG has the dynamism of the private sector, while also contributing to the meaningful mission of creating better jobs for our people. (Yes, it sounds like I’m romanticising this a bit but it is important that you identify with the larger mission of the organisation at which you would spend two to five years of your life!)
Moreover, the scholarship bond gives me the opportunity to work abroad for a period of time, to see more of the world and experience different work cultures. You may be rotated to the ‘Global Markets’ division during the Management Associate Programme, and dispatched to an Overseas Centre (OC) when you have gained a better understanding of the organisation. Even if you do not get posted overseas within the period of your scholarship bond, the organisation is very supportive of scholars learning languages and you will likely be able to obtain funding for language courses (though it is subject to approval).
More significantly, the people whom I have met at Enterprise Singapore have been very kind and approachable. The scholarship officer linked me up with an alumni at my university to provide me with an additional perspective, when I was still deciding between the scholarship offers that I had received. When COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the UK, the same scholarship officer worked with colleagues who were based in the London OC to facilitate my return back to Singapore, amidst fears that there would be a nation-wide lockdown. It was reassuring to have had such supportive mentors, which I believe speaks volumes about ESG’s organisational culture.
Summer Internship Experience
Scholars undertake a twelve-week internship at ESG HQ (Singapore) after their first year of university. I was assigned to Corporate Planning, which was under ‘Capability Programmes and Planning’. You can refer to ESG’s organisation chart here.
My main project was to research and propose key metrics that can be adopted by Enterprise Singapore in the medium to long term. This project was a refreshing change for someone who has only acquainted herself with essay crises after three terms of Oxford. Regrettably, I have no pictures of my wonderful team to share, but here are some snapshots of the fruits of my labour!
It was through this internship that I discovered Canva, the graphic design website, and evidently I had too much fun with it!
Another highlight of my stint was attending the organisation’s Mid-Year Review (coordinated by Corporate Planning), where the various divisions took stock of their work in the first two quarters of 2020 and identified opportunities and challenges for Singapore’s enterprises. Besides, having done Model UN at school, I was excited to learn about Corporate Planning’s engagement with ASEAN and South Korea. I also had the opportunity to attend external webinars organised by the US-ASEAN Business Council and also a Mid-Term Review of the MPAC 2025.
During these three months, I was exposed to an incredible breadth of work that Corporate Planning did. I was also very lucky to have had a cool ‘buddy’ assigned to mentor me. We learnt a lot from each other - she taught me ESG-related acronyms while I explained Internet slang to her, for example. On a more serious note, one thing that I realised from my internship experience was the sheer diversity of work that ESG covers across the entire business value chain. It would be quite hard to get bored working at ESG!
How do I apply for the Enterprise Singapore Global Executive Scholarship?
If you are interested in international business and identify with ESG’s mission of building and growing stronger enterprises, apply for the scholarship here! The early cycle is open till 15 November 2020 and the regular cycle opens on the day of the A-Level results release, and will close in March 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Will I be disadvantaged in the application process if I take a non-business related degree course?
Nope! All non-business related degrees are supported, except pharmacy, dentistry, law, architecture and nursing and equivalent specialised courses. Some were initially skeptical of my decision to take the Enterprise Singapore scholarship, as they (understandably) wonder about the relevance of History and Politics to business. I’d say that there is ample opportunity for arts and humanities majors to apply their communication, research and critical thinking skills in their daily work, just like how STEM majors can put their analytical and numerical reasoning skills to good use as well.
In the current cohort of undergraduate scholars, there are not only Economics undergraduates, but also people studying Language and Culture and Data Science. This reflects the importance that Enterprise Singapore (ESG) accords to diversity of thought.
The ESG Scholarship Ceremony in 2019, when we were still able to congregate in groups larger than 5, which really seems like an eternity ago!
Are there tips for acing the application process?
The application process generally consists of an online component, individual and group presentations, and a final interview with the board. It will be helpful to have a basic grasp of business concepts and a general level of commercial awareness. This will come in handy when you are applying contextual knowledge to case studies. I recommend reading through your Economics notes (if you take the subject) or keeping abreast of the latest business news via Financial Times, the Economist or Reuters. Just spend 10 minutes a day reading business-related news and it will do wonders.
It will be good to learn brief facts about neighbouring markets (i.e. Southeast Asia) and economic heavyweights like China and the United States, but you absolutely do not have to memorise statistics! Being well-prepared for the interview will boost your confidence and possibly help you set questions or case studies in context.
More importantly, you should do background research on the organisation - their website or features on Straits Times will be a good place to start. To prove that you are a good fit, you must first show them that you are interested in joining the organisation. It conveys your sincerity and, as cheesy as it sounds, attitude does matter more than aptitude in this case!
This photo was taken at the launch of the Enterprise Leadership Transformation Programme in November 2020. It is always useful to keep up-to-date with the organisation’s recent policies and initiatives! (Source: Straits Times)
I would also advise you to be professional and confident. Punctuality, for one, is key (can’t use traffic as an excuse if the interview is online)! It is recommended to have a general response to standard questions like ‘Why did you apply to this scholarship?’ and ‘What are your strengths and weaknesses?’. There is no need to plan your answers down to a tee, but preparing for these questions will allow you to keep your composure and make your answers more fluent. Attempt a ‘mock interview’ with a school senior, close friend or film yourself answering general interview questions! This way, you can be more aware of your micro gestures, and work on the way you present yourself.
You may be reading this while feeling ambivalent about your future career path or anxious about funding your studies abroad. Let me reassure you that you are definitely not the only one who is feeling this way. I hope this article has shed light on what ESG is like ‘from the inside’. I may have answered some of your questions, so now it’s my turn to leave you with some food for thought.
Do my career goals square with the career trajectory offered by the organisation?
Why do I want to work in the civil service?
Am I genuinely interested in the organisation’s line of work?
If you have made it to the end of this article, kudos to you and all the best!
Comentários