In professional circles, ‘Networking’ is an activity that presents opportunities. When it comes to career opportunities, the importance of including one or more headhunters in your personal network is widely acknowledged.

The Executive Search Networking Event, Visible + Connection = Opportunities Tomorrow, organised by MINDEF CTRC in partnership with STEE saw the participation of leading executive search firms from Kelly Selection, Lee Hecht Harrison, Manpower, etc; HR professionals from Certis Cisco, The Ascott, etc; and senior SAF officers.

Alongside the networking opportunities, participants had an interactive discussion on “How to work the headhunter scene?” and “How to brand yourself in social media?” with the guest speakers - Ms Karen Leong, Director of The Leadership Company and Mr Andrew Chow, Brand Strategist and Trainer.

 

 

In a competitive job market, it is always necessary to spruce up your CV in order to stand out from the crowd. Being a member of a professional body or an association is one such way of doing that. 

Professional associations allow intelligent, like-minded professionals who are immersed in the inner workings of the industry to network and gain access to a variety of opinions and ideas. Another often overlooked advantage of joining a professional organisation is the advice and back-up of these professionals. 

Our recent SAF Networking Event: ‘Get Connected! with Professional Bodies’, held at the Amara Hotel, provided our officers with the platform to meet and exchange contacts and information with invited representatives of professional bodies and associations representing various industries/sectors, namely: the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; Asian Professional Security Association - APSA; Asia Speakers’ Bureau; Community Group for Global Speakers Federation; Facilitators Network Singapore and the International Association for Counter Terrorism & Security Professionals.

Mr James Kwek, Head of MINDEF Career Transition Resource Centre, shares his thoughts on this event, “This initiative offered our transiting officers the opportunity to be connected with subject matter experts, allowing them to learn from these experts, and perhaps even set up some sort of a mutual referral system.”

We also had guest speakers, Mr David Lim and Mr Jonathan Kwan, both industry experts in their own right. Mr David Lim is the first Singaporean to receive the Certified Speaking Professional accreditation - the highest accreditation for professional speakers, earned by fewer than 10 per cent of the 5,000 strong members of the Global Speakers Federation. Mr Lim highlighted the various professional bodies in the professional speaking industry and the support provided to their members. He also shared with the officers how joining a professional body has contributed to his success today as the business owner of Everest Motivation Team, a coaching firm that has been widely profiled in The Wall Street Journal and The Straits Times.

The second speaker, Mr Jonathan Kwan, is an external career advisor for Singapore Management University and National University of Singapore. During his session, Mr Kwan reinforced how networking provides the most productive, proficient and enduring tactic to build relationships that pave the way to accelerate professional development.

“The session was very engaging. The speakers were excellent. Well done!” - LTC Joshua Ho How Hoang

Today’s world of investment and finance is a vibrant and dynamic one, offering investors many instruments of wealth creation such as stocks, commodities, options, foreign exchange (currencies) and more. 

Ministry of Defence, Career Transition Resource Centre (CTRC) in partnership with ST Electronics (e-Services) organised ‘The New Paradigm of Wealth Creation’ seminar held at the Swissotel Merchant Court. Two distinguished guest speakers, Mr Sebastian Chong and Ms Binni Ong, shared with our participants the information and skills needed to make informed decisions on the investment front. 

Mr Sebastian Chong was our first guest speaker. As one of the most well-known high-net worth investors in Singapore, with over 30 years of stock investing experience, accounting practice and academia experience, Mr Chong shared with our participants his knowledge on: how one can evaluate the market outlook for investment and business; key differences between equities and real estate; and value investing in equities. 

In the second half of the seminar, Ms Binni Ong (an investor and trader who was featured in a number of publications including The Straits Times, Business Times and Shin Min Daily), engaged our participants by imparting her knowledge on fundamental and technical analysis which she refers to as “trend fishing”.

“A well organised event which was useful for officers interested to [explore] the financial market.“ - LTC Jayaram Sreenivasan.
 

Asia's emerging markets is a growing force in the world economy. With the growing Asian market, it is important for start-up entrepreneurs to understand the concepts of developing entrepreneurial advantage through business planning and to grasp the opportunities in the market.

The Business Opportunity Seminar for Self-employment held in the afternoon of 12 Nov 2010 at Hotel Fort Canning was organised by MINDEF Career Transition Resource Centre in partnership with Centre for Management Development to address the issues of Flanking Attack & Defence in the Business World.

“The sharing of business know-how by successful entrepreneurs is beneficial to our transiting servicemen who are keen to start their own business, and understanding the importance of engaging an audience is pertinent to convincing potential investors,” says Mr James Kwek, Head, MINDEF Career Transition Resource Centre.

The speakers for the seminar include Mr Justin Lee and Mr Mark Stradling who shared on the topics defining strategic business position through effective writing and importance of engaging your audience during a presentation.

The Professional Consultancy Services Sector in Singapore employs over 52,000 highly-skilled individuals and generates an annual operating receipt of S$9.02 billion*. In view of this, MINDEF Career Transition Resource Centre (CTRC) has tied up with Practising Management Consultants-Certification Board (PMC-CB) to provide an accreditation scheme for SAF officers who are keen in joining this sector.

A networking event with the theme of “Professional Consultancy Services” that took place on 21 Oct 2010 at Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore highlighted details of this initiative.

The event commenced with an opening speech on the Professional Consultancy Services Sector in Singapore and the consulting credentials of the SAF servicemen by Mr James Kwek, Head Career Transition Resource Centre. Our second speaker, Mr Lim Yoon Foo, General Manager PMC-CB/Principal Assessor, SPRING Singapore shared with our audience information on the PMC accreditation scheme. The talks were well-received and many of our officers at the event indicated interest in the PMC accreditation scheme.

We were joined by industry players from the consulting sector (Ms Isabella Loh, Chairman of the Singapore Environment Council, Former Chairman of EDB who is currently heading the Business Advisory Group of GPA Management; Mr Michael Yap, Deputy General Manager of AIA Singapore; Mr Tay Keng Leng, Managing Director of Simon Ho & Associates; Mr Simon Ho, Assistant Director of CaseTrust; Ms Shennon Khong and Mr Koh Hwee Keng from Temasek Business School; Mr Ng Lee Tak, Director/Principal Consultant of the Safety, Health, Environment, and Quality Management Dept of ST Electronics (e-Services), among others).

The event concluded with the sharing of success stories and personal experiences by former SAF officers - Mr Alfred Lye, Mr Ng Lee Tak and Mr Derrick Tang - who have successfully transited to the Professional Consulting Sector.

The 15th intake for the Certificate in Small Business Management Course conducted by Singapore Polytechnic was successfully launched on 19th Apr 2010. This 6-months certification course from 19th Apr 2010 to 13th Sep 2010 provided participants with basic knowledge and relevant skills on developing and managing a small business. The topics covered in this course included Environmental Analysis & Feasibility Study, Marketing Management, Retails Operations & Management, Legal Procedures, Accounting Fundamentals, and Financial Management.

The explosion of internet use has transformed the way businesses market their products & services and had led to the upsurge of on-line businesses. Targeted at senior military officers who wish to pursue their passion in starting a business after their transition, this BOSS seminar, Enabling Entrepreneurship in the Web that took place at the Gallery Hotel on 18th August 2010, provides our participants with useful information on starting an online business and options to explore the use of various digital marketing tools for their future business.

The internet is definitely a feasible option as the medium keeps things lean where they can keep expenses in check, as well as leverage on networks like LinkedIn, Facebook using network of family, friends, and associates throughout the launch and growth of their company.

This seminar brought together knowledgeable speakers like Mr Gary Loh and Mr John Chang from PurpleClay Consulting and PurpleClick Media respectively.

Mr Loh has been in the franchise and grant application industry for almost 10 years. He had spearheaded the Technopreneurship and SEEDS initiatives during his stint in EDB. Gary shared the various Government Grants that are available to the budding entrepreneurs.

The other speaker, Mr Chang currently spearheads the business development function of his company. Being a former producer, presenter with SAFRA radio he is no stranger to presenting and delivered a dynamic and informative session touching on the fundamentals of starting an online business.

This event aims to inform and educate retiring military officers on the security landscape and the realities of the sector. This event also offered an excellent platform for our SAF officers and industry players alike to exchange, network and foster potential working relationships. Premium participating organisations, among others included: ICFE Homefront Security Consultancy provides a myriad of services to local and international clients. Services include Security Audit, Maritime/ Aviation Security, Risk Assessment, Business Continuity, etc. Control Risks an independent, specialist risk consultancy that helps worldwide clients to manage strategic and operational risks. ReCAAP – Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia is the first government to government agreement that addresses the incidence of piracy and armed robbery in Asia. Certis CISCO provides comprehensive range of security and consultancy services for organisations all over Singapore.

The Networking Event with Ministries & Statutory Boards took place on 14th May 2010 at HOUSE @ Dempsey. The Public Sector, as a large employer plays a key role in enhancing the employment and employability of mature workers and continues to identify job areas to tap on the strengths of mature job applicants. In view of this, this particular session was aimed at providing the senior military officers with information and insights on career exploration and job prospects in the Ministries and Statutory Boards as well as an opportunity to network with HR teams of the participating organisations.

Corporate guests from the Public Sector included various Directors and teams from the HR Division. Participating organisations included the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports, Vital.org, MFA, IDA, A*STAR, NEA, Republic Polytechnic among others.

Guest speaker, Mr Wong Wai Mun, the Director (Operations) Vital.org, Ministry of Finance shared his personal transition experience from the SAF to the Public Sector which ‘gave a shot of confidence’ according to a participant - a retiring Senior SAF Officer. The second speaker Mr Peter Fleming, a certified NLP Practitioner and Career Coach elaborated on a proprietary career planning framework as well as the 10 Do’s & Don’t of Successful Job Applications.

The BOSS Seminar, The “HOW TO” Series: Lost? In the Business Start-Up Maze? took place on the 5th May 2010 (Friday) at Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay from 2 – 5 pm.

Guest speakers included Mr Kenny Toh, a former Management Consultant with Accenture turned award-winning entrepreneur and Ms Chen Yew Ju from DP Bureau, a one-stop advisory centre for business start ups.  Mr Toh covered commonly made mistakes by first-time entrepreneurs and Ms Chen elaborated on the technicalities of actually setting up and growing a business, like leveraging on e-commerce facility to expand customer reach and growing revenue.

All participants reported that they were highly satisfied with the event. Participants also felt that the title/topics were apt for new comers to the business world to understand the commercial world better.

 

Our exciting networking event “The Franchising Showcase” took place on 23 April 2010 (Friday) at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre.
 

An ideal platform for participating Officers to gain information on the lucrative franchising business, we invited the CEO Asia of O’Briens Sandwich Bar, Hugh Hoyes-Cock to share his insights on franchising. Participants of this event were also treated to an exclusive close door trade show exhibition tour cum networking session by the World’s largest and most successful chain store, 7-Eleven, where participants learnt about the market franchise systems and store concepts (from major FMCG companies such as P&G, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Tiger, etc) through the featured showcases.
 

Participants also had the opportunity to interact with special guests from Asia Wide Franchise Consultants, DP Bureau, Credit Suisse & Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, and copies of the “Asia Franchise & Business Opportunities” magazine were handed to our participants, compliments from Mr Christopher Tay, Director of Asia Wide Franchise Consultants.

 

The 2-day Financial Planning Programme which focused on the topic “Fundamentals and Concepts for Planning One’s Financial Security during the Career Transition Period”, was successfully carried out on 15-16 April 2010.

Our 11 participants were presented with ample opportunities to interact with our experienced speakers and trainers to assess their financial status and their investments needs.

It was indeed an enlightening session for all participants and below are extracts of their testimonials from the programme:

“One of the best programmes that I attended so far. A must for all officers to attend.”

“A well-planned and comprehensive lesson to prepare Officers to plan early for retirement.”

“The trainer, Mr Christopher Tan is a very experienced and open-minded speaker, who is passionate about sharing and equipping us on how to make better financial planning decisions. This course is strongly recommended for SAF servicemen, especially those due for retirement.”

 

For Part 3 of the Four-Part (The “HOW TO” Series: How To Management Your Business) BOSS Seminar, we are pleased to have invited two successful entrepreneurs; Mr Jerome Tan - former Air Force personnel, now the owner of Executive Directions and Mr Rajiv Vij - former Managing Director of Franklin Templeton turned owner of a coaching practice firm, Personal Alchemy as our honourable guest speakers to share their views on business start-ups with our Officers.
 

Both our guest speakers shared with us the motivation behind their success and how they attained an entrepreneurial mindset. On a refreshing note, Mr Rajiv Vij also shared insights on aligning business and life goals. Amidst the humour, the speakers were also very informative and effective in their delivery, and all of our participants enjoyed this half-day thematic seminar that was held on 26 March 2010 (Friday) at the NUSS Kent Ridge Guild House.