This Saturday, KCL ASEAN saw an enlightening and constructive discussion with an elite, expert panel that gave insight into organisational and hiring culture among Southeast Asian tech-focused companies--in collaboration with Cambridge University Southeast Asian Society (CUSEAS). With the courses of members in the event ranging from History to BioMed to Law and more, the excellent panel helped reaffirm how students--STEM background or not--can still break into tech fields by making the most out of their experiences, and reflecting that in CVs and interviews.
The first half of the event addressed misconceptions about the tech sector, starting with highlighting the necessity for individuals with different specialties in every business: most places need lawyers, IT, marketing and public relations teams, among many other divisions. Additionally, the panel members affirmed that some people tend to find their passions during or after university, but this doesn’t always coincide with the course they’ve chosen--this is common and most companies recognise this. They informed us that a lot of companies value practical and real world experience more when it comes to applying for a job outside of your field of education. While the importance of degree type varies based on the specific job, an echoed sentiment across the panel was the desire to see candidates who had passion, critical thinking and a willingness to learn.
Caption: (clockwise, from top left) Juan Intan Kanggrawan from Jakarta Smart City, Suryo Susano from Bukalapak, Benjamin Ang from the Center of Excellence for National Security, Celine Zhang from Sea Group, and Dr Teh Eong Yap from Intel Operation
When discussing what people tend to fumble in their CVs, the standout insights related to:
Verbosity: recruiters can look at a lot of resumes in a day, so be concise and effective
Descriptions: rather than just listing your past job roles, focus on the impact you made
Generalisations: cater your CV to the company you are applying to--research then mention initiatives from them that you are interested in, include soft skills that relate to the role you are applying for
In interviews, the panel advised to prepare for everything from standard questions like “what experience do you have?” to more personal ones related to hobbies and family, which show your passions and people skills, to more unorthodox ones like a problem scenario to do with the job or philosophical ideologies.
The event concluded with breakout rooms where the attendees had the chance to ask one-on-one questions, learn more about specific companies, and further absorb the many insightful comments made by our panel. The entire session gave our attendees a more well-rounded understanding of what to expect in the job application and hiring process in not just the tech sector but in relevance to most fields.
Thank you to all who could join us, and thank you to our panel for the invaluable expertise and advice on how to best put ourselves out there in the fast-paced job market and ever changing wider world.
Moderator:
Benjamin Ang, Senior Fellow at The Centre of Excellence for National Security
Panel:
Dr. Teh Eong Yap, CPU/SOC Silicon Design Engineering Operations Manager
Juan Intan Kanggrawan, Head of Data Analytics at Jakarta Smart City
Suryo Sasono, VP of Human Resource & CEO Office at Bukalapak
Celine Zhang, Senior Manager of People Strategy Team at SEA (Garena, Shopee, SeaMoney)
Comments