The career coaching session was free and on a whim, Anson Ang signed up for it. Little did he know it was a decision that would change his life.
Anson had earlier enrolled in a professional executive course at the Institute of Systems Science. Upon completion, he was offered a one-on-one career coaching session as part of the career services by the Institute.
At that point, Anson had been a senior IT manager for 15 years with a multinational corporation. He was happy at work though there were moments when he felt vaguely dissatisfied. “I felt as if I had a lot of ambitions and dreams that I was not fulfilling,” recalled Anson.
His two-hour session with Heng Teng Teng, founder of career coaching firm GROW, had him exploring what made him tick on a professional level.
Recalled Anson, “Her questions about what makes me happy and what fires me up in the morning made me think really deeply. After years of working, you get into a routine and you no longer think about what you are doing. But step by step, she made me discover what I want and what my strengths are.”
During that session, he learned that he was a listener and a troubleshooter who was passionate about business operations and needs, and finding solutions to these needs.
Three months after that coaching session, he mustered up the courage to set up Asia Hawk (www.asiahawk.com), an IT consultancy that helps businesses find effective and ‘fit for purpose’ systems because “the coaching session gave me the confidence to take up the challenge and follow my passion.”
“I have never owned my own business and the change is quite dramatic,” confessed Anson. “It’s very scary but also tremendously exciting. I am very excited to be on this new journey because with my 20 years of diverse IT industry experience and business and accounting acumen, I’m able to help SMEs grow their business. Best of all, I no longer feel like a zombie going about my work, but doing something that I’m passionate about. I feel much more fulfilled today.”
To this day, Anson continues to seek the advice of Teng Teng and celebrates with her his small victories along the way.
He concluded, “I am very grateful to ISS for giving me the opportunity to turn my life around. I actually signed up for the career coaching session without any great expectations but it ended up changing my life.”
ISS provides a suite of career services to help its students find their career paths. Its services include career coaching services, career transitional workshops and programmes, career talks and internship placement services. Students may also find help through ISS’ career portal.