After starting off with research in male fertility and teaching biomedical sciences as a Teaching Associate at Monash University, Asyraaf is now pursuing a career in web development as a full stack developer.
The SGUnited Skills (SGUS) programme as delivered by NUS-ISS is a full-time train & place national programme of 6 months duration where trainees acquired in-demand and emerging skills and applied them to opportunities like workplace immersions and industry projects. The trainees would also benefit from employment facilitation efforts from NUS-ISS.
Read on to find out how the SGUS programme has helped Aysraaf achieve more in the digital age for his chosen pathway in Full Stack Development.
1. Why did you choose to join the NUS-ISS SGUnited Skills (SGUS) programme?
Asyraaf: I chose to join the SGUS programme as I was looking for a career change into doing software development. I was contemplating doing programming bootcamps to pick up the skills, but came across this programme and decided to go for this instead, as it also had a company project where I could have more hands-on experience.
2. How was your personal experience with the programme?
Asyraaf: I had a great time in the programme, particularly when it came to how the content was structured. Everyday we created simple apps from scratch, which really helped us understand and practice current coding concepts and frameworks. It really helped to have great course mates to learn and discuss with, many of whom I’m still close with and regularly talk to now.
3. How has the programme benefitted you, especially in this time of a global crisis?
Asyraaf: Through this programme, I was offered a position at NETS as a Software Developer where I am currently working on government sponsored banking system projects.
4. Share an example of how the skills and knowledge gained during your learning journey was applied to deliver the industry project for your sponsored company?
Asyraaf: The content was designed to give us a basic foundation in the essential and most frequently used aspects of programming concepts in a short amount of time.
With this, I successfully created a web app from scratch to remotely control and schedule robotic process automation software. This software was completed to a beta stage within three months and was ready for commercial use.
5. What is your one biggest key takeaway from this programme?
Asyraaf: My biggest takeaway is understanding how to navigate documentation for new programming frameworks and languages, which has been essential in my current project at NETS.
6. How do you view NUS-ISS's role in your future training and development?
Asyraaf: I am grateful to still be receiving information on new work and learning opportunities from NUS-ISS in the emails to alumni, and would definitely consider coming for workshops or short courses to broaden my knowledge and keep myself up to date about new developments in this field.