NUS-ISS provides quality workforce development programmes that help employers meet the ever-changing needs of the Infocomm Technology sector. HR Manager, Jennifer See, shares Ecquaria Technologies’ experience with Systems Catalyst at the inaugural NUS-ISS Open Day & Career Fair, which took place on 16 August.
NUS-ISS held its first career fair in 2012 to help the unemployed participants of the NICF (National Infocomm Competency Framework) short courses, Master of Technology (MTECH) and Graduate Diploma in System Analysis (GDipSA) full-time students find jobs within the IT industry. The bi-yearly career fairs see nearly 200 visitors and 16 employers participating at each fair.
Companies like Ecquaria Technologies, a leading provider of e-government software and solutions, have been taking advantage of events, as well as training programmes offered by NUS-ISS, to meet their growing recruitment and training needs. In an interview with Systems Catalyst, Jennifer See, HR & Administration Manager at Ecquaria, explains how this has led to greater business success.
It’s the second time you’ve joined our Career Fairs. Tell us why.
Ecquaria first attended the NUS-ISS Career Fair in 2013 to source for suitable candidates to meet our recruitment needs. We continue to participate because the career fairs are a great way to meet potential employees with the right skillset for our jobs.
Did you manage to hire anyone from these Career Fairs?
Yes, in fact we hired two candidates for our teams: a Project Manager and a Senior Software Engineer.
What are your reasons for teaming with NUS-ISS?
Firstly, I think there’s good alignment between the courses offered and our talent recruitment and development strategies. NUS-ISS offers a comprehensive list of courses that have been relevant to the professional development of our IT staff. We’re pretty sure there are strong candidates amongst NUS-ISS graduates with the right competencies for our IT jobs.
How long has NUS-ISS been a strategic training partner to Ecquaria?
We first sent our staff to NUS-ISS in 2010 for training, and many have found the training courses to be insightful and practical for work situations. The professional certification courses, as well as the project and IT service management courses, have been most popular with our staff, and they include:
- Certified Enterprise Architecture Practitioner Programme
- PMP for Project Management
- ITIL V3 Foundation for IT Service Management
- NICF - Business Analysis Fundamentals - Requirements Development
- Project Management for Information Systems
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional Review Seminar (CISSP®)
- Certified IT Project Management
Would you say the courses have enabled staff to perform better at their jobs?
Yes, the courses have given our staff in-depth knowledge, guidelines, and best practices which they can apply in their work. They have helped to identify gaps in our current practices and implement solutions that provide our customers with better services.
What other advantages have NUS-ISS offered over other training institutions?
Most of NUS-ISS’s courses are NICF-accredited. This gives us the confidence that the training programme will be aligned to the National Infocomm Competency Framework (NICF), which was created partly for the development of human resource in the infocomm industry.
Can you give us an example of that?
Sure. For instance, we learned about WDA's NICF-IGNITE (Immerse, Grow, Navigate in Infocomm Technology with Eloquence), which is essentially a Place and Train apprenticeship scheme, through IDA’s industry briefing for Infocomm sector. We first took it up in 2013 to address competency gaps amongst new recruits. The programme has enabled us to equip them with the necessary skills, while boosting their confidence to perform in their jobs.
Has the NICF-IGNITE programme paid off for Ecquaria?
The training has definitely given our new staff a stronger head start, and this has enabled them to assume greater responsibilities and be better prepared for challenges in a fast-changing landscape.
The next NUS-ISS Career Fair will be held in March 2015. Email andychang@nus.edu.sg to reserve your booth now!
For more information on the NICF-IGNITE programme, please visit http://www.wda.gov.sg/content/wdawebsite/programmes_and_initiatives/L701Aiv-NCIFIGNITE.html