Blog

Full of vigour and full of heart, Siti works closely with NTUC LearningHub’s sales team to process and follow up on a burgeoning number of corporate registrations. Specialising in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and service excellence courses, she frequently assists clients such as Keppel, SATS and Singapore Airlines.

Having worked in a variety of roles herself, Siti shows that fulfilment doesn’t necessarily lie in your job title. Rather, it’s about constantly developing yourself so that you can fulfil the work that fulfils you.

From childhood to adult education

Aspiring to be a teacher from an early age, Siti began her career by shaping the minds and hearts of the young in childcare. “To see a child develop from a toddler to K2 is something that is very fulfilling – from not being able to speak to doing calculations and identifying colours,” smiles Siti.

Although that initial chapter of her career took place nearly 10 years ago, her passion is still well and truly alive and has transitioned into her current work at NTUC LearningHub – the difference being that she’s now able to see adults grow and develop instead!

Reflecting upon a course which helps seniors learn the ways of using a tablet, Siti reminisces, “Seeing the growth of these people – from not knowing anything to being able to use a tablet – is something which I have also found to be very fulfilling.”

Learning to love learning

Siti’s time on the frontline of adult education has not only taught her that upgrading skills are a must, but that adaptive and technological skills, in particular, are more important than ever before. “You need to be open to change, or else it’ll be hard to stay in one place,” she advises.

Considering the implications of Industry 4.0 – one being that it could well replace some of her administrative duties – Siti reminds us that it need not signify the end of our careers. “Robots can talk, but the way humans and robots communicate with one another is very different – it’s all about the personal touch!” she jokes. “So while we have to adapt to changes, we also have to embrace the change that happens around us.”

If anything, Siti views Industry 4.0 as a key motivator to improve ourselves. She maintains that we need to be “holistic” and become the “full package” to remain attractive to employers. This can be achieved by gaining skills for the digital age from training providers like NTUC LearningHub. In fact, many others are also seeing the importance of our ICT courses to gain a competitive edge in this digital landscape. “Our ICT courses are very popular at the moment,” she urges. “I can see that there are a lot of new registrations.” Given the popularity of ICT courses, she encourages employees to grab this learning opportunity as soon as they can.

Forging her own future

Embodying NTUC LearningHub’s vision of lifelong learning, Siti is already responding to Industry 4.0 by acquiring skills outside of administration. She has started learning more about planning from her current team and has a few other ideas up her sleeve — “Soft skills. Stress management!” she jokes. “Perhaps something related to IT, even though I’m not really savvy with IT!”

Looking long-term, Siti remains open to her initial dream of teaching – albeit, as a trainer – and cites that she would teach “relationship-building” as it is “the most important skill when it comes to service excellence.”

But in the meantime, she’ll keep on growing as she helps others to grow too. “As long as you have the heart to learn and to study hard, I believe you can go far,” encourages Siti. “There are a lot of alternate routes when it comes to education and it doesn’t really matter which route you take, as long as you end up where you want to be.”

This year, NTUC LearningHub celebrates 15 years of transforming people through accessible education. Since 2004, we have fulfilled over 2.3 million training places and transformed over 16,700 organisations.

Regardless of collar, age or nationality, we are here to help you get equipped with the relevant skills for Industry 4.0. For more information on how we can help, talk to our friendly Course Consultants at NTUC Trade Union House, Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability, LHUB @ Tampines Mall or any of our roadshows islandwide.

Reach out to our Skills Consultants to find out more about how you can transform your life through learning today!