Story #86
Q: How did you decide on your undergraduate course of study?
A: Accountancy is a profession that seemed to have a "strong economic moat", as I had the impression that almost all organisations would need such a role.
Q: In retrospect, what did you think were the most useful lessons/ skills/ knowledge you'd gained from your undergraduate education?
A: A grounding on learning how to learn as much of the knowledge gained might have/had become obsolete by the time of graduation. Soft skills like analytical skills and communication/presentation skills which are transferable for any industry.
Q: How has your undergraduate education influenced your career choice?
A: When I graduated, it was also during times of economic crisis, hence I took the plunge to do "accounting for individuals" i.e. financial planning as an insurance agent without any basic pay. I dabbled in multiple other non-accounting-related jobs/industries since then before I started my career in public sector (as I needed the financial stability) where I did project accounting, government auditing, audit analytics before my current role in finance analytics. My undergraduate education was merely a stepping stone to my career as the degree certificate was an objective & simple way for recruiters to assess my suitability in the role. However, given that my role was non-existent around 5-6 years ago, I believe it is more important for an individual to keep on learning and building your network (i.e. formal learning and learning from others), so that one is ready to seize the opportunity when it presents itself.
Q: Briefly describe your current job scope.
A: In summary, Project management cum Analytics translator role with supervisory responsibilities. A slightly longer job description: Lead and supervise a team of business analysts, continuously driving improvements and deliverables to meet the evolving needs of public sector finance and internal audit units. Plan and implement the data strategy and analytics roadmap for public sector finance, which includes: onboarding more agencies and users to the Whole-of-Government (WOG) enterprise finance analytics platform, Fi@Gov; expanding the data integration pipelines to enrich the Fi@Gov data warehouse; and developing more dashboards and tools to strengthen the analytics capabilities in Fi@Gov. Also worked closely with various stakeholders (technology partners, system integrator, data analysts and architects) to drive the acquisition, integration, harmonisation and transformation of data from various sources into the Hadoop-based data lake, and ensure smooth operation of the WOG enterprise-grade finance analytics platform.
Q: To what extent is your current job related to your undergraduate course of study?
A: Not related at all - Majority of the skills required to perform my current job was acquired through on-the-job training.
Q: What are some additional areas you wish your undergraduate education could have covered?
A: N.A. because the undergraduate education is just one of the pathways for someone who is more academically-inclined and haven't yet decided on what to embark on at that particular juncture.
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