"My uni gap year let me figure out my career fit"

by Tan Zi Jie

That year off helped the fresh Renaissance Engineering Programme (REP) grad find his direction – and a “near perfect” career fit. 

After two internships in medical devices and materials research in his second and third years in NTU, Alejandro realised his bioengineering major didn’t hit the right note for him.

But what would? To clear his head, he took a leave of absence from school.

Alejandro spent that gap year interning at the R&D department of cosmetics giant L’Oréal, soaking up its open, collaborative culture. Thanks to the stint, he found that the beauty industry was right up his alley.

Since June, the fresh grad has been with L’Oréal full-time as a management trainee – a plum position usually snapped up by business and marketing grads.

Alejandro says: “Without the chance to take a year off to intern and build connections, I wouldn’t have landed in this role and company that suits me so well.”

Finding his scent 

He considers the gap year his best experiment yet – a trial run, like testing fragrances or cake recipes, until something clicks. 

Alejandro chose to specialise in bioengineering at NTU because he finds its power to save lives through healthcare tech “inspiring and noble”, especially as both his parents are cancer survivors. 

“I enjoyed studying it,” he says. “But working on medical devices that can take 15 years to launch, for example, just wasn’t satisfying.”

“I wanted to create products I could actually see reach people’s hands.”

Breaking out of the bottle

So Alejandro looked beyond bioengineering. In his fourth year of REP – typically a five-year course that culminates in an engineering degree and a master’s in technology management – he began applying for internships in various fields, from finance to consulting.

It also helped that his professors and classmates never boxed him in.

“In REP, we have a very encouraging culture. I’ve always felt free to try any area I want, whether I succeed or fail,” he shares.

Talks by industry professionals and seniors from different fields opened Alejandro’s eyes to fresh ideas and possibilities. He also credits the REP staff for regularly checking in on students and linking them with professors to explore their interests more deeply. 

In turn, Alejandro brought that same “try-anything” spirit to student life. As president of the REP Club, he co-led a charity walk to support vulnerable families and helped revive student events that had gone quiet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sniffing out a new path

At one point, Alejandro saw a sweet spot between his love of scents and his background in bioengineering. 

“I discovered that big beauty brands like L’Oréal do scientific research. They even have a  lab at NTU that studies skin and scalp health,” he says. 

“So my biomedical engineering training, which also looks at how medical substances interact with human skin, is related to cosmetics research,” he explains. 

He gunned for an R&D internship with L’Oréal. When they accepted him, he quickly secured a year’s leave of absence from NTU to take it up full time.

Besides giving him technical knowledge, the stint sharpened his soft skills. Alejandro learnt to manage stakeholders from France to China, build rapport with people from different teams, and suss out what makes the business tick.

The year-long attachment gave him the confidence to say that business and marketing is his jam, and this company is where he wants to be. 

Landing on his perfect blend

Just a month into his new job, the fresh grad works in business operations, crunching data to predict demand for L’Oréal brands in duty-free shops. He’ll rotate through other teams later.

Alejandro is happy to note that a rose extract trialled by the R&D team he was part of is now in a Lancôme cream sold globally, less than two years later. 

He reflects: “There are many parallels between L’Oréal and REP’s inclusive, innovative cultures. That’s why I enjoy my work so much and can see myself here for the long haul.” 

Read more stories of grad-itude from the Class of 2025 here.