Enhancing professional growth by equipping supply chain engineering skills

 

Malcolm Toh Jia Jun

Alumni of SSS/2020
Senior Procurement Executive at DSTA
Pursued courses stackable to FlexiMasters in Supply Chain Engineering

Please share with us your professional life’s journey and at which point in your career did you aspire to pursue this FlexiMasters?

After graduating from NTU, and prior to starting my new role as a Senior Procurement Executive with Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), I received an email from NTU about the Graduate Certificate and FlexiMasters for Class of 2020 graduates. Having no prior experience in the procurement field, I was glad to find out that NTU offers FlexiMasters in Supply Chain Engineering in 2020 as I believed that this certificate could empower me to have a strong start by equipping me the relevant knowledge. I decided to take up courses stackable to this certificate to gain functional expertise in preparation for my new role.


How did you juggle working life with your studies?

I was able to juggle my working life with my studies by setting a strict timetable. I set aside a fixed duration such as three hours a day, put away my phone and other distractions from my sight to focus solely on my studies. Having encouraging coursemates was also helpful because we could share tips and advice on our course assignments.


Could you share with us some interesting facets of the certificate you enrolled?

One of the assignments from L6102: Procurement & Supplier Development course was to group into teams and engage in a one-to-one negotiation between the teams. I found that enjoyable because I was able to apply the theoretical knowledge that I learnt from the classes in an application setting. It bolstered my learning outcomes by providing me a sense of how a negotiation session can take place in a procurement role.


Which aspect of this certificate do you like the most?

I appreciate the stackable feature of this certificate’s courses, where the academic credits earned from these courses can be stacked towards a full Master’s degree. This aspect allows me to have a flavour of NTU postgraduate courses and enjoy the flexibility where I can pursue NTU Master’s degree at a later stage.


Please share with us your future plan on continuing your education upon completing this certificate.

I had an enjoyable time learning a new specialisation and meeting new friends from around the globe. In addition, it was inspiring to glean insights from the professors, lecturers, and industry experts that I have met through the courses. I will be pursuing Master of Science in Supply Chain Engineering upon completing this certificate.


Will you recommend PaCE@NTU’s programmes to your friends and family?

I strongly recommend PaCE@NTU’s programmes to my friends and family who are looking to further improve themselves or pick up a new skill. The academic rigor and support provided by NTU empowered us in our lifelong learning journey and brought us new opportunities in our professional and personal development.