It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your career.

Do you want to reach beyond the stars and get onto the path of fulfilling your career dreams once you graduate? Do you want to develop skill sets that can deem you a better leader? Do you want to get to know people in various industries to learn and grow with them?

If so, Singtel’s Management Associate Programme may be just right for you. Hear from Wei Qiang Ching; a Management Associate who has emerged admirably from his challenges. He graduated from Nanyang Technological University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Accountancy and took on the role of a financial analyst for the first year. In his second rotation, he took up the role as a Strategy Planner.

Wei Qiang’s witty sense of humour is met with a barrel of laughs from his colleagues, almost always. His humoristic personality aside, he is known to be adept with numbers; he expanded on his existing financial knowledge as a result of the programme.

Wei Qiang pored over data to analyse and identify opportunities or evaluate outcomes for business decisions and investment recommendations, and he successfully drove towards the completion of his first rotation as a financial analyst. Now, his new role demands much more - to support leaders by accelerating the business through the means of partnership, acquisition and new initiatives. By pushing him beyond familiar territories, this allows him to understand and appreciate the business to great substantial detail.

Even then, Wei Qiang never stops stretching his abilities further. He is currently picking up data analytics in his free time to explore and connect with like-minded individuals. Wei Qiang shared with us his achievements and meaningful #SingtelLife moments while highlighting some useful tips for our future MAP candidates.

Q: What is Your Greatest Achievement in Singtel Thus Far?

My greatest achievement would be leading the 5-year forecast exercise of a $6 Billion dollar business! An opportunity like that does not come easily. Through this exercise, I got the chance to work with numerous senior leaders presenting key financial data and providing insights. A really eye-opening and challenging project but nonetheless satisfying experience.

Q: What's Your Favourite #Singtellife Moment?

I definitely enjoyed the bonding sessions with the other management associates from my batch. I really like interacting with my team as well. There is, however, something about crossing an initial threshold together with those who joined the programme in the same year – a special bond. And this strong bond stems from going through shared experiences, may it be happy memories or challenging times.

Even though we are allocated across Singtel groups and based at different locations now, we occasionally come together for a short meetup or a hangout session. And this is where fond memories are created.

Q: What's Your Greatest Takeaway from the Programme?

The greatest biggest takeaway is definitely the interactions up close with senior management. It is through this that I experienced leadership and management first-hand. Lessons that cannot be taught in school and ones that will follow me throughout my career. Leadership can be daunting but my experience with very capable leaders emboldened me to go by the phrase ‘’Fortune favours the brave’’. These are truly lessons that cannot be taught in school and ones that will follow me throughout my career.

Q: Any Tip or Advice to Soon-To-Graduate Students?

Embrace a growth mindset as you kick start your career. Always put your best foot forward and never be afraid of experimenting or failing. If there's one piece of advice I wished someone told me when I started my career, it would be this: "It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your career."

We are looking for individuals who are driven by the passion to overcome their fears and setbacks, just like Wei Qiang. Apply now for MAP 2021 if you are up for a venture!