Fresh SMU grad gets chance to shine at jewellery retailer
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Ms Cheryl Tan applied to be an e-commerce trainee at home-grown jewellery retailer SK Jewellery for 12 months after hearing about the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, and was the first to join the company under the scheme in July.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Charmaine Ng
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Last year, Ms Cheryl Tan decided to take up an internship in her final year of studies at Singapore Management University, delaying her graduation by six months.
The 24-year-old thought taking up the internship opportunity in marketing would help her gain some experience and set her apart from her peers in her eventual job search. But two months after graduating in January, the coronavirus pandemic hit Singapore.
Ms Tan, who has a bachelor's degree in social sciences, with a second major in marketing, was forced to put her job search on pause.
It was only during phase two of Singapore's reopening in mid-July that she was able to restart her job search, but competition was stiff.
"The job market was really saturated, because people with years of experience were also competing for the same jobs with fresh graduates like myself," she said.
After hearing about the SGUnited Traineeships Programme from a friend, she applied to be an e-commerce trainee at home-grown jewellery retailer SK Jewellery for 12 months.
"It was a combination of working in luxury retail and e-commerce, which I had always been interested in but never had the opportunity to branch into, so I was really excited," she added.
In July, she was the first to join the company under the programme, which provides her with an allowance of $2,500 a month, of which 80 per cent is co-funded by the Government.
Ms Tan admitted that being a trainee while some of her peers have managed to secure full-time jobs upon graduating from university on time is "a bit disappointing", but she is maintaining a positive attitude.
"Life throws things at you and it isn't fair, but we just have to learn how to deal with it and not let it beat you down," she added.
