From education enterprise to legal technology sector

Ms Juliana Dawood had been working at an education enterprise as an executive assistant for less than three months when she lost her job on Jan 13.

Ten days later, Singapore saw its first case of Covid-19.

While unemployed, Ms Dawood, who is single, heard about the Government's move to provide Singaporeans with additional SkillsFuture credit, and thought it would be a good time to check out some courses.

The 36-year-old had used some of her SkillsFuture opening credit of $500 to take a Microsoft Excel course before she lost her job.

When she learnt that the Government was going to top up her SkillsFuture account with another $500, she contacted NTUC Learning Hub.

She was told she could tap the top-up amount in advance of its roll out in October.

In May, she took a business analytics course with data analytics platform Qlik Sense, and completed 11 more courses in the following three months.

The course fees, which were subsidised, ranged from about $20 to just over $100 each, adding up to a total of $453.15.

Among the slew of courses she took was project management for all, provided by NTUC Learning Hub.

Ms Dawood, who has a degree in business management from the University of Greenwich in Britain, said: "One of the jobs I applied for required a project management certification, and the project management for all course gave me a leg up."

She is now working as a court reporter manager at Opus 2, which digitises legal proceedings such as transcription, virtual hearings, and electronic presentation evidence. Her role is to manage a diary for freelance court reporters and match their software skills to different types of services and platforms.

Said Ms Dawood: "This job is entirely different from my previous experiences as I had never before worked in a legal tech sector, nor was I familiar with the software or platform used."

She added: "I was keen to challenge myself and branch out into a different sector."

She also said that her 14 years of work experience made it easier for her to adapt.

"Mid-career change is not so scary if you are willing to learn and be flexible."