Sometimes graduation leaves you a little unsure about your next step.
Ms. Lim Si Ying, who graduated from Republic Polytechnic (RP) last May with a degree in information technology, was weighing her options. She was interested in enrolling in a part-time degree program, but didn’t know which course to take. She also wondered if she should take a break before continuing her studies.
She contacted Ms. Sharmila Kanna, one of her former teachers at RP, for advice, and was introduced to the Work-Study Post-Diploma (WSPostDip) program.
This initiative allows polytechnic graduates who are within three years of their graduation date (or operational readiness date for full-time national military) to earn an industry-recognized post-graduation qualification while receiving mentorship and training on jobs related to their field. of Study.
BACK TO SCHOOL, AFTER GRADUATION
During her final year of Industry Preparation for the Pre-College Program (iPREP) for her degree studies, Ms. Lim learned about cloud infrastructure, a subject she found fascinating. This interest, coupled with Ms. Sharmila’s guidance, eventually led her to pursue the one-year DevOps Specialist degree in June 2021.
Ms. Lim started her career as a Junior System Engineer at 1Cloudstar and joined the Work-Study Post-Diploma (DevOps Specialist Diploma), a joint program between Republic Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic. After hours, she attends three-hour classes three times a week at the RP Continuing Education Academy in Woodlands.
Ms Lim said: “The learning curve was steep in the first few months, but the knowledge gained from the iPREP course at RP helped me overcome it.
“One of my main tasks at work is to provide cloud infrastructure resources to customers based on their needs. After that, I need to deploy and monitor applications using these cloud resources. I am happy to share that with my knowledge and skills, I am able to perform all tasks with minimal support from my supervisor. »
Ms. Lim was then hired to support DevOps projects that help automate applications and services. With DevOps, businesses can expect improved collaboration, along with better productivity. The DevOps Specialist degree gave Ms. Lim the skills to implement end-to-end software services through the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.
Ms. Lim added, “Joining this program gave me a head start as I managed to get a full-time job while some of my friends are still looking for jobs. Sometimes I find it difficult to juggle between work and studies. But with the support of my mentor at work, I’m doing well. He checks what was taught in the lessons and gives me tasks designed to help me apply the knowledge I learned in school.
WELL-DESIGNED MODULES FOR THE WORKPLACE
Ms. Lim finds the WSPostDip courses deeply relevant to her work.
“The modules are carefully designed so that students can understand even with minimal knowledge,” she explained. “I gained not only knowledge from books, but also industry knowledge. Being able to relate my studies to what my manager and colleagues are saying has helped me get off to a quick start whenever my manager assigns me a new task.
For example, Ms. Lim took a module called Agile Methodology in DevOps. The Agile methodology consists of dividing a software project into several phases. Stakeholders and developers work together to drive continuous improvement in every phase of the project.
Ms. Lim said, “Our company also uses the Agile methodology for some projects. When I studied this module, I could understand the best practices that my colleagues were referring to. »
Another example was Git, a tool used to track changes in development projects, which Ms. Lim learned about in another module. “When my manager introduced Git to my colleague and me, I was able to understand it better.”
Commenting on her back-to-school experience so far, she said, “It’s great to be a student again. I have a different mindset now that I’m a working adult – I know my goals, so I stay motivated in both work and school. If you’re considering the WSPostDip, go for it. It may be difficult at first, but you will be proud of yourself when you get this certificate. »
Improve your skills and advance your career. Register for the RP ACE Online Course Preview for the June start of part-time diplomas, specialization diplomas and work-study today.
RP ACE will also offer three new full qualification courses in the upcoming June intake: