CareerBuilder Singapore helped to drive IE Singapore’s inaugural trade career fair held from 31 January to 1 February. We bring you some highlights of the fair, as well as some thoughts from a few of over 2,000 participants.
Trade is vital for a healthy economy, and Singapore attributes her success in trade to IE Singapore. As a key driver of Singapore’s economy, IE Singapore ensures that Singapore remains an attractive place to trade and do business, promotes Singapore as a flourishing business and trade hub as well as ensures that the Singapore brand is projected onto the global map.
It also recognises the importance of growing our trade industry and having competent individuals to steer it. This is why it put together the Trade Talent Connection 2015, a trading industry career fair for aspiring traders to be exposed to the myriad opportunities available in the industry and identify how they can contribute to it.
The inaugural trade career fair saw more than 2,000 attendees pass through the gates of Hall C at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 31 January and 1 February 2015. The fair brought together 16 top-notch companies that were masters of their trade, including Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), KPMG, SABIC, Silver Bullion, Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Vitol Asia.
A Dynamic Career for Trade Enthusiasts
“As a small nation with no natural resources, Singapore needs to promote trade practices to grow her economy. This makes the trade industry dynamic and so exciting,” says Wilson Seah, a 24-year-old fresh graduate intending to pursue a career in the industry. He adds that the prospect of “a job that does not command going through the motions” greatly appealed to him.
A fast-paced industry needs driven and enthusiastic individuals like Wilson to help sustain its businesses. Alice Gouk, HR Director of ADM Asia-Pacific tells us, “The industry requires aspiring traders to be quick in making decisions and committed to staying abreast of the happenings of the trading industry.”
Something for Everyone
The judiciously-planned fair also saw industry experts from the fair’s participating companies share their insights through various panel forums. The seven forums, which were held on and spread across both days, touched on topics including ‘Energy Trading: Powerful careers to energise the world’, ‘Agri-commodity Trading: Careers for growth’, ‘Enabling Trade with Financial Services’ and ‘Behind the Scenes of a Commodity Exchange’.
26-year-old Qwen, a mid-career professional in the oil and gas sector felt that the ‘Women in the Trading World’ forum she attended was “insightful and inspiring.” This particular forum also helped to dispel the misconception that the trading industry is still a male-dominated one. In fact, the panelists who carried the forum consisted solely of women.
The four distinguished female panelists also had differing background stories to their name. Ms Tina Goh holds an honours degree in Accountancy and began her career in BP as Management Accountant, while Ms Jennifer Ilkiw manages the sales operations of IntercontinentalExchange’s Asia Pacific region. The two other panelists were Ms Deborah Lim, who devoted 38 years of her career to commodity trading and Ms Jacqueline Chang, a Bachelor of Arts degree holder who majored in Economics & Statistics and who has more than 20 years of specialised experience in Commodity Financing.
Certainly, these panelists were proof positive that there is something for everyone in the trade industry, regardless of gender, interest or academic qualification. Ms Jennifer Ilkiw shared a valuable takeaway on the panel, saying, “Wherever you come from, there are always opportunities in the trade industry. The mindset that the industry is a men’s world has also been reshaped.”
A Taste of the Industry
SGX contributed largely to the exciting dynamics of the fair. It set up a trading pit in which up to 30 players can compete in an online trading game to garner the most profit in their trading enterprise.
“Participants basically enter the trading pit to trade virtual commodity and gold. We’ve built an entire market ecosystem here, where half the players produce raw materials and the other half manufacture final products,” says a representative of SGX. “The one who makes the most net profit gets to walk away with an iPad mini 3!”
