How to hire Polytechnic and ITE fresh graduates with SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme
Employers everywhere are always on the lookout for fresh young talent to fill their roles. Consider ramping up your company’s hiring efforts through a partnership with the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme (ELP).
The ELP is a government-backed initiative from SkillsFuture for fresh grads to secure employment opportunities related to their fields of study.
Compared to internships, the ELP is a much longer programme. You’re investing more into your hires and getting your hands on them before anyone else. What’s more – you’ll receive an employer’s grant of up to $15,000, thus making hiring more cost-effective.
To young graduates and NSmen who have just finished National Service, the ELP is a chance for them to kickstart their careers with countless job opportunities. These are potential employees with energy and knowledge to offer and to help you achieve your business goals in the market. And let’s not forget: you can hire them at reduced costs with the employer’s grant backing you up!
The ELP isn’t like any regular internship where you train a bunch of young talent only to let them go after 3-6 months. This isn’t another short-term solution. For you awesome employers out there, it’s a way to meet your company’s hiring needs and to get your hands on eager local talent – permanently! You’ll be training and grooming them to become your professionals.
When you partner with SkillsFuture, you’ll
As an employer, you will craft a rock-solid talent development plan (assessed by your industry’s Programme Manager) and train your selected candidates in a 12- to 18-month programme, depending on sector and job requirements. You’ll get the chance to provide facilitated learning opportunities, on-the-job training, and work-based projects to beef up the ELP experience for your candidates.
Using the ELP will give you an edge over non-participating employers in the race to recruit the very best. You’ll have direct, first-hand access to fresh poly and ITE graduates and National Servicemen who have their ORDs. You’ll ensure that your company positions are filled with capable and talented individuals. After executing your dedicated training programme, you can retain the most suitable talent and add star-performers to your ranks. Watch your business grow and dominate the sector!
What’s more, SkillsFuture is offering an employer’s grant of up to SGD $15,000 per ELP candidate. This budget-rescuing grant will cover capability building, administrative, and opportunity costs, and will empower you in developing a dedicated on-the-job training programme as well as providing suitable mentors for your candidates.
As long as you have a company with open positions to fill, you’re ready for the ELP. Take note of crucial graduation periods and start making plans now! SkillsFuture recommends that you hire for job roles available on Glints’ very own ELP portal, where you can access all the information you need to get started.
Have a job role that doesn’t quite fall into any category? Draft up a new role you hope to hire for through the ELP. We’ll ring you or drop you an email once the ELP is approved.
If you’re ready to participate in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme as an employer, contact Glints today and work with us to hire your next batch of fresh talent through the ELP!
“We became a participating employer in October 2017,” Eugene, a Creative Partner at Section shares. “We had one successful hire who is still with us today.”
Section’s ELP hire, Edlyn, was originally from a print background and not marketing. Being paired with a digital marketing agency meant that Edlyn “had some catching up to do” at the time of the hire. “But she was very positive and willing to learn, and managed to catch up in a short period of time,” reflects Eugene. “She ultimately diversified into our field through the ELP.”
Hiring someone like that might seem counterproductive. Still, Section went with it and made things work. “Section seldom does print, and we always outsource our Final Artworks (FA),” Eugene shares. “There was an incident where we needed to rush out an FA – but none of our freelancers were available. Edlyn volunteered to do it for us.”
There were also other sweet benefits that weren’t directly related to getting concrete work done.
He adds, “Edlyn also shared her UX lessons with the rest of the team once. It was pretty interesting, since UX is generally a newer design topic from over the last five years. Everyone had something to learn from each other.” Even from Edlyn, who was just starting out as an ELP hire!
Section pulled through by staying true to itself during training and showing hires its unique culture of an open concept environment with “little to no unnecessary hierarchies.” The agency nudges ELP hires and juniors towards senior designers unashamedly, encouraging collaboration and diversified learning. Ownership is also the name of Section’s game, as new hires often discover.
The ELP gave Section a leg-up by allowing the agency to hire positive people who are committed to the industry. The grant provided by the programme allowed Section to hire an additional junior designer to contribute to the team and get more work done.
Section definitely recommends the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme to the rest of you employers out there. “It’s greatly beneficial to the company and is a good way to hire committed talents. We’re currently a little more than halfway through with our ongoing ELP, but we’re already considering retaining the candidate.”
Mind Stretcher, known for providing quality enrichment programmes to little Singaporeans, has also benefited greatly from the ELP – namely, securing an awesome, hardworking hire.
“The candidate was humble, positive, and open to feedback during the process of learning our business processes and product knowledge in the centre,” shares Jason of Mind Stretcher. “It was a continual learning effort on her part, to be able to support the team and be a good team player. She proved her steadiness in dealing with demanding customers at the counter due to her excellent disposition.”
Expect to find the same quality of candidates when you sign up for the ELP as well. Fresh grads are always hungry and eager for experience, with lots of passion to spare. What’s more, Mind Stretcher also snagged some neat business benefits:
“Utilising the ELP helped to resolve labour crunch issues across our branches,” Jason says. “The scheme provided us with an alternative labour pool we could tap on from April to July. We appreciated the opportunity to help earnest learners attain gainful employment opportunities as well.”
Mind Stretcher has since concluded its ELP with its star candidate and ended up retaining her after the completion of her training. That’s another high-quality employee off the market!
Mind Stretcher adds its ELP recommendation to the pile, “especially with the high demand of labour.”
Since 2017, Kino Biotech has landed a total of six ELP hires, two of which were snatched up in the first half of this year. Talk about being productive!
Kino Biotech’s Country Manager, Kristin, had much to praise these new hires for, too. “The quality of these hires are the same as any permanent, full-time employee. They always come with good attitudes, lots of creativity, and a willingness to learn and go the extra mile.”
Kino Biotech was more than happy to partner with the ELP to give these fresh grads the chance to advance their careers, especially through rigorous and dedicated on-the-job training programmes. Because of the employer’s grant and frequent hires, the company’s hiring efforts have dramatically improved since linking up with the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme.
Does this translate to meeting business goals? You bet. “The younger generation also comes with new, fresh ideas for us to make use of,” Kristin adds. Infusing your company with young minds means crazier, bolder ideas – and that’s not always a bad thing.
“They’re always looking for chances to upgrade themselves.” Kino Biotech seems to be a veteran when it comes to making use of the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme.
If you’re hoping that these success stories will one day become your company’s, then what are you waiting for? The SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme is open all year round!
