With the aim to prepare students for career development, UTAR Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) of Kampar Campus successfully organised a virtual camp, titled “Future Ready Virtual Bootcamp 2020” via Microsoft Teams and ZOOM platforms from 18 to 26 July 2020.

The Bootcamp, which was attended by more than 2,500 students, aimed to enable students to innovate and up-skill themselves for the future work. Organised for the first time, the Virtual Bootcamp was a great success and it effectively equipped the participants with effective and essential career strategies for them to meet their career goals. In addition to that, the Virtual Bootcamp also enabled participants to understand and improve their personal development skills and keep them well-informed about the current and future workforce.

As part of the Virtual Bootcamp, various online activities such as dialogue sessions, coffee chats and workshops were conducted throughout the nine days. The activities were conducted with the teamwork and efforts contributed by DSSC staff, industry players as well as UTAR alumni.

A total of five dialogue sessions was conducted throughout the Bootcamp. Among the topics covered were leadership, critical thinking and cognitive flexibility, digital entrepreneurship, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence and team building. The dialogue sessions were delivered by experienced speakers from various fields. Among them were Founder of GenYouth Eldrick Koh, National President of JCI Malaysia Ken Lee, Managing Director of Beaux Square Terence Toh and Founder of Kon10 Innovation Kevin Lim.

Apart from that, a total of five coffee chat sessions was also carried out. Among the topics covered were “How to Kick-Start Career Critically” by CEO of Host Platform Sdn Bhd Jayden Lee, “Communication in Workplace” by Entrepreneur of Join & Care Enterprise Stella Ling, and “Career Path Development” by Unit Manager of AIA Bhd Leong Kam Chun and Managing Director of GAFS Advisory Sdn Bhd Goh KT. The camp also saw a workshop on “Leadership and Entrepreneurship” by Merck Sdn Bhd Sales Enablement Strategist Jeffrey Leong.

One of the participants, S. Darshan mentioned that the Virtual Career Bootcamp was very informative and fun. “The coffee chat sessions were brilliant as it was conducted at night whereby most of the participants were relaxed. Topics such as Kickstart Your Career Effectively and Communication in Workplace were so interesting because the facilitators and speakers were so friendly, willing to share and answer the questions asked. I am grateful to have participated in the Bootcamp as I understand the importance of soft skills and now, I am clear on skills to build for my career especially communication skills. I will definitely recommend my friends to join in the future,” he added.

Another participant, Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Accounting student Heng Ming Quan enthused that she enjoyed the camp very much as she learned a lot from different workshops and sharing by different industry players. “I liked Coffee Chat Sessions the most as it was more towards a chit-chatting session between participants and speakers whereby the floor asked some questions and the speakers answered by sharing their experiences and skills to solve the problems encountered. Besides, the workshop “Landing Page – Chatbot” had really exposed me to something new, and it will definitely be useful for me to secure my career development,” she explained.

The “Future Ready Virtual Bootcamp” was officially graced by UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong.

Prof Choong said, “The Future Ready Virtual Bootcamp 2020” is an outstanding session for all the participants. It motivates the students to step into their working life confidently. We thank all who contributed to the success of this camp. Although there were many limitations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bootcamp was a huge success.”