What were you doing before you joined The NUS MBA?

I was working in engineering and project management in the energy industry, and then tech consulting at Accenture.

What was your career goal before you joined The NUS MBA? Did it change during or after completing the programme?

I had a clear priority of management consulting before I started my MBA, but it changed over my MBA journey to Venture Capital eventually.

What did you do during the programme to achieve your goal?

To further my consulting career pathway, I became an active member in The NUS MBA Consulting Club's activities and participated in consulting-related career events such as training sessions, workshops, consulting nights, and career fairs organised by the school.
To deepen my knowledge in venture capital, I took electives such as Fund Management which gave me a good foundation of investment 101. My MBA Consulting Project with Goldman Sachs provided opportunities to apply what I had learnt into real projects. The career fair helped me to secure an internship with a venture builder firm, which helped in my subsequent internship with a VC. An exchange programme with LBS also helped me gain perspectives of a different market from Asia, and I was able to reinforce my learnings by taking modules such as Private Equity, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

How long did it take to achieve your post-MBA goal?

After completing all my courses in December 2019, I continued working for the firm where I did summer internship with, while waiting for headcount availability. During that period, Joane from the programme management team introduced me to my current firm, TNB Aura, where I started in corporate development, then progressed to the position of Principal, taking care of investments of the firm within six months of being joining them. TNB Aura is a Singapore-based venture capital firm making investments into Series A & B start-ups across Southeast Asia. In all, it took me about five months to achieve my post-MBA goal.

What’s your advice for students who are looking for a career or geographical switch?

• Have a plan before school starts, but be flexible and open for changes.
• Explore a wide variety of industries and roles in your first semester, however, be very clear on your time management and priorities.
• Quickly narrow down to a few options (not more than three), then strategise and plan ahead. The best way is to spend time on gathering experience that is transferrable across multiple career paths. This may be a biased statement, but try to participate in consulting activities regardless of whether you are aiming for a consulting career, as this may be the single most transferrable skill.
• Be practical and clear about your strengths and weaknesses; understand where the gaps are in achieving your career goal, and work hard to bridge those gaps.
• Leverage on any available resources such as those from the school, faculty, alumni, and classmates. If you are not proactive, no opportunity will come to you.
• Lastly and most importantly, work hard and enjoy the journey!