Alumni Sharing Series: Navigating Career Changes with Marie Cheong

The volatility of the current labour market drives home the importance, more than ever, the need to keep abreast of labour market trends.

Earlier this month, YWLC invited Marie Cheong, YWLC Alumni and Vice President, Venture Build, ENGIE Factory Asia-Pacific, to share about her career moves and transitions.

Over the years, Marie transited her career across several sectors, from real estate, consulting, technology to energy. During the session, she highlighted how the transitions are both gains and losses. Ultimately, it is also how one makes use of the experience and learnings in the new industry. Tackling a whole new industry while navigating career changes is daunting but with the right mindset, anything is possible!

Here is a quick recap and truth bombs dropped during the session:

1. Self development is a consistent and constant activity There were many moments of self-doubt, and ups and downs, but she has reached where she is now as a result of a lot of hard work and support from cherished mentors and friends.

2. A career is a marathon; not a sprint. For fresh grads, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to ‘figure things out’. There is time and bumping around to find out what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at and how that fits into what the world needs.

3. Listen to podcasts as there are many people sharing to-date and relevant advice and updates for careers and navigating the industry. On Marie’s current playlist is a podcast by the LinHart Group titled Win at Work & Life: Being Your Best Self.

By staying in touch with what you enjoy doing and finding out how that aligns with an ever-evolving labour market, you will be empowered to develop career resilience now and into the future!