SINGAPORE – One of polytechnic graduate Liau Jun Heng’s top priorities is to get a job, so that he can help with his family’s expenses and have a meaningful career.

To prepare for his career progression, the 20-year-old joined a mentorship programme run by the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) Youth Career Network in June, which paired him with business analyst Luke Chua, 34.

They meet about once a month to talk about any concerns Mr Liau may have about his career aspirations, as well as family and personal issues such as his upcoming national service enlistment.

NTUC currently has about 400 career mentors under its Youth Career Network, but will raise this figure to 1,200 by 2025.

This comes after its Youth Taskforce found in its year-long engagement with over 10,000 youth that they regard mentorship as one of the top resources they need to start their careers.

Career mentors go through interviews before they are recruited by the mentorship programme. The key criteria for mentors are their industry experience and ability to relate to youth.

Mr Chua, who spent the last 10 years of his career in banking and finance, information technology and fintech, has been a volunteer career mentor under this network since 2019.

“When I first started my career, there was no such thing as mentor and mentee,” he said, adding that any kind of help or advice he received was informal and unstructured.

“It was quite a struggle at first, but there were people around who helped me along the way. I became a career mentor because I wanted to give back to society after all the assistance I had received in my career.”

He usually holds the mentoring sessions outside of his working hours.

Mr Liau joined the mentorship programme as he felt it would help him in his career.

He graduated from Singapore Polytechnic in 2023 with a diploma in maritime business and has secured a place to study business management at Singapore Management University.

“As I’m still young, there are many difficulties I’ve yet to face. Speaking to Luke, who is more experienced in life, has been helpful to me,” said Mr Liau, who plans to pursue a career in entrepreneurship and consulting.

“Through talking to Luke, I learnt how to cope with problems that I’m facing now, such as family issues and working on my self-confidence. Having a mentor really helped me through life experiences,” said Mr Liau, who is the youngest of three children.

He added that such mentorship programmes can spring new connections with mentors that may be helpful to one’s career in the future.

“Because I came from a humble family background, I want to ensure that my family can have a comfortable life in the future,” Mr Liau said.