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5 Things You Should Consider After Graduation from Secondary School

Now that you have gotten your results, you think about what you should do in the next stage of your life.

 

Before making any decision that may affect how your life will eventually turn out to be, continue reading on what you need to know before you make your next step.

1.  You Most Probably Still Need To Continue Studying 

 

Even when you think your N / O level might be a huge milestone in your education life, there is much more to it. You most probably may find it a little tougher progressing in your career without, minimally, a diploma.

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If going to a local university is what you have in mind, perhaps taking junior college route later will make better sense.

 

However, if you intend to just go for a final stretch before going out to the workforce, consider getting a diploma where you can acquire a skill that is useful in getting you a job.

 

Not to worry if you have not scored good enough to get into a polytechnic, there are some good private schools that can offer you a competitive diploma too.

 

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2.  What Do You Enjoy Doing? 

 

Before you decide on which course to take up, maybe you will like to ask yourself: what am I interested in doing?

 

Research has shown that if you do not have passion in what you are doing, the probability of you achieving anything significant in life is near to zero.

 

Following your friend to go into that engineering course is easy but, ultimately, it is you yourself who will need to do the same thing for a living for the rest of your life.

 

Does an Engineer in a steel company resonates with you or an Art Director in an advertising agency seems to describe you more? Only you can answer this question.

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3.  The More The Merrier 

 

If you can, try to choose a diploma that has multiple disciplines. This will allow you to branch out to other discipline should you realised halfway through that you don't actually like what you are doing.

 

For example, if you choose to study an aerospace engineering diploma, eventually graduate and start looking for a job, the only option for you is to become an aerospace technician.

 

Even if you have realised then you hated the course while studying, there is almost no u-turn for you unless you retake a new course all over again.

 

On the other hand, if you choose a course like the Engineering Informatics diploma, upon graduation, you can either look for an engineering or a tech job.

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This applies too if you have intention to further your studies to the degree level.


MAD School offers an unique 3-in-1 (Design + Advertising + Marketing) Professional Diploma which will allow its graduates to decide which discipline will interest them most when they go to an advertising agency eventually. To learn more click here.

MAD School students winning in the advertising, photography & design category in the prestigious Crowbar Awards 2017

4.  Project Based Study

 

Contrary to the traditional ways of studying through memorising textbooks, more and more schools are shifting towards project-based programmes instead of examination based ones. 

 

This is because skills are highly sought after in the new economy now.

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Numerous industries have been disrupted by technology (e.g. Grab, AirBnB, Facebook) and companies are looking into hiring skilled employees to help them navigate through this new economy. An economy known as the gig economy, where skilled workers are much more highly valued over academic ones.

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Project based programmes allow students to learn new skills with each module instead of being judged by one's capability of memorising the textbooks. 

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Hence, look for a school that emphasises more on skills imparting than on examinations, and you most probably can't go too wrong.

5.  Having An Option to Work Part-Time 

 

If there is an option where you can study part-time for your diploma, you should actually consider going for it as opposed to studying full-time.

 

One of the reason being that you will be able to save up for various purposes (e.g. that well deserved year end holiday trip, pay for that new smart phone) if you have some side income from your part-time job.

 

Secondly, you can actually work as an intern in the industry before you graduate to see if the work really interests you. You will never know if you like a particular job scope until you have really worked on it before.

 

You can also put what you have learnt onto your actual work and vice versa.

 

Thirdly, with the work experience you have gathered over the 2 years of your part-time diploma course, you will eventually graduate, not as a fresh grad, but a diploma holder with near 2 years of real experience.

 

That will definitely put you at a much bigger advantage when compared to the rest of your peers who have zero work experience to boast of.

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