The move may be difficult, but can be rewarding for both personal and professional development. Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. Talents with overseas exposure are coveted for their ability to help companies realise their global aspirations. There is also robust appetite among Singapore talents to work abroad. However, employers frequently find it challenging to convince talents here to take up...

DBS’ sustainability chief reveals ways to get into sustainability and why sustainable finance matters. Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. The warmer the weather, the more we feel the impact of human activities on climate change. But how do we make a difference? Should we find jobs that work on sustainability, particularly on the environment front? Or invest in more meaningful asset classes in the...

Observing with empathy, asking the right questions and listening will go a long way to charting out how to give meaningful support. Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. Diversity, equity and inclusion are aspirational ideals that have permeated conversations of work life and good employment. Yet, there is still room for improvement when it comes to putting these aspirations into practice, if a...

We don’t all have to live frugally and retire by 40 years old, but we need to be financially disciplined so we can retire meaningfully. Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. FIRE in this context, stands for financial independence, retire early - a movement that points to the desire to retire earlier than the usual age range of 65 to 70, through a regime of aggressive investing, saving and frugality...

Salaries need to be structured more flexibly to reflect broader aspirations. Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. Views on pay issues vary widely among young workers depending on their professional and life goals. This was borne out in a survey of 1,000 young people commissioned by The Straits Times, carried out in May by market research firm Kantar and released in August. In this episode, ST...

Start early, compound your wealth, and try not to beat the market.  Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. Finance literacy experts always tell us to “start young” so we can make full use of the effect of compounding and grow our wealth from a young age.  But how early is early enough for first-time, young investors? Can an undergraduate without a full-time job start investing? Crucially, if someone...

New episodes from our rebranded podcast channel will drop here: https://str.sg/wB2m Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, get a headstart in your personal finance and career with The Straits Times. Our previous Money and Career podcast channel is now rebranded HeadSTart on Record, taking on a fresher and sharper approach on how to chase your aspirations and grow your money.  Hosts Sue-Ann Tan and Tay Hong Yi will speak with guests on how to navigate jobs and finances in a...

A well-written job description helps employers and jobseekers find the right fit. Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset. The job search is never easy, with limited time and lots of ground to cover. This means it is important to be able to suss out, with confidence, the likelihood a job opportunity is the right one to put your chips into, starting from understanding what job advertisements are saying. ...

Can mid-lifers breathe new life into stale careers with social media? Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. Will a leap into social media rain new work opportunities for a stale middle-age career? Will being on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and more show the boss that mid-lifers are still in tune with technology and on-trend? Join me and my special co-host, senior transport...

What are the strengths and weaknesses as of today, since the Catalist board was set up in 2007? Synopsis: Senior columnist Ven Sreenivasan offers you an extra edge in managing your hard-earned money. In this episode, Ven hosts Ong Hwee Li, the chief executive officer of SAC Capital. SAC specialises in areas like investment banking, corporate mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and equities research. They look at the profile of a segment of the Singapore market,...

Long internships are just one form of the many talent schemes that are accepted by employers. Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset. The job search is getting increasingly complex as the range of options broaden. Employers are also placing increasing focus on grooming talent in a more structured way to let them learn more and perform better. Host Tay Hong Yi speaks with his guests on the bevy of talent...

The iron rice bowl is still sturdy, but demands on Singapore's public service have changed. Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. With 152,000 employees across 16 ministries and more than 40 agencies, the public service is the biggest department in town.   It reports to the government, but has a higher boss - Singaporeans who scrutinise its performance and spending. Why would...

How is the government's $1.3 billion budget working for SMEs so far? We invite them on the show. Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. It is June, the mid-point of 2024. Join Krist Boo and her co-host Timothy Goh on Work Talk to hear how Singapore's Budget 2024 measures are affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  Joining them are Mr Ang Yuit, president of the Association of...

"Why invest in Singapore, when you can invest in the US?" Our guest expert counters this argument with facts and his opinion. Synopsis: Every third Monday of the month, senior columnist Ven Sreenivasan offers you an extra edge in managing your hard-earned money. In this episode, Ven hosts Thilan Wickramesinghe - regional head of research at Maybank Securities - to look at the investment outlook from our vantage point in Singapore, at the halfway mark of June, in 2024. This also comes...

Robust job prospects amid artificial intelligence race, despite trade tensions Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset. The semiconductor industry has been a fixture of Singapore's advanced manufacturing space since 1968. The industry has grown from strength to strength, and is now reentering the forefront of the global economy as companies hunger for hardware with the raw computing power to support...

Hear why active ETFs are becoming more popular.   Synopsis: Every third Monday of the month, hosts Lee Su Shyan and Ven Sreenivasan - both senior columnists at The Straits Times - offer you an extra edge in managing your hard-earned money. In this episode, J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Apac head of ETF - Philippe El-Asmar - discusses the growth of ETFs in Asia. In particular, there is a growing focus on active ETFs. Being actively managed, they may offer better returns. However, what are...

Adult learning research shows “productive failure” builds tenacity and deepens learning. Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset. Failure is not fatal. Instead, organisations and individuals can set themselves up to learn from each failure better and faster. However, this requires thought and effort to be put into fostering productive failure. In this episode, host Tay Hong Yi speaks with his guest on how...

The promise of it transforming our work lives is happening, but maybe not in the way we expected it to. Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. It has been 18 months since ChatGPT's public debut. Has the technology touted to change our work lives been helpful, but underwhelming? Or is it us? Of course, we had to ask gen AI Claude to produce our synopsis: This podcast goes beyond AI...

Consider other markets and the wider US tech sector.  Synopsis: Every third Monday of the month, hosts Lee Su Shyan and Ven Sreenivasan - both senior columnists at The Straits Times - offer you an extra edge in managing your hard-earned money. In this episode, Mr Adam Reynolds, Asia-Pacific CEO of Saxo, discusses the large exposure many investors have to the US tech stocks. What are the implications for them if the stocks face headwinds and how can they diversify? Highlights (click/tap...

A tech and corporate veteran breaks down the intensive interview process at top firms.Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset. As skill demands and job complexity increase with economic advancement, so do employer needs as reflected in increasingly intensive job interviews. The stakes are especially high for candidates seeking a foot in the door at cutting edge companies in the technology sector and...

Old vs young, abled vs disabled, woman vs man.  Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. Labels invariably affect workplace policies and work opportunities today. Why do we put labels on others?  Do Singapore workplaces pay lip service to inclusivity? Are Human Resources teams doing enough? With a fast-ageing Singapore, are we about to see real change at the workplace?   Join me and my...

How much should you put into your CPF Life then? Synopsis: Every third Monday of the month, hosts Lee Su Shyan and Ven Sreenivasan - both associate editors and senior columnists at The Straits Times - offer you an extra edge in managing your hard-earned money. In this episode, Mr Christopher Tan, CEO and founder of Providend - a fee-only wealth advisory - discusses the closure of the CPF special account for those 55 and over from early 2025, which was announced during Budget 2024. What are...

A talent expert who has helped over 200 people clinch jobs after a career break shares what works.Synopsis: Every second Monday of the month, The Straits Times helps you put your career on the right footing from the outset.At the best of times, making calculated career moves to meet one's financial and professional goals is hard, and even more so when one is returning from a career break.In this episode, host Tay Hong Yi speaks with his guest on how to make a successful return to the...

Will we cede jobs to quantum computing next?  Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, listen to the Work Talk podcast to help you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life. We may not time travel anytime soon, but quantum computing may go mainstream among businesses within a decade. What is this technology that inspires science-fiction tales? What do bosses and workers need to know about it?  Join me, Krist Boo, and my guests, Dr Paul Griffin, associate professor of...