1. With the fluid and fast changing economic climate, it is increasingly crucial to help our working people stay relevant in their career journeys. Having built an extensive network, the Labour Movement is ready to grow and strengthen a strong and extensive group of industry professionals, volunteers, community leaders and partners to support their peers’ and communities’ employment and employability needs.
2. The U Career Network will comprise four groups of enablers:
   1. Employability Coaches: trained specialists to provide one-to-one career guidance.
   2. Associate Coaches: part time career coaches trained to complement the existing pool of employability coaches.
   3. Employability Ambassadors: volunteers from youth groups, grassroots, and peer-to-peer networks to help raise awareness of employment and employability resources, such as labour market information and upcoming job fairs, and refer Singaporeans to career services.
   4. Industry Mentors: experienced professionals who can provide small group mentoring or industry related talks with their deep industry knowledge.
3. To equip the U Career Network, National Trades Union Congress’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) will provide them with knowledge and basic skills on career guidance, labour market information and job search resources.
   1. Employability Ambassadors and Industry Mentors will go through orientation and training on Singapore’s training and career services (such as labour market trends, Continuing Education Training (CET) framework, SkillsFuture, and programmes and resources for training and job search), service etiquette and roles, and receive basic career coaching training which will help to guide their conversation with jobseekers.
   2. Employability Coaches and Associate Coaches will receive career coaching training based on the Practicing Employability Coach Framework (PEC) and be briefed on service etiquette and roles. Beyond the coaching methodologies, they will also be trained in using coaching tools to guide jobseekers and understand various profiles on-the-job. They will also sit in to observe employability workshops, and be paired with certified career coaches.
   3. Everyone in the U Career Network will receive regular updates pertaining to jobs and training, and will be invited to learning and networking sessions, such as Communities of Practice and Seminars.

Launch of Practicing Employability Coach Framework

4. The U Career Network is powered by the Practicing Employability Coach Framework (PEC). With more than 10 years of experience in employability coaching to help Singaporeans, the PEC is developed to better support e2i’s expanded career services, which would help support the working people throughout their career journeys, from pre-employment to post-retirement.
5. The PEC framework provides a structured path to improve and recognise competencies of employability coaches. It is a practicing credential to professionalise and encourage coaches to practice, deepen their skillsets and provide commitment to high professional standards. This will also link up Singapore’s community of career coaching professionals. With all these in place, NTUC and e2i can better serve jobseekers and working professionals through all the different touchpoints.

U Career Network touchpoints

5. U Career Network will include community partners from People’s Association, Community Development Councils and Self-help Groups; Education and Career Guidance Counsellors, student leaders, and lecturers from Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs); representatives from the various NTUC Communities and the U Network like affiliated unions and associations, professional networks, U SME partners and U FSE (freelancers and self-employed) partners.
6. By leveraging the extensive network of NTUC and tapping on the strengths of the partners, NTUC can bring enhanced career services to more Singaporeans. This includes a wider range of touchpoints such as Career Centres, employability workshops, job fairs; district touchpoints, community events; IHL events and professional associations, workplaces, industry sessions.
7. Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO, e2i, said, “With the Practicing Employability Coach framework, career coaches can progress and provide professional services. This will be further strengthened by the extensive network of community partners, IHLs, industry experts, and labour movement partners, each with their strengths in understanding the skills and career needs of residents, youths, and industry peers. The U Career Network will bring everyone together to help Singaporeans raise their employability and prepare for jobs of tomorrow throughout their career journeys.