February 18, 2022, by ZY
MPharm Student Wins Top 25 Talentbank Future Leader Award
MPharm Year 2 Student from the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM), Mabeth Tan Oon Ling, has won the “Top 25 Future Leader Award” by Talentbank. The Future Leader Award aims to recognise top university students who excel in both academics and extracurricular activities.
What is Future Leader Awards?
Future Leader Awards is a programme by Talentbank that acts as a career accelerator for students. It aims to recognise top university students in different fields of study and provide further training to groom them for the future workforce. Moreover, the selected students get the opportunity to enhance their employability by networking with potential employers.
How did you find this programme?
I came across this programme on LinkedIn and from the posts by our UNM Careers Advisory social media. It piqued my interest as they noted that they wish to recognise top students in the market, across various fields of study. Over the years, I noticed that students from different courses may have different experiences and focuses. For example, pharmacy would be a course that is heavily academic-based. However, on the other hand, students from other courses may spend the entire year carrying out full-time internships in top companies. Hence, I found it interesting that this award took full consideration of this and decided to give this opportunity a try.
What did you do and learn from this program?
My greatest realisation from this experience is that there are so many passionate and talented people out there! Every one of them excels in their own unique ways with their different career journeys and challenges. They invest time developing their career pathways and exploring different industries to the one best suited for them. Some even founded their own startups! It was truly an eye-opening and humbling experience.
Other than that, the career preparation workshops organised by Talentbank also allowed us to communicate and have a deep conversation with their CEO. By having strong connections with many companies across Malaysia, he gave us insights on job applications and important career tips.
The workshops started with a series of questions to increase our self-understanding. By having a clear grasp of our strengths and weaknesses, we will know how to develop ourselves and leverage our strengths. It was then followed by a series of other important career tips which include: career strategies, networking, workplace etiquette, personal branding and much more!
The open Q&A session with Talentbank’s CEO was one of the most memorable parts of the workshop. It allowed us to bring up and discuss various problems in personal life or leadership that we may have. It was interesting to listen to the different scenarios faced by the others and insightful to receive responses to the topics that I brought up during the session.
What helped prepare you for this program?
I believe that self-understanding, leadership and personal branding are some of the most important points. Co-curricular activities and leadership positions in clubs allow you to discover your strengths and weaknesses. Event organising experiences in university also improve your problem management skills. You may even discover talents you never knew! Whereas LinkedIn is the best platform for personal branding. It is a platform for you to showcase your achievements and find different opportunities.
Our UNM MPharm course has also emphasised the importance of pharmacists to develop their leadership skills. We also gain leadership skills through the course itself!
Any tips for accelerating your career as a student?
Explore different experiences and broaden your horizons! Don’t be afraid to try out new things and take up leadership positions. Every little step counts. LinkedIn is also a great place to start for personal branding and to explore career opportunities. I would also recommend students to join Talentbank’s Future Leader Awards for many more career insights that are truly valuable.
As for the final note, you don’t need to compare yourself with anyone else. Everyone’s career journey, preferences and choices are different. Personal growth and learning are what matters most!
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