Last week, the government announced the nation’s fiscal plans for 2020.
While we were rejoicing at the additional $300 one-off cash payout for those above 21 years, and the fact that the GST increase will not happen this year, there’s another piece of good news you might have missed.
According to The Straits Times, Mid-career workers in their 40s and 50s will receive a top-up of $1,000 in SkillsFuture Credit, while a top-up of $500 will be given to all Singaporeans aged 25 and older.
The additional SkillsFuture Credit can be used from Oct 1 this year and will expire on Dec 31, 2025. Meanwhile the original $500 credits given to Singaporeans remains to have no expiry date, and can be used on 200 career transition programmes offered by the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres.
Yes, the Singapore government is giving us free money to improve our lives, yet some of us have been sitting on it forever!
If that’s you, and don’t know where to start, we’ll give you some tips on how to best maximise your credits to your advantage.
First up, a quick search on SkillsFuture will show you that there are eight categories under the SkillsFuture series (click on the courses tab), for Singaporeans to pick up valuable skills that can help them in today’s job market.
Depending on your expertise, SkillsFuture has a range of beginner and intermediate courses available. Prior to that, if you have little idea of what coding courses you might be interested in to start with or pick up next, check out our article on 5 programming languages to learn in 2020, first!
Whatever it is, the fee for most beginner courses range from costing nothing, to just under $1,000 credits. It’s important to build a solid foundation or at least get an idea whether it is something you want to pursue further.
But perhaps you want something more challenging. It’s gonna cost you a little more credits (and perhaps a bit of cash out of your own wallet), but it’s well worth it, especially if it's conducted by certified academies.
Many of these advanced courses are taught in actual Singaporean local universities, which would typically cost thousands to sign up for, but with your SkillsFuture credits, you’ll be getting it almost completely free.
So if you’re already a pro coder… maybe try something out of your usual skill set for a change?
There are many courses suited to growing soft skills, entrepreneurial skills and networking skills.
These are some courses we think could complement your already existing expertise, and it only requires between 50 to 200 SkillsFuture credits.
The best part? You can pair it with these NodeFlair guides on how to write a software engineering CV, plus 7 actionable tips to get noticed on LinkedIn.
Because no help is too much help. You may even reach out to one of our NodeFlair Talent Advocate
Working in one of the most sought after industries in the world means that everything is ever changing and at a really quick pace too! Make use of the free money given to you to get even better at doing what you already love, with SkillsFuture. Budget2020 huat!
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