Information Technology
– PC & Network Support
38th WorldSkills Competition
Helsinki, Finland, 2005

In July 2005, the history of skills competitions was rewritten. A young lady beat 19 other competitors of a traditionally male-dominated trade area to bring home not only the Gold Medal, but also the coveted Albert Vidal prize for the best score in the entire WorldSkills Competition 2005 (www.worldskills2005.com). However, no one in her Polytechnic expected her to do that well! Viridis, now dealing with the more everyday tasks in her job as a Development Technologist and contemplating further studies, reflects on her WorldSkills experience and her contribution to the WorldSkills Youth Forum (www.worldskillsyouthforum.com)and WorldSkills alumni in Singapore (http://www.worldskills.sg/wsn/).

You mean you did not specialise in PC & Network Support in your Polytechnic studies? How did you do it?

No, I was studying software development. It was quite difficult in the beginning, compared to my peers who were trained in networking technology during the course of their studies. I had a long way to catch up, especially in the first six months of training for WorldSkills Singapore. I guess it was easier since I always had an interest in computers and was determined to put in the extra hours of training. Even then, my friends thought I was a ‘wildcard’ entry!

However, the truth in this industry is that one area really cannot do without the other. Nowadays, when I meet clients for software solutions, I am actually in a better position to advise them on some of their hardware requirements as well. If anything, this would be one of the most tangible benefits that I received from the 2005 WorldSkills Competition in Helsinki!

It seems like you had a lot of obstacles to overcome. How did you feel when you were told that you were selected for WorldSkills, and what was the learning experience like from then on?

To be really honest, I didn’t even know what WorldSkills was back then! To me, Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore) was selecting the best possible people to take part in some IT-related skills competition, and I supposed with my academic abilities, my lecturers had more than enough faith in me.

I took up the offer for PC & Network Support more as a personal challenge. I felt I had nothing to lose, but everything to gain from learning something new. Initially, I did feel I was over-committing myself and was not sure if I could cope with my studies, school activities and extra training all at the same time. Fortunately, I had good lecturers and training managers who gave me a lot of flexibility to continue my training late at night.

With the highest honour in an international skills competition under your belt, how do you feel now?

I don’t believe winning is everything. To me, winning is more than that few seconds on stage; I see it as a recognition of all the years of effort, preparation and sacrifice made by yourself and all the people who believed in you.

At the competition, it never bothered me where I was ranked. I took each challenge as a test to do my best. It was I against myself, and I’m determined to make the best of it. In the end, while happy with my results, I was more relieved that my hard work had paid off and I didn’t let my trainers down for the effort and time they invested in me.

{mosimage}You seem very busy now with your commitment both as Singapore’s representative to the Youth Forum and designated Vice President of the WorldSkills Network in Singapore. Tell us a little bit more about the two projects.

The aim of the WorldSkills Youth Forum is to get together past competitors to improve the competition as a whole – something by youths, for the benefit of youths. Everyone is really friendly and eager to do what we can for future competitors.

The WorldSkills Network is headed by the Institute of Technical Education, Singapore. We are just starting a Pro-tem Committee and working on our identity and website. It’s really an alumnus for the finalists of WorldSkills Singapore. For me, the Singapore WorldSkills Network is a chance for us to network with fellow competitors, enhance standards of preparation for the WorldSkills competitions and also help inspire future participants by sharing our experiences.

WorldSkills International Member in Singapore: www.ite.edu.sg