Yale-NUS alumni use interdisciplinary skills to forge career pathways

As Yale-NUS students move into the workforce, many alumni have taken advantage of the interdisciplinary skills developed during their time at the College to forge enviable career paths.

Tamara Burgos (Class of 2018) currently works as a ​​consultant at Tempting Talent, a recruitment-focused firm based in London. Her job is a hybrid role of strategy consulting and executive search. She also conducts market research and manages relationships with clients, many of whom are based in the United States.

The multi-faceted role she holds in this company requires her to use many interdisciplinary skills within her job, which have been honed by her time at Yale-NUS.

“What I’ve found really fascinating is that a lot of skills and knowledge you acquire in the College don’t translate in the most obvious way when you start working full-time. But that doesn’t mean they’re not present on a daily basis,” said Tamara.

Tamara uses skills such as written communication, data analysis, and critical thinking on an everyday basis, which she started practising regularly while studying in Yale-NUS.

Image provided by Tamara Burgos.

Interdisciplinary learning at Yale-NUS has ultimately helped her succeed in her role. “The ability to present my thoughts in a structured way, backed up with evidence – just as we were required to in seminars and essays – has made me stand out amongst my peers when leading client meetings and presentations,” she noted.

In particular, Tamara cites her time working as a Residential College Adviser (RCA) – a role that requires third or fourth-year students to mentor and guide a group of incoming first-years – at the College as the most helpful for developing soft skills to better navigate the workplace.

Explaining the unique challenges this job taught her to tackle, she said, “It’s a role that requires you to have a very nuanced approach to problem-solving, as you have to be attentive to each student you’re responsible for. Having hands-on experience navigating a very diverse environment of thought, culture, and communication styles made it much easier for me to adapt to new work settings and team structures in the workplace.”

Linus Seah (Class of 2017), also an alumnus, currently works as a product manager at GSK Asia, a research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company. His job involves working with a team of employees in engineering, sales, and finance on a daily basis.

Image provided by Linus Seah.

As Linus recounted the wide range of people he must liaise with, he noted that interdisciplinary skills have played a big part in his work as “this type of work requires you to develop different kinds of vocabulary and sensibility to influence these teams and make good decisions.”

Just like Tamara, Linus credits his time at Yale-NUS for enabling him to develop these interdisciplinary skills. In particular, it helped him appreciate that different strands of knowledge and skill sets can lead to innovative ideas, which has supported his growth as a product manager.

Furthermore, he has learned the importance of being open to new ideas, allowing him to improve as an individual and as a professional. “My time at Yale-NUS has taught me to keep an open mind and to be intentional about trying and learning new things,” he said. “I think that has been rather crucial for me in the workplace because you have to keep learning in order to remain competitive.”

Izzah Haziqah graduated from Yale-NUS College in 2020 and is currently a management consultant at Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm. Her job requires her to work in teams to address clients’ business problems and provide them with research-based solutions.

Image provided by Izzah Haziqah.

Interdisciplinary skills are a key part of her role as she must often think critically and beyond what is immediately visible to solve clients’ problems. “In my role, I often find myself employing critical and lateral thinking skills to break down and tackle complex problems – be it for a business struggling to stay afloat during this trying period or a public health policy that requires a strategic review,” Izzah said.

Izzah believes her time at Yale-NUS has enabled her to develop vital skills for her career.

“In many ways, my current career mirrors my education experience at Yale-NUS,” she said. “In both my educational and professional roles, I have had the opportunity to be exposed to different fields which challenged me and forced me to consider multiple perspectives.”

While the classes she took while at the College helped her hone critical thinking skills and learn about new topics, outside of the classroom, she gained invaluable global exposure.

“Having the opportunity to experience a semester abroad, learning a new language, and being exposed to people from around the world has made me comfortable in the cosmopolitan, client-facing role of a consultant, where my colleagues and clients are as varied as the people I met in my college journey,” she said.

Prior to her role as a consultant, Izzah worked as an intern for a software start-up, wrote policy reports for a non-profit group, and taught at a Malay-Muslim self-help organisation. Through these experiences, she was able to further develop the various skill sets she honed over time, which led to her decision to embark on a consulting career post-graduation.

“Ultimately, I believe my diverse academic and professional experiences have granted me the confidence to approach any situation with an open mind, willingness to learn, and ability to analyze and tackle complex issues from multiple lenses,” she concluded.