PRESIDENT'S 2022 MESSAGE
Dear CDAS members,
Thank you for being present at our 4th CDAS AGM.
It has been a wonderful & challenging 4 years since we started as an association and it has been an interesting journey for all of us. Throughout this time, we had demonstrated resilience through our ability to organised high quality webinars and masterclasses throughout 2020-2021, with great numbers of participants attending our events. We are thankful for the partnership from Workforce Singapore, who had supported the workshops and webinars. Also I want to take this opportunity to thank our Honorary Secretary Ms Clare Poon, who had been the key driver and organizer of our CDASLearns events.
As we start to come out of Covid and heading back to normalcy, it would be a re-adjustment for everyone even as we begin a new phase for the Association and for all of us to adjust to the transition. I am confident that in 2022 we would continue to see and keep the career coaching base growing significantly and over time Singaporeans will start to understand what career development is all about and we dispel the usual misconceptions such as career development is only about job placements!
For 2022 and the immediate years ahead, we intend fully engage our membership base as well as to increase the level of collaboration with NTUC UPME since CDAS is now a U Associate. This partnership will definitely augur well for the career development community as we are now able to reach more individuals and raise awareness of career development across the ecosystems within NTUC and the UPME community.
With this aim, I believe we can continue to build on what we have established over the past 3 years and to grow the Association to become much more relevant in terms of the activities of career development, benefitting both our members who are career practitioners as well as public. It will not be a walk in the park but I believe we a new incoming team, we are confident that membership strength with continue to grow beyond what we have now (estimated 100 at this point).
I also want to take this opportunity to offer my thanks and appreciation to the outgoing Council team for the hard work done over the past 4 years. It is very encouraging for our fledging association because the new incoming team have positively stepped up to bring in new ideas and facilitate new directions for the association as well as for our members.
Do watch out for the next half of 2022 as more activities will be planned to increase the impact of CDAS amongst the community.
Warm regards
Dr Timothy Hsi
PRESIDENT'S 2020 MESSAGE
Dear CDAS members,
I had originally planned to release this announcement later but due to the constantly evolving COVID-2019 situation around the world and especially in Singapore, I thought that it would be opportune for me to bring this forward.
Annual General Meeting
We had planned for the CDAS AGM to be held at the last week of February but the Council had proposed for the AGM to be postponed tentatively to Sat, 11 July 2020. For this AGM, we will be electing Council Members to serve for the next two years. All positions are open for nomination. Look out for the email from our secretariat in the coming weeks regarding this.
Learning Events
This year will be an exciting year for CDAS members!
With support from Workforce Singapore, we have lined up MasterClasses, seminars, webinars and community of practice events throughout 2020. Some of the topics that we will be covering in these sessions include supervision skills in career practice, modern application of career theories, enabling clients to excel when networking, understanding the career-mental health connection, and lots more! Since the events will likely be chargeable, it’s surely a good time to renew your membership to be able to fully benefit from the big discounts that will be available for the suite of upcoming topics which is geared towards feeding your professional growth!
Volunteering opportunities
Since the theme for CDAS in 2020 is ‘engaging in career conversations’, there will be upcoming opportunities for members to be involved alongside CDAS in serving the public through engaging in various events organised jointly with different public agencies. This is a great opportunity for members to offer their career coaching expertise either through one-to-one work, or even in presenting talks in an area of career development that will further aid in career conversations between individuals in the community.
Conclusion
Finally, as all of us manage our daily work and life in this uncertain health environment, our encouragement to all members is to remain calm, logical yet creative as we continue to respond to our surroundings while monitoring recommendations from various health agencies both locally and internationally.
Stay safe.
Warm regards
Dr Timothy Hsi
Dear CDAS members,
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Season’s Greetings from the CDAS Council! We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your membership support this year. 2019 is the 1st year of our existence as an Association and I am proud that we have organised quite a significant number of events that have brought benefits to our members as well as for the public.
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We are working hard to bring even more exciting developments to your Association membership in 2020, and I believe these upcoming events, initiatives and programmes will continue to put CDAS on the mark as the Peak Career Association in Singapore! I can’t wait to share them with you, but I have to hold that off until the new year. So, what I will share below would be a review of the events and initiative which we have successfully concluded this year.
In 2019, the following events were organised:
CDAS Learns Events
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February 2019
Lead Think – Branding the Coach, the Path to Brand Strategy
May 2019
Swimming on Social
June 2019
Post APCDA sharing
October 2019
Ageism and Career Management
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CDAS Outreach Events
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June 2019
Collaboration with Nanyang Polytechnic – CDAS presented to students and alumni on “Exploring your career future through skill exploration”.
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July 2019
Collaboration with National Library Board – CDAS presented to members of the public on the topic – “Factors influencing your career choice”
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March, June & October 2019
Introducing CDAS to participants of WSG’s Career Facilitation Programme
CDAS Networking Events
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April 2019
Council members (paid by themselves) attended the APCDA 2019 conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and interacted and promoted CDAS amongst many of the international participants.
Aug 2019
CDAS organised a networking event for members (Pay your own) at Sofitel Singapore City Centre
CDAS AGM
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March 2019
CDAS AGM
As CDAS grows in stature and influence, I believe we will continue to make headway into various industries in Singapore through the work that we do. This not only increases our ability to provide knowledge around career development and management, we will continue to play a significant role in informing and educating the public to the importance of understanding and taking steps to manage their own career directions and future.
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In conclusion, I want to acknowledge the hard work put in by the Council members and those of our members who have volunteered their time organising and leading our events. My heartfelt thanks to you who have contributed your time and effort! Without you, CDAS would never have done so well for 2019!
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Until then, have a fantastic end to 2019, and fabulous & happy start to 2020!
Dr Timothy Hsi, (P) CDAS
Founding President
Career Development Association of Singapore
PRESIDENT'S 2019 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
PRESIDENT'S WELCOME MESSAGE
It is my honour to pen the first ever President's message for the Career Development Association of Singapore (CDAS).
When I started the journey to teach career practitioners in 2014, little did I know that I would be embarking on a journey to building a whole new generation of career practitioners in Singapore.
From the seeds of the first Job and Career Transition Coach workshop to the many runs of the Advanced Certificate for Career Development Facilitation courses thereafter, I had unwittingly installed the foundations of professionalism in all the trainees who had received instructions in career development.
By the third quarter of 2016, suggestions and talk of an Association started amongst quite a few practitioners. This discussion came to a head at the December 2016 Community of Practice organised by the Workforce Singapore, where I proposed to all present that it was time to start an Association that would represent the voice of career practitioners in Singapore. A group of 6 subsequently volunteered and stepped forward to form the working committee with the aim of possibly establishing the Association within 12 to 18 months.
To cut the long story short, by the beginning of 2018, we had a team of founding members who had committed to setting up the Association with the following aims:
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To promote the professional development and status of career development practitioners in Singapore.
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To serve as a common platform for all career development practitioners to foster professionalism and professional education and increase professional identity of practitioners.
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To be the voice of career practitioners in Singapore and to represent the interests of practitioners from any setting.
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To provide a body of research knowledge with regards to career development.
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To become the representative association for career practitioners in Singapore.
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To be affiliated to international organisations in career development.
At this starting point of the journey, I am filled with much thankfulness and great appreciation for members of the Founding Council who have worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality.
To our members, the journey starts now. This Association belongs to you. It represents your professional voice, hopes and ideals. Let's put our hands together as a collective to fulfill the potential of what we have set out to do.
Welcome to our future!
Dr Timothy Hsi