Alan Yuen

Mentor

Programmes:

Communication Studies
School of Communication & Information

Summary

Hi there! I’m Alan, a Communication studies graduate with experience in journalism, video production, digital marketing and business development. Having studied both international business and communication, I am a generalist at heart. I believe in cultivating breadth and applying knowledge to new situations and different domains.

I am currently working at Shopee, under their Regional Partnerships team.

Featured Skills

Communication Partner Marketing

Work Experience

Regional Marketing (Partnerships) Associate Jul 2021 - Present

Shopee Singapore

• Shopees regional partnerships objective is to build a network of key partners to access new user base, add value for our users and enhance the Shopee brand with industry-first in-app and out-of-app activations.

• I work with local partnership teams across 7 different countries on potential partnerships across commercial sectors (e.g. FMCG, FB, property)

Education

Bachelor Of Communication Studies (Communication) Aug 2017 - May 2021

Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Diploma in International Business (International Business) May 2012 - Jan 2015

Ngee Ann Polytechnic Singapore

Other Skills

Marketing Digital Marketing Marketing Strategy Integrated Marketing Marketing Communications Public Relations Strategic Partnerships Project Management Strategic Partnerships Marketing Digital Marketing Integrated Marketing Marketing Strategy Marketing Communications Project Management Public Relations

Q&A with Alan Yuen

What books that shaped the way you think?

Alan Yuen

One way that I kept up my “business” education in uni was through books. Some are more directly related, others less so. But here are some books that I would recommend:

* The Personal MBA does a great job of distilling key concepts in business. As the title suggests, it provides you with the same mental models and lessons you’d learn in an MBA class.

* Shoe Dog and The Ride of a Lifetime are two of my favourite business memoirs.

* Range helped me to understand how generalists like me can thrive in an age of hyper-specialisation. It also helped me see the value I brought by being able to pull from both business and humanities discipline in my work.

* On Writing Well taught me to be a better writer. Naturally, it helped me in school, but being able to clearly convey your ideas is just as important in a business setting.

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Posted 3 years ago
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If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? If not, what would you change?

Alan Yuen

To give some context, even though I chose to study Communication in uni, I always intended to have a business career. This decision stems from the fact that I had already studied International Business in poly; I wanted to diversify my skillset. I took a class in media studies in secondary school and love reading and watching movies, so Communication was a natural choice.

In uni, I was completely unstrategic in the modules I took. I studied what interested me with no thought about its practical benefit. I had no intention to be a journalist or filmmaker. Yet, I took newsroom practicums and chose to specialise in film studies and documentary filmmaking. I jumped headfirst into learning the tools of storytelling. All this while, I had this vague notion that all this would eventually benefit me down the road.

I didn’t give it much thought about my career until my third year, when I started seriously considering how I was going to negotiate this return to business. To be honest, I underestimated how difficult it would be. I realised that this conviction to return to business was all in my head — and I didn’t have experience to back it up. As I was wrote articles and made videos, my peers in business school were learning actual skills like marketing, coding and data analytics. I had little to show in those departments.

The critical moment for me came in my third year, when it was time to look for a six-month professional internship, which was a course requirement. By then, I was certain I had a general interest to work in tech marketing. I set my sights on landing an internship at a large tech firm (think, Amazon, Circles Life, NinjaVan, etc). It turned out to be a very difficult search. I must have applied to 20 or 30 places, facing waves of rejection, because frankly, I didn’t have much hard skills to offer.

After a long search, I managed to secure an internship for a regional marketing position at Grab. It turned out that they were looking for someone with content skills, and my background as a travel writer happened to be something that caught their eye. I started my internship search in earnest around April. I didn’t land an internship until late November - barely more than a month before I was due to start. That internship was probably the biggest factor in helping me secure a full-time role at Shopee when I graduated.

So, to answer the question, would I choose the same path if I could do it all over again?

The short answer is no. The long answer is that I recognise that the choice to pursue something I love put me at an uphill battle to get into my target industry in tech. I have no regrets, because I got the chance to study something I loved instead of going for the pragmatic choice. In hindsight, this is what I could have done better:

* I would take a summer internship in year two to gain more experience and demonstrate my interest in my target industry.

* I would take advantage of the wealth of free online courses to gain more relevant skills

At the same time, there were things that I did well:

* I participated in case competitions (such as NTU PEAK), that helped me gain more relevant business experience. I also got the chance to meet industry folks and expand my network.

* I used my interest in tech and business knowledge to freelance as a copywriter for tech and business publications. These experiences helped me to sell myself, especially for content marketing roles in tech companies.

To give some context, even though I chose to study Communication in uni, I always intended to have a business career. This decision stems from the fact that I had already studied International Business in poly; I wanted to diversify my skillset. I took a class in media studies in secondary school and love reading and watching movies, so Communication was a natural choice.  In uni, I was completely unstrategic in the modules I took. I studied what interested me with no thought about its practical benefit. I had no intention to be a journalist or filmmaker. Yet, I took newsroom practicums and chose to specialise in film studies and documentary filmmaking. I jumped headfirst into learning the tools of storytelling. All this while, I had this vague notion that all this would eventually benefit me down the road.  I didn’t give it much thought about my career until my third year, when I started seriously considering how I was going to negotiate this return to business. To be honest, I underestimated how difficult it would be. I realised that this conviction to return to business was all in my head — and I didn’t have experience to back it up. As I was wrote articles and made videos, my peers in business school were learning actual skills like marketing, coding and data analytics. I had little to show in those departments.  The critical moment for me came in my third year, when it was time to look for a six-month professional internship, which was a course requirement. By then, I was certain I had a general interest to work in tech marketing. I set my sights on landing an internship at a large tech firm (think, Amazon, Circles Life, NinjaVan, etc). It turned out to be a very difficult search. I must have applied to 20 or 30 places, facing waves of rejection, because frankly, I didn’t have much hard skills to offer.  After a long search, I managed to secure an internship for a regional marketing position at Grab. It turned out that they were looking for someone with content skills, and my background as a travel writer happened to be something that caught their eye. I started my internship search in earnest around April. I didn’t land an internship until late November - barely more than a month before I was due to start. That internship was probably the biggest factor in helping me secure a full-time role at Shopee when I graduated.  So, to answer the question, would I choose the same path if I could do it all over again?  The short answer is no. The long answer is that I recognise that the choice to pursue something I love put me at an uphill battle to get into my target industry in tech. I have no regrets, because I got the chance to study something I loved instead of going for the pragmatic choice. In hindsight, this is what I could have done better:  * I would take a summer internship in year two to gain more experience and demonstrate my interest in my target industry. * I would take advantage of the wealth of free online courses to gain more relevant skills At the same time, there were things that I did well:* I participated in case competitions (such as NTU PEAK), that helped me gain more relevant business experience. I also got the chance to meet industry folks and expand my network. * I used my interest in tech and business knowledge to freelance as a copywriter for tech and business publications. These experiences helped me to sell myself, especially for content marketing roles in tech companies.

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