Sharing Session with SMU students in Jan 2022: (Brief) Summary of career journey, Interviewing at Shopify and Perspectives on starting early career
This video was made as a presentation to students at Singapore Management University (SMU), my alma mater, as part of a wider presentation / sharing session together with my Shopify colleagues. Video was filmed on 28 Jan 2022 and presented on 31 Jan 2022.
Summary of content:
Intro
My name is John Lim, Singapore Management University (SMU) alumni
Graduated in 2009 from School of Economics with second major in corporate communications
Currently, I’m a senior business development manager at Shopify. My role focuses on growing Shopify in SEA by working w groups and organizations like government agencies, policy makers, trade groups, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, community organizations, associations and foundations
13 years ago in 2009, I was sitting exactly at where you are right now, anxious about life after SMU
Brief summary of my career journey so far
I started my career in banking like most SMU economics and business students in 2009
I co-founded a laser tag events business which later began to manufacture gaming equipment with AR/VR components; I spent 6.5 years on this entrepreneurial stint
I then joined an exciting Singapore IoT (i.e. internet of things) tech startup called Igloohome; who designs and manufactures smart locks. They have since rebranded and known as Igloocompany. One of the things that drew me to Igloohome was its global partnership with Airbnb - the smart locks solve the painful problem of the Airbnb host needing to pass the house keys to the guest and collecting the keys back after they check out. I started out as the Singapore General Manager and then I was managing the sales and business development for Southeast Asia by the time I left
I wanted to learn more about ecommerce and how bigger organizations work. So I joined Lazada in Nov 2019, which was a really lucky timing. So as we all know, in early 2020, Covid19 came and changed the world in many many ways. Ecommerce was one of the very few industries which saw insane surge of demand and also became a lifeline for many small businesses (read 3 Lessons I Learnt at Lazada and some of my past work)
Which brings me to... Shopify.
My experience interviewing and getting a role at Shopify
I joined Shopify in early Jan 2022.
I have been a fan boy of Shopify - especially on how easy it enables businesses of all sizes to sell online. Having been an entrepreneur, i was very attracted to Shopify’s mission of empowering and championing entrepreneurship
How was the interview process like?
I had saved Shopify as a job alert on Linkedin
I saw the job posting in Nov 2021, submitted my application
Talent Acquisition (TA) from Shopify reached out within a week to schedule an online interview with the hiring manager or my lead Jonathan - this is where i felt was a little unique - usually TA or HR will speak w you first as first round of interview
And 2nd unique thing - and you can see on Shopify careers website - is the interview format - Shopify calls it The Life Story Interview - where its more of a two-way conversation to cover your professional and PERSONAL experiences (not just professional)
So my first round was the hiring manager
2nd round consists of 2 interviews - conducted separately - 1 was with a technical person and the other was with my hiring manager’s manager
and that was it - 2 rounds, took place over 2.5 weeks - rather quick compared to other companies I know
Lastly, I’d leave you with some perspectives on starting your career soon. You probably are already very familiar with the job portals, there are also a lot of material on interview tips so i wont go into those.
Perspectives on starting early career
At the start of your career, there is no better time to try or experiment
if there is something - a role or industry, etc. that you have always been curious about, go try it out. opportunity cost at the start of your career is the lowest
knowing what you don’t want is also part of knowing what you want
for me, I tried banking sales as my first job - I was curious, got into it, realized it’s not my cup of tea and got it out of the way
your qualifications should be an asset not liability - don’t let your qualifications hold you back from what you wanna do or at least try
Play the long game
current retirement age in SG will be raised to 63 on 1st july 2022 and there are plans to raise this to 65 by 2030. assuming you are in early to mid 20s now, that means you would typically work for at least 40 years on average; AND life expectancy is gonna keep increasing (that means we’ll end up working longer)
40-year career: it’s a marathon, not a sprint
be a bit more long-sighted - delay short term rewards for longer term growth - invest in your career for the long run - in the form of learning, exposure and training opportunities, having good mentors to learn from, etc
Be open and proactive to reach out
be open to reaching out to get insider and/or wider perspectives - reach out on LinkedIn to ask for coffee chats or zoom calls - with people in the company you’re applying for and/or more experienced senior folks whom you aspire to be in your career. You’d be surprised how open people would be.
Save up
as much as possible, keep as close to your current student expenses or lifestyle for as long as possible
make deliberate effort to save up
saving up prepares you for emergencies like being made reluctant (retrenched); it gives you more freedom and flexibility in your career choices down the road
Rounding up
Topics like career, career change, re-defining success are close to my heart. In fact I recently started a podcast where I speak with folks who took the roads less travelled with unconventional career and life journeys.
Shameless plug here: podcast name is On My Own Terms podcast available on Spotify and Apple podcasts
You can reach out and connect w me on Linkedin: John Lim CY
Enjoy the rest of your remaining time being a student!
