100 spotted and signed up
PUBLISHED ONMarch 28, 2014 1:05 AMByGoh Wei Hao
Confidence, eloquence, wit and ambition - these are the qualities that MyPaper talent scouts were looking out for in yesterday's street hunt.
And their two-hour search in the Central Business District for MyPaper Executive 2014 did not leave them empty handed: almost 100 potential candidates were discovered.
Now in its seventh year, the annual event aims to discover young executives. After closed-door auditions, 20 finalists will be picked to attend networking, presentation and communications workshops to hone their skills. The top winner will go home with $10,000.
Ms Noreen Hassan was one of the first to be hand-picked yesterday.
The group administrative manager at EuroFin Asia Group, a merchant finance and wealth company, was approached outside Chevron House. She took some convincing, but eventually said yes as she thought the grooming workshops would benefit her.
"Many executives, including myself, do not put enough emphasis on how they dress," said the 28-year-old who was wearing a floral dress. "We are all too busy to really dress up."
She is confident that her ability to "connect with everyone and break the ice quickly" will give her a leg up in the competition.
Her colleague, Mr Desmond Lim, also signed up for the competition. The 30-year-old compliance manager said he hoped that the experience would help him to become "more proactive".
Pointing to Ms Noreen, he said: "I would not have joined the competition if she did not.
"The competition will also help me build up my confidence because of the workshops and the challenge of being judged."
Other contestants were also eager to jump into the fray.
Mr Vincent Wong, 28, a banking analyst at Barclays, believes that he has what it takes to be this year's winner. "I also heard that there's a $10,000 cash prize," he quipped.
Mr Wong, who signed up with a friend, is also excited to meet the other contestants.
He said: "It will help me gain a larger network and I will meet people from different industries."
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