Choose Your Boss or Choose Your Job?

When deciding on a new job, particularly when you have more than one offer, what do you prioritise, the company and role, or who will be your boss?

Jack Ma famously said “When you are 20-30 years old, please find a good boss. A good boss is better than a good company. A good boss will discipline you, train you, develop you". His advice to young people was that your first job does not have to be your “dream job” or even one you particularly enjoy, but it does have to be one where you can learn from others and stretch yourself, and a good boss is critical to this.

How many of you have built this into your job-decision criteria? Have you tried to ‘interview’ your potential boss during your interview to know if they are the right one for you? What does a ‘good boss’ mean anyway? Join this session to hear from seasoned professionals on whether they prioritised the role, company or the boss in their career decisions and how this has impacted their career.

Look forward to finding out:

• What these successful professionals have prioritised in their career paths and what advice they have for your
• What to consider when making moves from one job to the next to advance in your career
• The impact of having a good bosses and not so good bosses in their careers
• How you can ask critical questions to see if the hiring manager has potential to be your mentor or sponsor.
• What to look for in a 'good boss'. Is personality or experience more important?

This session is brought to you in partnership with the launch of the book " Before the Good Things Come", a collection of interviews with people who have 'made it' in life, focusing on the hardships they have been through on the way to the top. The book covers burning questions about life, work, and adulting, such as how to get promoted, do's and don'ts for getting a job, running a side hustle, dealing with office politics, managing relationships with your bosses, and other related topics.

Speakers

Alice Yu Yuebo (Moderator)
Partnership and Industry Marketing, NCS Group

Alice leads regional partnership and industry marketing at NCS, a No.1 IT services provider in Southeast Asia, to strengthen its thought-leadership positioning and awareness through co-branding campaigns across APAC region.

She has helped a VC-backed EdTech startup launch highly effective partnership programs in China that drove double-digit conversions, set up a 360 marketing strategy as part of a regional-wide digital transformation for a B2B consulting company, and supported an insurance brand to achieve Top 1 growth in Gen Z engagement and Top 3 for top-of-mind awareness in Singapore. In 2019 she received Women in Marketing (WiM) Global Awards as ‘The One to Watch’ in 2019, Innovator 25 APAC in 2020, and was nominated for Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia 2021.

Passionate about art, she founded an exclusive community Mama on Palette for mother artists and art lovers which has over 1000+ online members and the podcast was ranked No.7 in Art category in Singapore.

Gladys Ng Kai Xin (Moderator)

Gladys currently runs CareerWareer, which she co-founded to help jobseekers enhance their personal brands and land their dream jobs. After meeting hundreds of job seekers, Gladys believes in making career decisions rationally. This is her “why” for writing Before The Good Things Come.

Joe Peng
Asia-Pacific (APAC) Chief Digital Officer, BCW Global

Joe leads the development of BCW’s digital transformation and the strategic growth of the firm’s digital communications business in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. As APAC Chief Digital Officer, Joe counsels clients on their brand and integrated marketing communications efforts, specifically in developing enterprise digital strategies and digitally-driven integrated marketing programs. Joe started his career as a reporter for a Chinese business magazine, and once co-founded an e-commerce startup. As a coach and a volunteer mentor, he is a huge advocate of knowing your value, developing a growth mindset, and exploring win-win outcomes for all parties involved. 

Belina Lee
Chief Executive Officer, Mandai Global

Belina is CEO of Mandai Global and Deputy CEO, Transformation and Growth of Mandai Park Holdings. At Mandai, Belina leads efforts to transform the organization into a globally impactful conservation and sustainability brand. Belina comes with experiences in building and leading award-winning and impactful innovation activities at top multinational corporations, including Singapore Airlines, MasterCard and American Express. Belina is a huge advocate of being hungry to learn, measuring the outcomes of your work and finding a ‘right’ leader to work with.