On 7th September 2021, the Department of Psychology at Sunway University collaborated with Sunway Career Services to host their 5th Annual Psychology Forum. The forum provides a platform for students to learn from experts in different areas of Psychology about career pathways that can be explored within this field. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's forum was conducted online via the Zoom platform which garnered many students from the Department of Psychology and the Sunway University Business School. Senior Lecturer and Internship Coordinator at the Department of Psychology, Dr Woo Pei Jun moderated the event with the assistance of Ms Thisalini Valliatham from Sunway Career Services. Dr Woo kickstarted the event by introducing the guest speakers and then inviting them to explain what they do in their respective fields.

Participants listened attentively as Mr Edward Hoh - Clinical Psychologist at Happy Leaves Autism and Special Needs Centre, Ms Chong Ling Chih – Clinical Director and Founder of Behavior Analysis Academy (BAA) and Dr Ng Yin Lu - Manager of People Advisory Services at Ernst and Young, spoke about their tasks and responsibilities. The speakers also gave fun anecdotes about the not-so-glamorous parts of their job which provided a realistic view of their daily lives.

To provide interested students with a guide on how to follow their career path, the speakers talked about their academic and work experiences. They unanimously agreed that students need critical thinking skills, grit, open-mindedness, creativity, and a hunger for learning to be able to excel in any field. The forum ended with a Q&A session and questions rolled in with such vigour that the speakers didn’t have time to address them all. The speakers briefly answered a range of questions from Masters’ degree programmes to tips on how to promote mental health in any work environment. 

Overall, the event was highly successful, students raved about the insights the forum provided them. One student said, “The speakers gave so much information that was very helpful as I was looking for someone to explain the pathway for postgraduate requirements as well.” Another one commented, "I think the forum was very well done and insightful. All three speakers gave a lot of information about various pathways of psychology. It cleared up a lot of my doubts about what I can do after my degree."

Professor Alvin Ng Lai Oon
School of Medical and Life Sciences
Email: @email

This article was adapted from the SMiLeS Newsletter, Issue 3/2021.