Empowering Career Conversion: Daylon Soh from CuriousCore

Empowering Career Conversion: Daylon Soh from CuriousCore https://dbcsingapore.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/photo1703129777-2.jpeg 1280 960 Design Business Chamber Singapore Design Business Chamber Singapore https://dbcsingapore.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/photo1703129777-2.jpeg January 12, 2024 January 12, 2024

`^{Daylon Soh, Founder & Product Educator}`
`^{at CuriousCore}`

Tell us a little more about yourself and what inspired you to start CuriousCore?

I’m the founder of CuriousCore, which empowers individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to excel in a digital career. CuriousCore’s portfolio comprises of a range of career conversion programs with career coaching and practical projects, as well as skills training for companies looking to digitalise or shift their workforce mindset in a customer centric world.

I launched CuriousCore with the initial goal of assisting design students from both private and public institutes in securing employment. I observed that institutions often neglect the importance of portfolio preparation and career coaching.

What is your greatest learning experience from running CuriousCore?

After running CuriousCore for close to 5 years, the practice of continuous improvement and reinvention is necessary to stay competitive and relevant as a business. Over the years, I evolved my leadership and business development approach, where I started placing more emphasis on values, critical thinking, and resourcefulness.

How do you stay informed on the latest design trends?

I follow a few accounts on Instagram to stay ahead on design trends, like @keijiashizawadesign and @studioilse. These days, I find myself following more architects, interior designers, and management thinkers compared to my time as a design student, when my focus was primarily on visual creatives.

What is your UX trend prediction for 2024?

I’m really excited about the possibilities of AI in UX Design and have started incorporating it into our programs. For example, instead of redesigning your existing interface to dark mode, you can feed your existing screens to an AI software and have it converted in minutes. 2024 will be a year when Figma and Adobe will introduce more AI tools, and we’re already seeing that with FigJam.

What advice would you offer to emerging professionals who want to excel in the field of UX design and product management?

Don’t just pick up the software know-how and technical skills. Get more than a handful of rounds of feedback for your portfolio and improve it while building communication and product thinking skills. The tech industry is one of the few industries willing to hire for skills rather than certifications.

What can we look forward to from CuriousCore in 2024?

We are busy expanding our business training and coaching solutions to train teams as part of digitalisation efforts. Furthermore, we also look forward to training tech-lite managers and analysts in Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

It’s receiving news of our students landing a role in tech, and changing their entire career trajectory and compensation. Also, helping teams to discover their aha moments through a better way of working on their digital channels and products.

Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing?

I was a gamer. I still try to carve out some time to play games despite being a Dad with a newborn. I just finished the main questline for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.