For over a decade, our Singapore office has partnered with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East to mentor students and help them develop the skills and confidence needed to thrive in the workplace.

Singapore’s ITE is a public vocational education institution providing pre-employment training to secondary school graduates and continuing education and training to working adults. Its students often come from lower-income families and, despite strong technical skills, face barriers to accessing higher education or securing competitive jobs. To succeed, they need opportunities to strengthen presentation, communication and other core skills that support career progression and social mobility.

Practical insights

In recent years, Freshfields has collaborated with several clients to jointly deliver the training sessions. Each two-hour workshop brings together around 15 ITE students and three or four Freshfields and client mentors, offering practical insights on topics such as commercial awareness, office protocol, communication, networking and public speaking. Sessions typically include a short video, open discussion and interactive activities where students collaborate to present an idea or debate a topic.

The sessions encourage clear, confident delivery through role-play and small-group exercises that build comfort with eye contact, tone and humour. Mentors meet beforehand to plan and tailor content to each group, ensuring the material remains relevant and engaging. Workshops on communication and presentation aim to build confidence and help students perform well in interviews for schools, jobs and scholarships.

Feedback from students has been consistently positive, with many highlighting tangible improvements in their presentation skills, communication and confidence in public speaking. One student reflected: ‘I really appreciate the time and efforts the mentors put in sharing important advice and help strengthen both leadership and public speaking skills.’

2025 marks the 11th year of the collaboration, which to date has supported nearly 200 students. Reflecting on the partnership, Jeremy Tan, Counsel in our Singapore office who has led recent sessions, said: ‘Our decade-long collaboration with ITE has provided us and our clients with a meaningful opportunity to connect with local students in the Singapore community – many of whom come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds – and share certain skills and life experience to help these students transition into adulthood and their chosen careers after graduation.’

Nur Syazwani Ahmad, Head of Student Talent Development at ITE College East, added: ‘As an educator, it has been fulfilling working alongside the Freshfields team as they are always sincere in helping our students. The majority come from lower-income families, so opportunities like the ones offered by Freshfields are hard to come by. The students enjoy the programme, especially the meaningful discussions with their Freshfields mentors on various real-life issues they may face in their future careers.’

As the program enters its second decade, the aim remains unchanged: to equip young people with the confidence, skills and connections they need to pursue opportunity and realise their potential.