Singapore Good Design Awards 2022:
Welcome to SingaLand – the walk-a-mile Career Design Simulation
Avid Adventure’s “Welcome to SingaLand” Career Design Simulation Game helps students and early career PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) experience a slice of the working world. Participants study, work and make life decisions in the simulation. The game provides an immersive, first-hand understanding of how to make better career decisions and build career resilience.
In designing this transformational play experience, Avid Adventures has combined the academic rigor of the WITGRITFIT framework with a nurturing sandbox environment for better career outcomes. The WITGRITFIT Framework is anchored on well-established academic career theories.
Participants learn about the world of careers through the game and facilitated discussions between rounds. This cognitive and emotional experience encourages reflection, intentionality and career design principles. Fresh off the game experience, participants are taken through their own Career Canvas to visualise how their unique WIT, GRIT and FIT impacts their careers and life.
After the experience, participants report a significant increase in career confidence and willingness to take action to improve career outcomes.
Empathy
Students and early career PMETs are often asked to make important decisions about their courses of study and careers without a clear understanding of the impact of their choices, or on what could move the needle the most for them in terms of employability and career satisfaction.
This career design simulation transports participants into a parallel world where they can study, work and pursue life satisfaction – and see how their choices impact their career outcomes. All in a supportive, gamified environment.
Participants describe the experience as engaging, immersive and packed with information they can access at their own pace.
Value
Participants of this career design simulation report a significant boost in their understanding of career design principles and to their confidence in navigating their careers.
Teachers who have commissioned this simulation, particularly those with less academically inclined schools, feedback that the gamified, peer learning format of the simulation engages students in a way that hasn’t been possible with other career development tools.
They also like that the framework of the simulation mirrors the real world with follow up tools like the Career Design Canvas with which the students can explore further.
Inspiration
Magdalene, the game designer, was fortunate to have stumbled into jobs she loved. As she progressed in her career, she realised many of these career navigation skills she inadvertently picked up could actually be taught to students and PMETs.
Some of the game elements such as the retrenchment and skills features were co-created with Singapore’s SkillsFuture.
Amazingly, the simulation has inspired the State Department of Idaho to commission their own localised version, complete with rodeo clowns and potato farmers.
Participants report a significant increase in both career confidence and willingness to take action to improve career outcomes.
Ethics & Responsibility
The Career Design Game seeks to help students and early career PMETs to discover their purpose and build career resilience. By enabling students to better understand career dynamics and principles, we empower them to proactively take charge of their careers and improve both career and life satisfaction outcomes.
Furthermore, research shows that lower income and underprivileged students are disproportionately affected by a lack of guidance to make wise career choices. This simulation helps to improve social mobility outcomes for this group of students.
Sustainability
Initially, the first version of the Career Design Simulation could only be played in a physical setting. Going digital has helped to eliminate the use of paper, as well as physical artefacts which were used in the event setting. Additionally, being fully digital has also enabled overseas students to play the game without the carbon footprint of flying facilitators over to conduct the workshops in person.
In order to further advocate sustainability, the Career Design Simulation also features jobs from the Green economy, which helps participants be more aware of these industries and jobs.
