Ms Chan: Good resource is always hard to find, which is why we are a big believer in nurturing talent.

The National Infocomm Scholarships (NIS) provides organisations with an effective channel for identifying and grooming infocomm talent.

According to Mrs Chan Hoi San, HR Director at StarHub, good resource is always hard to find, "which is why we are a big believer in nurturing talent".

StarHub sponsored the biggest number of NIS scholars – eight in total – amongst all the participating organisations this year. The quality of NIS scholars has been good, which is why StarHub has been very supportive of the programme after coming on board two years back. Added Mrs Chan,: "We engage our scholars early, even before they graduate, to ensure they assimilate into the company's culture."

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, which runs the NIS programme, may do the liaising between would-be scholars and supporting organisations, but that is only one foot in the door.

Said Ms Angeline Chan, 19, a 2008 NIS scholar who will be studying Computer Science at the National University of Singapore later this year, "I went for interviews with three different organisations, and the process helped me and the organisations decide who would be best [for us]."

Eventually she ended up with NCS, who was the most engaging in "terms of culture and fit", and which she believed would offer her a "good experience" when she started work.

NCS, who has been on the NIS program since the very beginning in 2004, has given high marks to their existing scholars.

Said Ms Tham Yoom Ling, Director of Global Resource Management, NCS: "Our [graduated] scholars have been progressing very well and we’re very happy with them. NCS supports the initiative of IDA in attracting and developing the human resource talent in the IT industry."

Click here for more information on the National Infocomm Scholarships. For details of IDA's other talent development initiatives, visit www.infocommtalent.sg.