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The idea for Outsider began with a personal struggle. As a university student in Singapore, I often felt unprepared for the real world, unsure of my direction, and lacking the confidence to explore different career paths. That experience stayed with me, and years later, it became the reason I built Outsider: a platform that gives students hands-on access to real work simulations, so they can build practical skills, test different roles, and make informed choices before graduation. In 2024, we partnered with VNEI to reach over 4 million students across 72 universities and co-created content with 30+ student innovation clubs.
What motivated me to start Outsider came from my own experience. As a student in Singapore, I constantly felt uncertain about what I wanted to do with my career. I jumped between majors, applied to internships I didn’t fully understand, and often lacked the confidence to explore paths outside my comfort zone. I realized I wasn’t alone—millions of students face the same issue: being asked to make major career decisions without ever experiencing real work. That’s the problem I set out to solve with Outsider: helping students explore jobs through realistic, hands-on simulations so they can gain confidence, build skills, and make informed career decisions.
In just the past year, our efforts have scaled significantly. We partnered with the Vietnam Entrepreneurship & Innovation Alliance (VNEI) to bring Outsider to over 4 million students across 72 universities and collaborated with the Hub Network—30+ student innovation clubs—to co-create simulation content and host career hackathons. We also launched the VISTA Open Innovation Challenge with seven technical universities, where students developed real-world solutions like LOGSPIN, a smart battery recycling system using AI and route optimization.
Seeing students turn ideas into tangible prototypes has been one of the most rewarding impacts of our work. Building something new is never easy. One major challenge was convincing institutions and partners that simulations could be as valuable as traditional internships. We overcame this by piloting small programs, tracking measurable outcomes like student confidence and job-readiness, and building momentum from early success stories.
My advice to others in similar roles is to start small, prove value quickly, and always center your work on the students’ real needs. The proudest moment for me was watching a team of first-year students win the VISTA Challenge with a prototype that tackled real environmental problems. They came in unsure of themselves and left believing they could be change-makers. I wish to be more involved and to be a part of the RMIT alumni network more to connect with a diverse community of founders, educators, and innovators.