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PwC Singapore’s Careers Discovery Day has become a cornerstone of its employer branding strategy, combining authentic engagement with collaboration to connect meaningfully with early-career talent, shares CHRO Yee Deng Tan.
At PwC Singapore, HR initiatives are guided by a clear people value proposition: grow here, go further.
With each new cohort of talent bringing fresh curiosity, energy, and ideas, the HR team saw an opportunity to rethink how it introduces the organisation to the next generation of professionals.
This thinking shaped the direction of Careers Discovery Day (CDD), PwC Singapore’s annual recruitment open house. Designed to help students imagine how their careers could take shape at the firm, the initiative offered participants early exposure to PwC’s work, purpose, and culture. From its value in motion thought piece to Gen AI showcases and conversations around building trust in what matters, the experience was curated to highlight both impact and career possibilities.
Delivering the second edition of CDD in 2025 came with its own challenges. Scaling the event to support 1,200 registered attendees required close coordination across stakeholders, careful engagement with institutes of higher learning and student communities, and detailed planning to manage larger groups on the day itself. With diverse ideas and perspectives in play, the team relied on open communication, ongoing engagement, and clear objectives to align efforts into a shared vision, despite resource and time constraints.
These efforts paid off, with Careers Discovery Day now recognised as a flagship initiative for PwC Singapore, contributing to gold wins for ‘Excellence in Employer Branding’ and ‘Excellence in Workplace Culture’, as well as a bronze award for ‘Excellence in the Use of HR Tech’ at the HR Excellence Awards 2025, Singapore.
Speaking to HRO on the journey, Yee Deng Tan, Chief Human Resources Officer, PwC Singapore, shares:
When you create space for individuals to demonstrate grit and resilience, you nurture psychological safety—an environment where people feel empowered to show up as their full selves, contribute confidently, and stretch toward their potential.
More details are shared in this interview.
Q Tell us about your inspiring HR initiative – what sparked the idea, and how did you know it was the right path to take?
At PwC, we are deeply committed to our people value proposition: grow here, go further.
Each new cohort of talent arrives with boundless curiosity, fresh energy, and bold ideas. With this in mind when planning Careers Discovery Day (CDD) – our annual recruitment open house – we focused on imagining how the careers of the next generation could take shape here at PwC Singapore.
From our flagship value in motion thought piece to the Gen AI roadshow, and exploring how we create and deliver trust in what matters, participants were given a peek into the tangible impact and vast careers possibilities.
The collaborative process of designing this initiative, alongside our leaders and the CDD project team, perfectly illustrates how at PwC, curiosity and innovation come together to produce results greater than the sum of their parts. Feedback and recruitment outcomes since then also affirm the success of this approach.
Q Every journey has its ups and downs – can you share a challenge your team faced and how you worked through it together?
CDD 2025 was only our second iteration following the inaugural event in 2024. Scaling up to accommodate 1,200 registered attendees, while revamping the programme structure, presented invaluable learning opportunities. These ranged from coordinating internally with key stakeholders, managing outreach to Institutes of Higher Learning and student communities, through to ensuring a smooth flow of larger groups on the event day.
Everyone brought enthusiasm, fresh ideas and diverse perspectives on what would make the event truly outstanding. By maintaining open communication, fostering ongoing engagement, and setting clear objectives from the outset, we successfully aligned these views into a shared vision and approach.
Despite resource and time constraints, the team exemplified PwC’s values of collaboration and reimagining what’s possible to deliver a memorable event. In doing so, we lived our promise to grow here. go further – nurturing an environment where every individual feels valued, supported and empowered.
Q What impact has this initiative had on your organisation so far, and what do you hope it inspires in the wider HR community?
Careers Discovery Day is now one of our flagship events, uniting over 300 colleagues across all lines of service to engage meaningfully with burgeoning talent. Beyond advancing our recruitment goals, it has profoundly strengthened our sense of community and belonging.
I am confident that students left with not only a clearer vision of their potential career paths at PwC, but also a genuine understanding of our culture and people value proposition that makes up the foundation of our PwC family. These authentic human connections bring our brand to life far beyond what any presentation or brochure can achieve.
I hope this experience encourages fellow HR professionals to harness the power of genuine connection, providing young talent with a sense of belonging at the onset.
Q Looking back, is there a moment, person, or value that kept you and your team motivated throughout the journey?
Our campus team’s unwavering dedication to PwC’s core values – which include working together, making a difference, and reimagining the possible – has been our constant source of motivation. The shared purpose of connecting with future talent and crafting meaningful experiences through the CDD inspired purpose and fuelled us throughout this dynamic planning journey, which involved continuous adaptation, feedback and progress.
This alignment with PwC’s values remains an anchor of our culture, reminding us daily of the lasting impact we create beyond the event itself – shaping careers and embedding a culture of excellence. This shared purpose continues to energise and guide our team at every step.
Q If you could offer one golden nugget of wisdom to HR professionals aiming for excellence, what would it be?
If I could offer one golden nugget of wisdom to HR professionals striving for excellence, it would be this: Have the courage to take bold steps, and the tenacity to keep going. When you anchor this with a deep commitment to your people, you build the foundation for truly exceptional HR leadership.
Approach every situation with empathy and genuine understanding. When you create space for individuals to demonstrate grit and resilience, you nurture psychological safety — an environment where people feel empowered to show up as their full selves, contribute confidently, and stretch toward their potential. It’s in this trusted and open space that meaningful connections form, creativity sparks, and where people can grow here. go further.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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