Young Singaporeans build internship, entry-level job trackers to close opportunity gap

Ace Yip, an 18-year-old alumnus of Raffles Institution, founded ‘Sup—a career portal designed to help students and early professionals secure internships and entry-level jobs. After sending over 400 cold emails to land a law internship, Yip recognized that existing platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed were ill-suited for young job seekers. To address this, she assembled a team of five developers to build a tool that scans company websites for job openings and compiles them on ‘Sup, which launched in July 2025. The platform also includes an AI-powered feature that helps students tailor their resumes to job descriptions, countering the challenges posed by applicant tracking systems (ATS). Yip noted that ATS often operates as a ‘black box,’ leaving applicants unaware of how their resumes are evaluated. ‘Sup now serves an average of 9,000 weekly users from Singapore, the US, and India, with plans to expand support to mid-career professionals seeking industry pivots. Separately, Yicheng Li, a 24-year-old Oxford University economics student, developed tracker.sg to address gaps in access to scholarships, competitions, and enrichment opportunities. His motivation stemmed from tutoring a struggling student during his junior college days at Hwa Chong Institution (HCI), where he observed that many students lacked exposure to resources critical for academic and career growth. Li’s platform, launched in May, aggregates online courses, internships, competitions, and volunteering opportunities to help students build portfolios for university applications. Li emphasized that systemic barriers prevent students from accessing opportunities, undermining meritocratic ideals. His initiative aims to democratize access by compiling resources that were previously concentrated in well-funded institutions like HCI. Both ‘Sup and tracker.sg reflect a broader trend among young Singaporeans leveraging technology to bridge opportunity gaps in an increasingly competitive job market.