LIFE, at one point, seemed pretty bleak for Mr Muhammmad Alwi B Hasimani, 22.

Now a customer service associate at Royal Sporting House, he survived on many odd jobs since dropping out of school while in Sec 3.

He said: 'At that time the financial situation in my family was not so good, so I stopped school.'

To make matters worse, in 2007, when he was 18, he met with a motorbike accident that left him unable to walk for four months. When he recovered early last year, he found it hard to get a job.

But life turned around for him when he learnt about the courses under the WSQ system.

Mr Alwi took a computer adaptive test, which measured his numeracy, reading and listening skills. Then he took up the 15-week Workplace Literacy Advanced Course under the Employability Skills System (ESS).

It taught him effective listening techniques,how to interpret telephone messages and ways of providing job status reports.

The courses gave him 'greater confidence' and made him think seriously about his future. He dreamt of a regular job in retail, rather than the part-time jobs that earned him just $35, for an eight-hour shift.

So, he took up the five-day Certified Service Professional (CSP) Programme, a service professional course, last September.

The course format was enjoyable as there was plenty of interaction. Mr Alwi said: 'I was having fun.'

Since landing his current job, Mr Alwi has not looked back.

He now hopes to develop his career further in the retail sector by becoming a trainer. 'I would like to help others like myself,' he said simply.

This article was first published in The New Paper.