After graduating, Chong quickly took up a job as an executive assistant to a local entrepreneur to repay her student loan. 

"I learned the importance of not only placing the right people in the right jobs but also ensuring the workforce can adapt to evolving business needs,” she says. The experience also taught her how business resilience and care for employees can go hand in hand as she observed how her employer, conscious of the impact on people’s lives, prioritized the company’s workforce when responding to business challenges. 

“I realized that HR decisions are more than just operational choices, but have also have the power to transform workplace culture and employee well-being” she says.

Chong’s career in HR took off as she moved into specialized roles in various industries, from property and construction to logistics and supply chain management. She gained hands-on experience across the spectrum of HR functions, from recruitment and workforce engagement to organizational transformation. 

"I was motivated by being able to contribute to different types of change, and with each move, I gained new perspectives on organizational growth and transition," she explains. Her career spanned several countries in Southeast Asia, enriching her understanding of different workplace cultures. 

After becoming a mother, Chong decided to focus on opportunities closer to home. In 2015, she joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in Malaysia, working in the service centre that processes contracts and benefits for its staff globally. Her role enabled the timely deployment of personnel, often during emergency situations such as disease outbreaks or global health initiatives. 

After a year, she took on a more senior role as a team lead and resolved to continue a career in international organizations. "Working at an international organization was very motivating, as I felt the mandate was more meaningful than being profit centred. I felt I was contributing to something important," she says.

In 2018, Chong joined the IAEA as Service Centre Coordinator and Quality Assurance Officer in the Division of Human Resources. One of her initial tasks was to set up a centralized help desk to support staff with HR-related questions. 

"It was a great feeling to witness improved satisfaction among IAEA staff as a result of improving internal processes, while keeping our service personal and responsive," she recalls. She was also tasked with improving the quality and reliability of HR data. “By strengthening the data, any issues can be quickly identified and addressed so that essential functions like payroll are not held up,” she explains. 

Her expertise in data quality and HR systems led to Chong’s current position as HR Data Analytics Officer. Her work now involves using data visualization tools to generate reports on HR metrics such as demographic indicators and recruitment timelines to inform decisions on workforce planning and development." I find it exciting to translate data into meaningful information,” Chong explains. “This makes the data more accessible and transparent, not just for management, but also for the IAEA’s member countries." 

Chong's advice to young people considering their future career stems from her own diverse experiences. "It is perfectly okay to feel uncertain about where you are headed. What’s important is to keep moving forward and keep learning,” she says. “It's never too late to start again. Each new beginning is a chance to do better, so make the most of every opportunity that comes your way.”

The IAEA is committed to gender equality and to supporting the ability of all individuals, regardless of gender, to equally contribute to and benefit from its programmes and activities.   

In 2020, the IAEA launched the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme to support the next generation of women nuclear professionals by offering scholarships for master’s degrees in nuclear-related fields. The IAEA’s Lise Meitner Programme, launched in 2023, offers early- and mid-career women multi-week training visits to nuclear facilities.  

Read more about the IAEA’s work on gender equality and apply for vacancies, internships or pipelines.