The Challenge: Stuck in Manual Processes
Before taking the Heicoders course, Rui Qi's work as an HR professional was consumed by administrative tasks. Everything from paperwork to manual data entry created friction. While she had started exploring AI on her own, she struggled with the fundamentals: how to communicate with it effectively, how to prompt it properly, and how to extract meaningful results.
"I was doing a lot of administrative work," she recalls. "Even when we moved to digitalise everything, it still required me to do a lot of manual data entry. And that's something that I didn't really like."
The Breakthrough: Learning by Doing
The most transformative part of the course was not the theory. It was the hands-on experience. Unlike self-directed learning, where you rarely have the credits or resources to keep experimenting freely, Heicoders gave her something invaluable: the freedom to try different tools, with instructors always on hand when she got stuck.
One particular insight shifted her workflow overnight. "I didn't realise that editing a response in your chatbot, be it in ChatGPT or Gemini, can help you to change the responses to be a lot better and smoother instead of just replying to the chat," she explains. "When you edit, they create a new branch in some sense, and the responses are definitely a lot better. I didn't think that made such a big difference until I tried it throughout the course."
Real-World Application: From PDFs to Intelligent Forms
Today, Rui Qi is using Manus AI to completely reimagine how her company collects data. Her first project? Replacing their manual personality quiz process.
"We used to use PDFs and made candidates fill it out one by one. The handwriting doesn't tend to be the neatest, so it's very hard to read all the data," she says. "After making it into a site, I realised I could even connect it to a database where I could pull the results directly. You can talk to it like a human being. You don't have to learn their language. You just need to be very specific in how you prompt it."
What surprised her most was a capability she discovered during the course. "You're able to actually pull out the code directly and host it on your own servers instead of only using Manus to do everything. That function really helps companies who feel their data needs to be very private and protected. It gives a lot of companies more confidence to believe in such tools."
The Heicoders Experience in Three Words: Enlightening, Personalised, Well-Trained
When asked to reflect on her three-day journey, Rui Qi didn't mince words.
Enlightening. The density of content packed into just 72 hours was remarkable. Despite the pace, it all connected.
Personalised. The interactive format allowed for deep dives. Students came from different industries and specialisations, and the sessions adapted to what everyone actually needed. "You tend to digress a little bit, but you always learn a lot more, especially with a crowd coming from all different industries and specialisations."
Well-Trained. "They are very up-to-date about the newest technology. GPT-5 came out not too long ago with the different models. Even our trainer could tell us everything about it, or at least what he knows of it. He was able to share all of this in his own time, even during lunch break."
A Surprising Hobby: AI Music Creation
Beyond her HR workflow transformation, Rui Qi discovered an unexpected capability: AI-generated music. As someone who listens to Chinese music, she was amazed by what was possible.
"I often listen to Chinese music and I didn't think that AI could replicate Chinese songs even with the exact TikTok, Douyin vibe that I really wanted. And it was able to do that in less than three minutes after I generated the lyrics from ChatGPT. I know it doesn't really help with a lot of professional careers today, but it's definitely a hobby you can get into."
Her Advice for the Next Cohort
For anyone still deciding whether to enrol, Rui Qi is direct.
"For someone who is deciding whether you want to join or not, I think you already have the answer because you're contemplating it. If you want to see what value it can bring about, hearing from us wouldn't really help. You really have to experience it yourself."
She adds: "There are so many tools out there that nobody has really perfected. But if there's any vendor, it's definitely Heicoders, because they're experienced enough to tell someone like me who is very sceptical about all of these AI courses. I'm HR after all, I've always been sceptical about what they're going to teach. Is it something I can learn from the internet? But they really go personalised and go all the way to teach you things that you want to know that can help your business. If you have a problem you cannot resolve despite Googling or asking AI, you can always use this as an opportunity to use their resources."
Rui Qi came in frustrated by manual processes and left with a working digital system she built herself. That is the whole point.
Connect with Ray Lim Ruiqi on LinkedIn →Still learning, still experimenting, and still occasionally burning credits trying to make things work.
