Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
I’m the NUS poster above who works in an international firm, and I just want to clarify my intentions. I never intended to suggest that the quality of UK grads is any poorer than that of NUS grads. All I wanted to do was to share an empirical observation that the Singaporeans you see in international firms’ offices here tend to be NUS grads. And that’s a function of corporate poaching and the upward mobility NUS grads enjoy from starting out in a local big 4 shop which MCs love to poach from - that’s all.
Personally, I found the NUS open book system easier than the UK closed book system. It was a lot less torturous for sure since I hate memory work, and I’ve no doubt that those who aced their UK exams have brilliant minds and are no less capable than NUS grads. What I do see however is a general bias in local Big 4 Firms against the grads who come out from any UK University other than Oxbridge or the top London universities (including Kings btw. No idea why there’s so much Kings bashing going on around here, since the MC outfit I joined is full of smart Kings grads).
I don’t think you can put UK grads in one “box” and local grads in the other. That was never my intention. |
Good post, good analysis. It’s true that open book exams are easier.
Only thing is that it’s hard to get a high first cos then you have to do a lot more extra readings and craft better arguments against a pool of very capable and smart peers.
On international firms having more local or foreign grads, frankly it doesn’t matter where they come from after 5 years. U need to be properly trained, given ample opportunities to learn and develop. Sadly some international firms don’t bother training, they just need headcount or temporary cover for manpower needs.
Going to such firms is tantamount to career suicide because there is no intention to train from the very beginning. Why big four makes better training ground? Bcos big four associates are more willing to invest time in training the juniors. They don’t see their younger colleagues as threats. Cf international firms - you have to be in an international to fully appreciate this point. A senior associate earning $18-22k a month in an international is not going to be willing to train a junior who can eventually take over them. It just isn’t the culture.
Granted there are exceptions and you are fortunate in life if you meet good seniors.
On KCL and second tier UK universities, everyone’s experience is different.
Sometimes people choose to go overseas because they can’t qualify locally.
Other times, it’s more for exposure, making connections, having peers of similar standing internationally. You can come from an inferior school, but if you have good mentors willing to train and invest their time in you (really nothing but chemistry and luck), then you’ll prob be very successful anyway.