So just because the market has gone to ****, all paper qualifications have gone to **** too? Might as well give students fresh out of A levels MD jobs and PhD holders tekong cleaner interviews la?

The entire sparking point of the conversation was never boomer v zoomer or an entitled nus grad wanting more than what they deserve. If you follow the comment thread, some blur sotong is asking how and if he can nego because he's been searching for a long term job for the past 6 months and this is probably the first offer he's gotten.

Many of the immediate replies were civil, and then we had an entitled person coming into the conversation and shitting on the guy because he mistakenly thought he was asking for 3.5k from 2.2k, and, while also shitting on paper qualifications from bachs to phds with the claim that fresh grads need to be immediately able to prove they are worth every single cent off the bat or else just suck on your 2k salary.

While his view on job experience and salary is not entirely wrong, he straight out paints a candidate's future potential determined from the level and type of qualification as bull. He is entitled to his own opinion, but if he shits on another that hard, should he not expect the same in return, especially since he was doing so on flawed grounds and during such a sensitive period?

An NUS or any local uni grad is not immediately entitled to a higher salary on the virtue of the brand of their degrees. A degree from a local university plays a strong part in telling the employer that the candidate they're screening is likely to have better processing capabilities than ah kow, who comes straight from an A level education with no job experience and asking for the same salary. The employer can hire both of them at the same rate regardless, but would the graduate not feel rightfully wronged if he was paid the same after spending 4 years to earn a piece of paper to prove he was competent? Similarly, if a pvt uni grad that has a perfect GPA from a degree with a similar level of complexity as a local uni is paid less than a NUS grad that has a 3.0 CAP in a similar degree, he has the justification to feel indignant and all the right to ask for more. If we change the focus of the story from local degree to, say, an ACCA accreditation or some other professional certification, can you now not see why it is not wrong feel like he deserves more, even if it might not be polite or the right time to do so?

Have none of the people commenting that he was entitled for asking for 2.5k ever negotatiated their salary, and instead moved on to the next offer before even trying if they didn't like the dollar offer? There is no such luxury in such times for many jobseekers, and your views are outdated and stale, which is why they have commented with OK Boomer. Contrary to many of your beliefs, this phrase does not attack the age of the recipient, but the age of his or her outdated views.

Experience is indeed important if you want a higher salary. Even if ah kow only had an A level certification, if he was able to spend the next 5 to 6 years proving himself by climbing ranks in jobs or exceeding every target he was given, i would think that he has the right to ask for more regardless of his paper qualifications as well. The graduate that was asking stated that he had worked several internships and worked freelance while searching for a job. In my eyes, this already makes him a lot better than the other candidates that jiak liao bee for the job search period and did not have the initiative to get to know the industry better after their 1 mandatory intern from school. Do you think it is right to reward positive initiative from young people by shitting on them for wanting $200 more than their jlb peers, especially at a salary of 2.2k? Many commenters have outright said that it is not pay a local uni degree holder should be getting in civil service, and be it in a training role or not, I agree.

For the people talking about the circumstances of the employer, he is asking about a job in CS. He is not squeezing a self-employed employer dry. He is asking for a $200 increase from his 2.2k offer in a training job that has a salary range of 2.2k to 3.5k because he is certain that even if it goes south, he will still be able to get the job - likely because the employer has already made the offer and sent the contract over. If there is zero risk with a slight chance of return, any person with half a brain would know to negotiate for more. Like another comment said, people that think otherwise reek of jealousy, and probably don't want to see the fresh grad succeed because they were in similar situations in the past but did not have the guts to try to negotiate for what they think they should receive in return for their work.

To the people that have come in defense of them, you might have been lured in by the boomer talk or think that this is just another entitled brat asking for more when you had to work your ass off to get to where you are. I can tell you that this is not true. Don't be quick to jump onto their side simply because the opposing side is a fresh graduate, and try to understand the situation from their perspectives.

For the fresh grads out there, please do not be quick in dismissing your seniors by throwing an OK Boomer at them. It is a hurtful comment, even if you are not trying to be ageist about it. If you find their views to be different from yours, try to understand why they might be a little dismissive of your views. They have years of experience under their belt backing whatever they say, and while this does not make them automatically correct, their views might be more complex or more forward looking than yours on the virtue of their experience. You might find, after spending some time in the workforce, that either their views have merit or if they are outright trying to drag you down with them. Just as there are many jaded and jealous seniors in the workforce, there are many others that are genuinely nice and want to the younger generation to know about things they have learnt after spending decades working so that their juniors can succeed. Ignore the former, and make sure you listen well to the latter. I have found many seniors on this forum to be really nice when I was on my job hunt a few years ago as well. Good luck on your job hunt, and know that it might be better to just take up a job that is outrightly low balling you instead of having a blank year you need to account for on your resume because the effects of covid will not be subsiding anytime soon.