Quote:
Originally Posted by theonethatgotaway
Hi everyone. I would like some advice and feedback, please. Kindly enlighten me. Please be as honest as you can/would like.
I graduated from NUS last July (year 2011) with a Bachelor of Arts (Pass with Merit) and am drawing a starting pay of SG$2300 gross monthly before CPF cuts. I am working for a non-government, non-profit organisation, environment industry, official working hours 0900 - 1730 hrs, 5-day work week as an Executive. I don't have prior permanent work experience, only did vacation and contract jobs prior to securing this current job, which is my first 'real' permanent job.
Is this a reasonable salary looking at my qualifications/experiences or am I being underpaid? Anyone else with similar qualifications? Care to share how much you're earning and in which industry? I have another job offer with a statutory board, but waiting for them to get back to me with the confirmed offer. They did not stipulate the pay yet although I am guessing somewhere quite similar, though longer working hours (0830 - 1800 hrs) and on some Saturdays too :-/
Thank you very much in advance for all your advice/feedback, and I greatly look to reading what you can share or have to say. Please kindly advice me. I really need some advice. |
For
NUS B.A. (Merit) starting pay for ladies should be around $2,900 in public sector. The starting salaries across all Division I appointments are roughly the same, although some organizations/Ministries do pay higher. But rarely (I dare say never) you would encounter any amount significantly lower than that, unless you are a degree holder but apply for a diploma position. That is a different story.
Based on my experience, you can accurately benchmark your expected starting salary based on Management Executive (MX) Scheme, or the Education Service Scheme. MFA,
Mindef and the uniformed services will pay higher than average, so I do not compare with these to avoid over-estimation.
Link:
Ministry of Education, Singapore: Teaching as a Career: Career Information: General Education Officer 1 Salary Scale
You can also visit the prisons.gov website and refer to the starting salary table for Home Affairs Senior Executive (HASE) appointment. HASE falls under the MX Scheme of service too, and it is a non-uniformed appointment. So it is a fair comparison for majority of job-seekers to use.
The Civil Service salaries for fresh grads can be trusted, because PSD will rely on annual statistics to revise the benchmark amount based on actual conditions in the private sector. They use a reliable but complicated calculation formula based on median wages for similar seniority positions.
Conclusion: $2,300 for a
NUS grad (without
NS) is definitely on the low side. Unless your company offers you other significant benefits which the public sector does not, you are not getting a good deal.