Can't agree more with Jonathan. Don't be pressured in your 20s to earn more than your peers. Look at skills that are portable and valuable anywhere in the world. You can be a top earner when you graduate but it doesn't guarantee you won't hit a brick wall in your 40s when the world is overtaken by younger, faster, smarter alecks. Our world is in deep trouble and the future is going to belong to Engineers:
Grand Challenges for Engineering
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Originally Posted by JonathanSG
If you are willing to put a few years of hard work after Uni with crappy pay; then travel a bit and not bother too much about the 5C's in your 20's you will not go wrong with engineering.
The fact is an engineering grad is not an engineer, (doesnt matter what uni) you have to have experience, the instant gratification society we live in means that grad pay is important. Ask yourself after you finish a degree are you bothered whether as an accountant you get 1K more a month - where are those people in 10 years time. 90% of them will be on 3% PA pay rises tops. After 10 years experience my take home pay doubled every 2 to 3 years.
There is an enormous shortage of experienced engineers worldwide and this is only getting worse. I was a welder, then a QC inspector, (got my degree in mech eng and became chartered part time) worked as a project engineer, tried the corp thing and hated it, back to being an engineer. I now command a day rate of US$1200 per day (I am over 40) and continue to travel the world doing interesting and challenging jobs.
Up to you if you want a decent safe existence in singapore where you move from cubicle to office, to office with window, office with window and PA yawn yawn then go into banking but you will be up against 95% of other people
If you are willing to travel, enjoy the sense of accomplishment out of building things or making them work and find the whole corp ladder / rat race bizzare then go for engineering.
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