Lol. It's all too easy to dig a hole in the sand and imagine that everyone around you is in the same rut you are in. Like it or not, I am from CC. Last week, I sat in Conference Rooms 25.6 and 25.7 watching a group of 8 interns deliver a client pitch. All of them were Firsts - no exceptions. Of these 8 hopefuls, 4-5 will eventually be selected to come on board as trainees.

Yes, I don't know the exact trainee pay scale because I didn't come in as a trainee. What I do know is that as a 6 PQE, I am paid slightly over S$20,000 per month. I lateralled in after 6 gruelling years of practice in a Big4 sweatshop. I personally am not a First, and I'm not saying everyone here is a First. Most of us here were grunts who were poached from Big4s (specifically A&G) during CC's massive expansion drive. If you think I'm lying because these figures seem too good to be true, you're just another dumb ostrich in self-denial.

What I AM saying is that to come in here as a Trainee on a TC, you bloody well have to be a First. And a damned good one at that, because Firsts are a dime a dozen, and there are only 4-5 places a year. It's the basic economic principles of supply and demand. If you think it's easy getting a TC here, go on deluding yourself. Lol, indeed.