desperate

Has any UOL grad who just done with final year, found a job or received any offer/ interview yet?

[coo.za]

Originally Posted by hail

I am an SIM graduate. I have been applying for mid-tier accounting firm, mnc's and local companies . Some seem to prefer chinese speaking so they can liase with working associates / client

I just got an offer for 1.8K an admin job nothing to do with accountancy.. 1.5 years contract no bonus or anything...but everyone is saying i should not accept anything less than 2.2 because it will hinder my futher pay .. what are your thoughts

Hi, Hail
I was in similar boat to you before...I was unemployed for almost 2 yrs.
I am engineering NTU grad. Those 2 yrs have been really educating for me. It gave me a really big slap to my 'sleeping' self (i used to be a lazy student back in my uni days)...It forced me to work the hardest to prove my worth once I get a job. Now, I am inventor of 160 patents worldwide, and I achieved that in 5 yrs, i didn't even think i would become an inventor one day.

If you're afraid to negotiate the salary (which was what i faced last time), try to nego the contract length...say to only 6 months, then ask for salary review after that. Or maybe by the time, you already got a new offer, which are substantially higher than this one.

Use the 6 months to learn as much as you can, and take more responsibilities, if possible related to your field, accounting. Do your job exceptionally well, so your company cannot afford to lose you.

Keep positive.

[hail]

Thanks fo the advice and support everyone..

Update : I manage to get a job that i am excited about that pays 3000+ (requires working on weekend/holidays and shift on a regular basis)

I know there are some in the position I was and it can get tiring , my prayers and well-wishes are with you. Keep trying and eventually you will get there.

[poorman]

Congrats!!

Always heartening to see a fellow fresh grad find employment. Work smart and hard!

I read this and I symphatize with you. Are you a Singaporean? Reading your previous posts and lack of MT seems to suggest you are not local.

It maybe because of this that you are getting few offers and low starting pay.

I was an accountancy graduate as well. Local uni. Graduated in 2007. I count myself lucky as the Big 4 firms readily absorb all local grads. I find it conflicting that the Big 4 audit firms continually voice out that they are unable to hire enough fresh joiners but yet it seems they are shunning SIM accountancy grads.

How about the other 6 smaller audit firms like Grand Thornton etc ? Did you try those? Do they shun SIM grads as well?

My brother is studying in SIM. Accountancy. He told me that only the top few graduates eventually land a job in the Big 4. Is this true? I didn't believe it when he told me. Now reading your post and seeing your plight, I am concerned.

My advice for you if you wish to pursue the audit path is to try going for a ACCA accredition. It is generally more recognizable.

If however you wish to pursue accounting job in MNC / local firm, perhaps it is better to look for prospects instead of starting pay.

During my year, Big 4s were offering 2.4-2.7k start for grads. I didn't pursue the audit path in the end. Went to banking. Start pay was 4k+.

How about applying to a bank instead? Operations role is not too bad a career path also. Probably will pay you much better. I have a cousin who graduated from SIM and pursued a retail banking sales position. Think she was doing insurance sales for sometime. Pay was quite good.

Accounting grad don't need to do accounting. Be open to other industries might increase your job chances/prospects

Originally Posted by hail

That is really good advise,I send over 200 copiesof my resume before I got any reply and the replies were only rejection after over a month ( 1 month 2 weeks) of waiting. It was disheartening.