I think FT compete strongly in certain industry segments like engineering. Also whilst you maybe hired, the confining availability of FT willin to take your job work OT and take lower pay means that it is increasingly difficult for business to justify paying u better. Hr will always benchmark against market and tell business managers they are over paying

i see...so for entry level, business and contract, hr dictates the payscale?

i understand that some of the bigger companies, the hr got pay range depending on your qualifications etc like dip get wad range deg get another range...

lol, why dun trust hr?

Yes. Diploma versus Degree different payscale. Within degree, different honors also have different payscale. At entry level it is take it or leave it.. so why bother so much. Should divert your effort towards getting the offer first

After graduating in 2000, I worked in pte sector for 1-2 years before moving to ministry when the dot-com burst.

Generally speaking, starting salaries are higher in public sector than pte. Most recent fresh IT grad I know of, started around $3.2K (with NS) in public sector compared to ~$2.1 - 2.8K in pte. That's because only local IT firms like NCS & Frontline are willing to take in fresh grads and these local companies are known to be "stingy".

Fast-forward 5-8 years, the whole picture changes. Head-hunters started calling with their clients willing to pay. Generally speaking (exception do applies), they would look out for those in pte sector, as their exp are more relevant compared to their public sector peers who only knows how to call government tenders, minutes-taking & policies writing (i.e. paper-work & red-tape in general)!

Of course, there are some exceptions. I do know of some small no. of hard-working operational public sectors workers are generally sought after (but they have to be really on operational IT with solid technical knowledge). As general, most IT folks I met are not really technical, even though they might be good at writing policies and theories.

The crisis is back. My source, a current employee, told me RBS used to pay front office fresh grad 10k pm. They just chop 10% of the workforce in Singapore last week. Morgan Stanley, CS, UBS are cutting. Some of these jobs will disappear permanently but some may come back in the future. Don't be discouraged, one can always try to get back in the future. The finance sector is still the most attractive sector. I'm a senior product specialist.

hi,

to be honest, there could be a large variance in the starting salary for SIM UOL grads - couple of factors which could determine the starting salary:
i) class of honours
ii) asking salary during the job application
iii) impression during interview
iv) work experience (if any - part time/contract etc)

all the above factors affect the starting salaries of grads from SIM. i'v had friends who go as low as $1.8k to as high as $4.2k (similar grade comparison, i.e. those who have graduated with a second upper similar to myself).

those in uniformed organisations (and/or public sector) on median receive a higher salary. on the other hand, the top few percentiles of the salary: $3.7k to $4.2k, are working in fund management firms / consulting firms - which are private sectors.

as for myself, i received a job in a local bank. although not as fantastic starting salary as my peers who entered non local banks, its quite comfortable for a start at $2.8k. non-local banks pay fresh grads (who enter as analyst rank) $3.4k minimum monthly.

cheers (:

if a SIM grad can earn that much, how about local Uni grad? Wow! I'm impressed with SIM grads. Well Done!
anyway, what is your job description in the local bank? Mind sharing?

I have a friend with rmit degree with 4K as her starting pay
 

I have a friend with rmit degree with 4K as her starting pay

took a year to get a job, did some part time job for 3 months or so...

Starting pay 2700+ allowance

nothing to do with finance and accounting although i studied it ,

rmit grad

That's pretty high!

Was the degree full-time or part-time? Was she working already prior to obtaining this degree. This can have a big impact on the salary.

If she's full-time studies with little or no working experience beforehand, your friend is probably exaggerating the amount. :o

No offense to your friend but private uni graduates are rarely regarded in the same pay-scale as local uni graduates.