Hi, same here. Not allowed to advance to level 2 without graduating. Looks like someone drop a bomb on us. One with smoke.

uol starting job
 

hi, im from uol banking & finance. i just finished my exam. currently im looking for a full time job. any advice of what kind of job should i apply?

A banking and finance job.

1741 AyGerme
 

UOL 1st class can go deloitte lah. but if your class hons is others and you have no relevant experience in for eg. banking, can go suck thumb, suck it so hard.

UOL got money throw can already, you go in SIM general office with a bag of money, the academic head will bow down to you and quickly make arrangements for lion dance and buffet spread just for you. he will personally drive you around the campus for a tour in his lambo. with that said, it is not difficult to get a uol degree, just difficult to score. bloody hell final year can fail 2 and still graduate wtf. i am a uol graduate with 2nd ups and i'm embarrassed. the working world out here, local uni grads, talk smarter, think faster, only thing you can match them is who can work longer. so losing in two aspects already, again start sucking thumb, suck it so hard.

same here, fresh uol grad in the working world, it is ****. the hierarchy is like this, local uni grads despise uol grads with honors, uol grads with hons despise uol grads who fail 2 and just scrap through, then the uol grads with no hons despise mdis because dont need to study can get 2nd upper (university of bradford and others), then mdis look down on...ok diploma holders. basically all the pte university students are treated as secondary stock in pte sector, and treated as trash in government sector. government sector just scan through and see uol on our resumes they quickly fling it away like its poison 'AHHhh!!~' so existing uol students, unless you are waiting for first class honors, you will only step into the working world with 2.2-2.8(****ing lucky from young go guanyin temple pray every sunday), worst case is jobless become taxi driverman like dr bombay in Calcutta. best is some uol graduates are hoping to go into big banks standchart barclays, i tell you, you continue dreaming... they will hire you to lick their f--king shoes for $0.50 per pair. next, uol graduates who are desperate end up where? personal banking associate at DBS or UOB, sell **** lor. everyday kena f--k by relationship manager NABEI GO AND HIT YOUR TARGET!!! although the pay 2.7 your life is GG up the lorry go up the mountain and kill yourself. alot of uol grads are in BANKS holding the PBA position, and are sibei haolian. but they are basically high class insurance seller, stand outside/inside banks 'hi aunty want to take loan to buy vegetables not' accounting still not bad, surely can find accounting job. banking students take care, the outside market is ****. good luck

I just ended my last UoL exam 3 days ago, but I may not be able to secure a job by end June.

One particular comment received from an interviewer was the lack of internships among SIM students, and that places them at a disadvantage.

The usual responses among some of my friends are: "internship is cheap labor...might as well do part time job" or "it's quite late to do internship".

However I realize that there were also many good examples. There was a UoL Business graduate who is working as Business Development Manager at a foreign bank.

There were others who secured summer internships with banks and performed well such that they are able to start work after exams. There are others who had done ACCA, CFA, CFMS and many other qualifications while they were still students.

The point is that, if you seek to enter banking industry but had not done the necessary preparations in your undergrad years (SIM or otherwise), you are unlikely to be able to make it in any specialized banking function, be it M&A, Risk, Compliance, Equity, Treasury, Transaction Banking and Operations (yes, even Ops too) now.

Then again, the banking sector is not as "evergreen" as before. The pie is getting smaller as regulation tightens and hurts the bottom line of banks, which are made worse by the credit glut prevalent across the global economy now. I'm not a doomsday prophet, but it should be no secret by now that job security and advancement opportunities are not the general case for most of the rank and file in the banking sector (I'm not talking about the elites though).

I'm still looking for a job. In the meantime, I'll perhaps pick up some useful skills like learning how to code and speak french, whilst volunteering for non-profit/startup by carrying out corporate functions for free (to build up portfolio).

Angsy: UoL vs Local Universities: Fact or Fiction?

If there is one thing I learn from my UoL life, it is independence, discipline and the intense curiosity required to do well in the Programme. As much of the learning is self-directed, there is not much guidance provided. Critics of UoL often cite the lack of coursework as an impediment to "quality" learning. This criticism is valid- the lack of coursework may have indeed led to poor comprehension and the inability to monitor one's learning as the module proceeds across the semester.

However this is in fact a hallmark of being a UoL student- without the necessary coursework or close supervision of tutors and professors, we had to be active to clarify and seek understanding ourselves. The lack of coursework somehow forces us to be diligent and resourceful in seeking out various sources of knowledge- videos, books, pdfs, websites of other universities, etc.

I cannot say for other UoL students, but I had learnt to take charge of my learning, to pace myself and to hold myself accountable for my pursuits, be it in physical fitness, intellectual expansion, skills & competencies, relationships and other areas.

This "training" also cemented the right attitude for working in the fast paced knowledge economy- I do not expect my boss to babysit me. I am hungry to learn, yet I go the extra mile to evaluate and correct my mistakes along the way. I am active to obtain feedback, be it from my colleagues or the environment/system I was immersed in. And I am sure I'm not the only UoL student who can testify to it. By neglecting such qualities, employers actually lose out by dismissing valuable talent.

This is not to say that "UoL changed my life" or "UoL is the top notch institution in the world". Rather, the constraints we are subjected to mold us to become better individuals. It also removes the sense of complacency since we learn not to take opportunities for granted, having lost it once during our Polytechnic or JC days. I am not ashamed to say that I enrolled in UoL with poor results- I alone am responsible for my dismal performance. But I can definitely say I learnt alot from studying in this Programme.

In my opinion, the local universities are better in a few ways:

1. They have better funding for their students.

2. They have better standing internationally.

Caveat: University rankings are problematic, though the few in the top spots are so outstanding that they shine in almost every criteria imposed. For more info, read:
9705fea1.html
EUobserver.com / Education / EU to test new university ranking in 2010
And other resources

3. They provide value-added services to students using their brand and networks.

4. They provide a more structural approach to learning, with coursework, seminars, presentations and project work.

5. The quality of students tend to be more consistent and predictable since the barriers to entry are significantly higher than UoL.

There is nothing wrong to admit that they are better in terms of the above areas. But I submit that the strengths of local universities does not imply that UoL students are bumbling, incompetent and unmotivated idiots who are "having it easy".

Critics of UoL's academic may be invited to attempt a few modules, namely Introduction to Economics, Principles of Marketing, Monetary Economics and Elements of Econometrics. Download some of these papers online and attempt it yourself:
EMFSS past examination papers | University of London International Programmes

Ask yourself if it is really as easy as you thought. Then consider the bias you had applied to UoL students regarding their academics.

Self-promoting your blog?

Rather flawed argument. Interesting perspective nevertheless.

Never use an exam paper to gauge the standard. Different school teach different things. Don't forget that often you have revisions to brush up on unexpected topics and tackle specific questions. Don't forget the bellcurve god as well. If you score 50 in UOL you may get FCH. Score 90 in NUS and you may not even get second honors.

All these arguments can go on perennially. UOL sure has lots of defenders. But as a hiring manager, I do not consider them, especially for new recruitment. In my opinion, I think that local Uni grads (NUS, NTU, SMU) are superior. I mean, c'mon, there is a reason why someone go to NTU accountancy and why another person go to UOL. Do I want to hire someone who only got 2 A'level passes? It's not even a conversation.

Dear Hiring Manager,

How about those who can go to local uni but went to sim instead?

There are just too many "what if" to consider. What if the SIM grad is more capable than the NUS grad. What if the local Uni grad has a poor working attitude. What if the SIM grad has more experience.

By the way, I won't be able to understand why someone would choose SIM accountancy over NTU/SMU/NUS accountancy. It only tells me the kind of decision making skills that the person possesses.

Dear applicant,

What if you had done well and had gone to NTU?

You will be hired.

Dear hiring manager,

Will u select one who got cde and went to engineering in ntu (third class and lower)or one who got bcd and went to sim(second upper and above)? Your advice is appreciated.

Assuming there are no other candidates, i will pick the one who got NTU 3rd class. I was once from NTU and I know what it takes to attain a 3rd class honours. I can't speak for other hiring managers or organisations but this is what i would do. In a nutshell, I recognise it and I am keen to interview the 3rd class engineering grad from NTU. In my opinion, the 3rd class graduate can easily get 2nd upper or 1st class in SIM.

Don't get me wrong. I am not showing any disrespect or discriminating against anyone. Neither am I here to challenge or change anything. Someone else could have chosen another candidate instead, and I respect that. It's just the way i select prospective employees for my organisation.

I am currently doing my internship at UTAS. I notice that the engineers are usually from NUS and NTU (except for some lao jiaos who worked there since the beginning of time) while the private degree holders (e.g. MDIS, UOL) take on the role of production planners. For the case of the latter, i think a diploma would suffice.

I got a 3rd class honours from NTU Materials Engineering (cos i dabao twice). Subsequently, being rejected by SMU/NTU for their MBA course, I enrolled in SIM program. As a matter of fact, I emerged as one of the top two amongst my cohort. Though it is not as prestigious as the local Uni, it is something for me at to say the least.

Seriously, UOL students stop talking about LSE. I was previously from SP, GPA 2.5. Enrolled into UOL, close eyes 2nd upper class in banking. UOL is trash in the outside world, wake up now if you don't wanna get a shock when looking for jobs.

Did you study harder after you enter UoL? Or did you just scrape through to 2:1?

Most of these pte degrees the only way to fail is to not turn up for exams or fail to pay school fees, other than that everyone get some sort of honours no matter what. Companies also know that, so pte grads always end up like some low class employee that is slightly better than a diploma.

depends on hiring manager. i am a UOL grad and am eternally grateful to the hiring manager who gave me a chance to get me where i am today. hence i will look at least take a look and single out some pte uni grads as well although sometimes the quality leaves much to desire.

if u come across an elitist HR manager (of which there are many out there) then u don't stand a chance at all.

As trashy the UOL degree can be, there is no one who scrape through and get 2.1, yes it is trash, but it is not as easy. Of course I studied harder, but It was clear in mind that that was all I could do.

Ok, I don't know how true the above is. But I just wanna say that as a recent SMU graduate, my manager at Standard Chartered (middle office) is a SIM graduate, and my colleague is a SIM graduate too. I don't know what honors he got though. My dept is small, 2 SMU, 1 NUS, 1 NTU and 1 SIM, excluding the manager. The NUS lady is the assistant manager. So yeah, don't lose hope! It's harder to stand out compared to local grads for sure, but all hope is not lost.

There is nothing wrong in being a SIM graduate. Can make a good living too.

But just don't come barging into the forum and say that it is on par with LSE, NUS and NTU, as well as argue that SIM graduates ought to get equal opportunities in the civil service.

And they like to come up with 101 scenarios too, such as 1st class SIM grad vs 3rd class NTU grad. Or, SIM grad with a lot of proven experience vs NUS fresh grad with zero experience. Totally miss the point man.

The funny thing is these SIM grads keep asking the same question in different ways with all sorts of ridiculous scenarios. When they don't hear what they want to hear, they get all emo and start sharing anecdotal evidence of how this blah blah SIM grad who is doing better than this other NUS/NTU/SMU grad. At the end of the day all just dun want to accept the fact that SIM degree is lower class than others.

And then they start blaming the government for not giving them local placings.
Start blaming their poly/jc teacher for not teaching them well.
Start blaming banks for not giving interest free loans to SIM but only to SMU/NUS/NTU.
Start blaming poly people are not given enough placings.
Start blaming ITE people cannot study in NUS directly.
Start blaming Singapore for not giving every a chance to study university (public education)

But they never accept the fact that they can't get in local uni because there are 25% of singaporean cohort who are stronger than them.

Lol, been reading this thread periodically for a few months now and I'm kind of sad of this attitude.

need a SIM support group.

No doubt, the self-victimization can be quite apparent among private university grads at times, but me thinks some local grads are taking the opportunity to bash them too unfairly.

i think so too. Who knows if these 'local U' grads entered via backdoor methods? Hahaha

let's just a say a degree will just get u your first job (not talking about IB or other jobs that require stellar grades and CCAs). an SIM grad can outstrip a local grad and vice versa but the rest is up to u.

what?
 

Graduated with third class honours in 2011.

Starting pay $1.8k
3 months later $2.3k
9 months later $4.5k
Current pay $1231232k.

Maybe not
 

I think it's not self victimizing, it's just they share stories to warn the future UOL grads/sim grads about the job market etc. Nothing wrong, the society won't change, ppl still want to get a degree for a better future. That's being human, and being Singaporean. Singapore will have high percentage of higher educated ppl. And foreigners will be imported to do dirty jobs.

First job rite? Nvm.. wats most important is to gain experience k. Cheer up!

What is a reasonable gauge for banking fresh grads from sim uol? Can anyone advise. say for back-office ops.

abt 4-4.5k

bloody trollers..

SIM UOL fresh graduates doing ops can hit 2.8k for local banks considered lucky liao,

most are doing contract jobs at around 2.3-2.5k

those strike toto one will be 3.2 at foreign banks...

Just because you fail to make it in banking dont need to put others down...

SIM graduated last year now in OCBC doing risk modelling related work, joined at $3700 at first and after increment this year now at $4100.

wow. what's ur honours and how did u source for the job? Is it dry?

Got anybody take up dip pay or apply for dip job? Was offered 2k as a trainee for a year. In between, no increment. Nobody will know what will happen after the year... I could move to other companies but i am concerned about no bargaining power from last drawn salary. Logically it is way too low but I might be able to gain experience and exposure in areas I am interested in from this.. Or am I deluding myself?