I really cannot understand the hate that some of you people on this forum seem to have for SIM graduates.

Why do you have to keep comparing them to local university graduates? Are you really so insecure that you must put others down to feel better?

I am a local university graduate, but I have many friends from SIM and never will I ever think of myself to be better than them just because I managed to ace an examination at 18 years old and that they did not.

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Be humble, and you will go far in society.

Well i don't totally disagree in what you say, i do end up in sim because i was lazy, and did not put in any effort to study. And yes, ppl from local U are generally smarter and hardworking cohort.

You are not wrong to perceive that way, but neither are you right.

People's attitude might change at some point in time, and for those that don't, yes what you stated are cold hard facts. However it is kind of unfair for the minority that put in the effort and work hard just because you judged the majority this way.

I would say that i am very lucky and thus i really believe the combination of luck/opportunity+presentation of yourself+working experience would ultimately be the key. (I.E-1.Luck/opportunity given by a open-minded boss that do not judge like what you just did)

And to those Local-U students that come here to belittle SIM student here, i can't help thinking that you guys are feeling inferior because you don't do as well as the top cohort of your Local-U student and came here to find superiority, no?

I can see where you are coming from but the main issue here is that you think that the skill sets needed to do well in school (i.e. work hard, rote learning, sit in lectures/tutorials for years, get tested in written examinations after that to regurgitate whatever you have learnt), is the same as the skill sets needed to do well in their career.

Sure, its the people who work the hardest gets past this system. But looking at how much effort a student puts into school before he turns 18 is not really a good measure of how well he is going to do for the rest of his career.

I was a typical lazy student. But I find my attitude towards work is different now. Why? I find work challenging and stimulating. I am given lots of trust and responsibility by my boss. I can see how my efforts help the company. My livelihood depends on my career.

I just never had the same attitude towards school.

Graduated UOL EnF (Second Lower)

Worked as a broker for 6 months - 2.5k ; Bonus NONE. (You will not get bonus until you hit your target. Target is quite impossible to hit)
Went over to Compliance (1 year) - 3.3k (Last year, my colleagues got average 5 months bonus. The lowest performer was 3 months.)

All pay is Gross pay.

All i can say to those who wish to gain a high starting pay, please manage your expectations. Finance industry now is horrible. Hardly anyone gets a full time offer straight. you have to grind as a contract staff first.

For those SIM students who think you guys are sub-standard, have more confidence in yourself. GO in and perform and grind your heart out. We all decide our own paths in life. It isn't how you start. It is how consistent and persistent you are that determines the end.

All the best everyone.

thanks for the sensible reply. i was expecting hard flamming here after putting some facts out there.

yes, i dont disagree with what you've said. of course, one can reconfigure himself when the time comes. truth be told, i was equally as lazy or even more lazy than most of my peers when i was younger. my grades were pretty crap, and i never bothered to study. it was only a combination of my intelligence and luck that i managed to secure above average grades to get into JC.

i dont think local uni students are here to look down on anyone, on the other hand, i think many of us are put off by the sheer audacity of sim folks to list LSE/UOL on their CVs/FB or through social interaction.

a side note - i've always respected friends/colleagues who openly admit they did a course in sim - as in say they studied in sim, not LSE/UOL. i and many managers get turned off immediately when i bring a candidate in, and that guy claims hes from UOL/LSE etc, and you have to probe him further only to see hes from sim. doesnt mean i wont hire you if you are from sim, but i definitely wont take you if you conceal that fact.

First off.. SIM or UniSIM? SIM global are oversea university... their recognition are lower than local uni.

UniSIM on the other hand are the same as any of the 3 (NUS NTU SMU). ISCA, an accounting body recognized UniSIM Accountancy to be on par with NUS NTU and SMU. Further more UniSIM are part time studies, meaning u work and study at the same time.. i believe that require ALOT of determination and commitment, especially accountancy is direct honor..

That is the misconception a lot of the ppl seem to have.

I am a UniSIM Accountancy grade, and i made my way into one of the Big 4. i don't see a problem competing against the other "elites" fresh grade from the local uni everyone loves to promote, especially since i worked while i clear my 4 year part time course. This also give me the edge i lost against their natural "hardworking" image, especially in application and understanding of knowledge to work.

Like u said, SQP is exempted to certain group of accountancy grade (transition agreement) and UniSIM (not the UOL one) is recognized as the same as SMU NTU and NUS.

Overall, i believe UniSIM student actually able to have higher self discipline and commitment to their desired course. They just started on a weaker route.

AND sorry for the typossssss, smash the enter key before i check...

im from sim-uol and i think its quite obvious that if you see someone who states university of london in his resume esp in sg , 98% chance is that he is from sim. i'll persolly just say im from sim, if someone probes further, i'll say i took the uol programme.

however when you say you've always respected friends who openly admit they did a course in sim, what do you mean? you're basically just saying that u love people to say "yeah, i came from sim and my uol cert is from there. it just happened to sound better than it should. but don't worry i'll just emphasize its distance learning so i won't come across as trying to mask the fact that i studied in sim or im from uol or lse. but wait, thats actually the cert that i am holding and some people just refuse to acknowledge that its a product of our hard work and earned by merit"

I find it really funny how SIM students always proclaim themselves to be "street smart". What a pathetic way to 自我安慰. Loojk, you ended up in a shitty uni because you were too stupid or lazy(and maybe both), NOT BECAUSE YOU WERE "STREET SMART". With adequate experience working in the society, any tom dick harry with average IQ or EQ would probably get the hang of it and become what they declare as "street smart". But no matter how hard you work etc, the SIM grad will never eradicate the fact that they were from SIM, the ppl who failed to make it into any of the local uni. Heck, its not even that hard to qualify for a course there. Straight Cs would have qualified you for a few courses. I barely studied and probably played harder than every single kid in my school and neighbourhood but I still managed to get almost straight A's for A level. Even the Not so smart classmates I had who took millenials to understand concepts managed to get into the dumping ground courses in ntu. Face it, fact is that the ppl I know who ended up in SIM were either lazy as **** or plain stupid. If you know that you're not as intelligent as the average population then you should probably put in more effort to build your life instead of preaching on how sim is equivalent to the other local uni.