SIM-UOL fresh grad starting pay

Originally Posted by Unregistered

from E&F here. No cca and nothing. Was doing part time jobs in year 1 and 2 while studying full time in SIM. Gotten my CFA level 1-2 at the end of my year 2 in SIM. Already secured my FCH in year 2 so year 3 was pretty relaxing for me. Got a ops role in UOB back office in tampines and converted to part time studies in my final year. Things were pretty hectic but i still could manage it. Left my job in feb to take a break and to focus on my exams (to see whether i could get a gold award ) Started my job hunt around in april, went to numerous interviews for mid office positions. Mainly analyst roles (risk mgt / fx settlements etc) with SCB, Morgan stanley, OCBC, DBS. Sent out about 40resumes to many banks and FI , hit rate is about 40% ? Already in my 2nd interview with morgan stanley and SCB, still waiting for the responses frm ocbc and DBS after my 1st interview with them. But at the same time im looking at other sectors such as commodities trading houses ( mainly physical trading but also bit on paper trading, either agri or energy)

My point is - every interview i went (errr.. about 10 or so? ), the interviewers were pretty impressed on how i managed to maintain my grades in such hectic schedules daily. Interviewers dont care whether you're a president of a SIM school club. Quoting from 1 of the interviewer i had , she said SIM-UOL is already a 3rd tier degree, without coursework, sem assessments, semester reviews by prof, etc etc. If one still couldn't get a FCH for it then it says a lot about your capability. Pretty harsh i say, but these are hard truths. Of coz ppl may argue academic ability doesn't determine one's ability.. well you dont tell me.. go tell it to most of the recruiters in banks.... 1 of my fnd was recommending me to go into stat boards and start from a "farmer" role then applying for post-grad sponsorship...
To all jobseekers , dont lose hope but pls open your eyes wide and see what's the reality out there. A FCH in UOL is as good as a average pass degree from local U...no big deal about it

Curious qns... How can you register for CFA level 2 while you are still pursuing your studies? Isn't the requirement for one to minimally completed their degree and failing to do so committed a breach on CFA regulation? Hmm.. so you registered on your first year in UOL for level 1 dec exam... which, when I'm quite sure when i register, we need to state that we are in final year of our university. And then.. you managed to complete your level 2 in June Exams 1 month after your uol exams and still secure a FCH by year 2.. meaning you score A for all your year 1 modules and A for at least 3 of 4 of your year 2 modules and still pass your CFA level 2 one month on which is coined as one of the hardest level. If you are for real... I'm very impressed and I dun know why you are in UOL. Unless you already have a degree prior to attending UOL? I'm pretty sure you will get Gold award given your capabilities. I dunno any firm silly enough not to hire you if you are as good a worker you say you are. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

from E&F here. No cca and nothing. Was doing part time jobs in year 1 and 2 while studying full time in SIM. Gotten my CFA level 1-2 at the end of my year 2 in SIM. Already secured my FCH in year 2 so year 3 was pretty relaxing for me. Got a ops role in UOB back office in tampines and converted to part time studies in my final year. Things were pretty hectic but i still could manage it. Left my job in feb to take a break and to focus on my exams (to see whether i could get a gold award ) Started my job hunt around in april, went to numerous interviews for mid office positions. Mainly analyst roles (risk mgt / fx settlements etc) with SCB, Morgan stanley, OCBC, DBS. Sent out about 40resumes to many banks and FI , hit rate is about 40% ? Already in my 2nd interview with morgan stanley and SCB, still waiting for the responses frm ocbc and DBS after my 1st interview with them. But at the same time im looking at other sectors such as commodities trading houses ( mainly physical trading but also bit on paper trading, either agri or energy)

My point is - every interview i went (errr.. about 10 or so? ), the interviewers were pretty impressed on how i managed to maintain my grades in such hectic schedules daily. Interviewers dont care whether you're a president of a SIM school club. Quoting from 1 of the interviewer i had , she said SIM-UOL is already a 3rd tier degree, without coursework, sem assessments, semester reviews by prof, etc etc. If one still couldn't get a FCH for it then it says a lot about your capability. Pretty harsh i say, but these are hard truths. Of coz ppl may argue academic ability doesn't determine one's ability.. well you dont tell me.. go tell it to most of the recruiters in banks.... 1 of my fnd was recommending me to go into stat boards and start from a "farmer" role then applying for post-grad sponsorship...
To all jobseekers , dont lose hope but pls open your eyes wide and see what's the reality out there. A FCH in UOL is as good as a average pass degree from local U...no big deal about it

Lol.. Sorry. I misread.. You completed CFA level 2 by the time you finish Year 2.. Meaning in May. So you pass level 1 and 2 during your year 1 and still straight As in your year 1. Wow.. just wow.. Why didn't you do internship in ur year 2 then? I sincerely do wanna link up with you, cause I'm also looking at commodities house and I'm pretty damn well sure I appreciate a person to share knowledge if you don't mind.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Lol.. Sorry. I misread.. You completed CFA level 2 by the time you finish Year 2.. Meaning in May. So you pass level 1 and 2 during your year 1 and still straight As in your year 1. Wow.. just wow.. Why didn't you do internship in ur year 2 then? I sincerely do wanna link up with you, cause I'm also looking at commodities house and I'm pretty damn well sure I appreciate a person to share knowledge if you don't mind.

i actually started cfa lvl 1 when i was in my 2nd yr NS. when i ord-ed in july, i was just in time for classes for uol 1st year. I didn't do internship becoz i was in need of money. Unlike many fortunate ones in SIM, i had to fund my studies from my own pocket... So yeah.. the rest is basically self explanatory. i started prepping CFA lvl 2 when i was year 1 and gotten level 2 in year 2.

I hate to say this but UOL's syllabus is not hard at all. By "hard", i mean the depth of the concepts that we're taught with. Sure, some questions may be took out of the subject guide, but if one were to flip through the essential textbooks a couple of times he/she would find more interesting(or mind boggling ) stuffs. I am not the kind that can sit there n skim thru the entire book. I just pick the relevant chapters to read from the txtbook and thats all. Another thing i realized is that most UOL students study by memorizing. When presented with a question out of the norm, their brain will just enter panic mode and not knowing what to do. Study smartly, and not study blindly.

Last but no least, acing UOL exams are nothing. I had a friend who often mugs with me, also a FCH in NBS, already secured a MA position mid office with SCB (start pay :4k) even before ntu exams started in late apr. And we went for the interview around the same time tho we applied different functions. So how did he managed that ? Simple, he had some solid intern experiences with credit suisse and deutsch bank mid offices. Not just some kechik intern doing ops, but a intern in the mid office supporting the front guys and building models. So how did he get the internship ? He simply chugged his resume into the tray at 1 of the career fairs held in NTU with most of the MNCs / big banks. Whole world of difference at how most MNC/banks treat local U's and SIM. Let alone the graduates that are being churned out every year from these institutions

My main objective is to go after a niche industry. In banking & finance, it's saturated with many ah mao ah gao. With such a huge pool of candidates, banks obviously have the rights to choose the "good" ones out from the lot . I'm not saying UOL students wouldnt get jobs in there but i just dont want to get drag into a batshit insane competition race. Like many before me had said, luck do play a part. Commodities house is just 1 of my options. I recently went for another interview with a major euro conglomerate ( industry withheld) , had a direct 1 on 1 interview with the german HOD. Things were looking pretty good,just hoping i could advance to the 2nd round of interview.
I've got nothing to share with you, i'm just an ordinary singaporean male like most of the peeps here. Unless you wanna hear the stories on how i endured most of my hardships, for which you can actually refer it to mediacorp drama. If you're interested in commodities, for e.g agri-based, you can find many articles online relating to it (i.e market insights..)

I don't know why im typing so much crap out here, those that think im a ********ting here pls kindly ignore my posts. Those that are affected by my posts, pls dont dwell too much on it. Take it with a pinch of salt, these r just my thoughts. No need to compare tis and that.

Hi all. I am a first year student in sim uol business. After reading all the comments, i am very uncertain about my future. I am currently doing a marketing internship in a small company. Anyone has any advice for me?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i actually started cfa lvl 1 when i was in my 2nd yr NS. when i ord-ed in july, i was just in time for classes for uol 1st year. I didn't do internship becoz i was in need of money. Unlike many fortunate ones in SIM, i had to fund my studies from my own pocket... So yeah.. the rest is basically self explanatory. i started prepping CFA lvl 2 when i was year 1 and gotten level 2 in year 2.

I hate to say this but UOL's syllabus is not hard at all. By "hard", i mean the depth of the concepts that we're taught with. Sure, some questions may be took out of the subject guide, but if one were to flip through the essential textbooks a couple of times he/she would find more interesting(or mind boggling ) stuffs. I am not the kind that can sit there n skim thru the entire book. I just pick the relevant chapters to read from the txtbook and thats all. Another thing i realized is that most UOL students study by memorizing. When presented with a question out of the norm, their brain will just enter panic mode and not knowing what to do. Study smartly, and not study blindly.

Last but no least, acing UOL exams are nothing. I had a friend who often mugs with me, also a FCH in NBS, already secured a MA position mid office with SCB (start pay :4k) even before ntu exams started in late apr. And we went for the interview around the same time tho we applied different functions. So how did he managed that ? Simple, he had some solid intern experiences with credit suisse and deutsch bank mid offices. Not just some kechik intern doing ops, but a intern in the mid office supporting the front guys and building models. So how did he get the internship ? He simply chugged his resume into the tray at 1 of the career fairs held in NTU with most of the MNCs / big banks. Whole world of difference at how most MNC/banks treat local U's and SIM. Let alone the graduates that are being churned out every year from these institutions

My main objective is to go after a niche industry. In banking & finance, it's saturated with many ah mao ah gao. With such a huge pool of candidates, banks obviously have the rights to choose the "good" ones out from the lot . I'm not saying UOL students wouldnt get jobs in there but i just dont want to get drag into a batshit insane competition race. Like many before me had said, luck do play a part. Commodities house is just 1 of my options. I recently went for another interview with a major euro conglomerate ( industry withheld) , had a direct 1 on 1 interview with the german HOD. Things were looking pretty good,just hoping i could advance to the 2nd round of interview.
I've got nothing to share with you, i'm just an ordinary singaporean male like most of the peeps here. Unless you wanna hear the stories on how i endured most of my hardships, for which you can actually refer it to mediacorp drama. If you're interested in commodities, for e.g agri-based, you can find many articles online relating to it (i.e market insights..)

I don't know why im typing so much crap out here, those that think im a ********ting here pls kindly ignore my posts. Those that are affected by my posts, pls dont dwell too much on it. Take it with a pinch of salt, these r just my thoughts. No need to compare tis and that.

Come on guy. If you think others will get affected by your post. Why do you still write so much crap to try to justify yourself, then later tell them not to dwell on it or ignore you.

cut him so slack dude. The purpose of his sharing is not about whether people would get affected or not... it's about providing more insights & awareness into the graduating scene of SIM graduates.

to the unregistered guy on who posted about his interview experience and is on course for FCH, I will be interested to hold some discussion with you over coffee. I'm from SIM UOL as well and I share some of the views that you've expressed in your post.

do contact me at : [email protected] if you are keen as well.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Come on guy. If you think others will get affected by your post. Why do you still write so much crap to try to justify yourself, then later tell them not to dwell on it or ignore you.

He is sharing his views on how the local job scene is like in SG and here we have it , anonymous user like you bashing him for expressing his views. Just as 1 of the user had posted it , most people in here (SIM to-be grads) refuse to wake up from their sweet dreams. When somebody tries to explain the "SIM stigma" aka the "truth", these delusional people will start accusing him for distorting facts.

Tsk tsk....

Btw I'm not from SIM. Just a regular-guy browsing in this thread.

I am from a local uni, just randomly browsing the thread. And I wonder, how did that guy clear his CFA level 2 as an undergrad?

i started prepping CFA lvl 2 when i was year 1 and gotten level 2 in year 2.

I got my CFA level 1 in year 2, they do not allow me to go for CFA level 2 at all. The criteria for level 2 is a bachelor's degree (i'm aware they wrote it as a requirement for level 1, but they seemed to relax on the rule. Not for level 2 though)

Can the guy please share with me how?

Guys..i was from a local uni and worked for few years in banking.

Just to make some contribution here..hope undergrads in pte unis will feel encouraged.

The FACT is that there are TONS of people working in banking who were from private unis.
Go check out Linkedin for yourself..once you start working and gain experience, nobody CARES where you graduated from. Talk to the RMs and Treasury Sales guys who make 20k-30k a mth, they don't talk about who grad from where. There are many successful pte uni grads.

To that guy who keeps talking non-stop about your FCH, you shld go check out the private uni grads who are in front office IBs and stop boasting about your back or middle office experience. (No need to emphasise it's middle cause the truth is nobody cares if it's back or middle)