what role were u in at the local bank? why didn't u continue? they didn't wanna convert u to perm?

Those without local uni degree does not mean they are not intelligent.
Some of them really have a bad childhood such as parents divorcing or classmates bullying etc. Anw Acca grad here earning $3k a mth, 25yo.

maybe, but i doubt any interviewer is interested in hearing a pte deg's life story.

Then do something to prove ppl wrong. Go get a CFA or CPA or MBA at a top 20 university to prove that u are intelligent. Lots of things u can do.

wondering if there are any folks from sim-uol who are now working for the government in policy positions? seems like most head to banks after graduation.

banks can pay better. after got exp reach vp level can make >20k. go gov get condem with shiit pay and always fall behind the local uni grads.

yeah i understand there could be such a problem. however not everyone is interested in joining the financial sector, hence my question.

You can try stat boards or even Govt restructured healthcare companies like SingHealth or Juronghealth. Ministries will not take you. Especially not for policy positions. From what I know, mostly only first class Honours from local Uni get into policy. Or else second upper.

All the best!

for pte deg grads my advice is to apply for everything u can. with current bad economy, it is tough for a pte deg to get a job, dun do stupid things by limiting ur options too early.

i realized many uol students take up contract positions in compliance, any other roles in banking which uol students can realistically aim for (excl ops)? i'm not gonna be a dreamer and aim for dcm or ecm

Realistically speaking?

Consumer/retail banking and SME banking. These two divisions are more manpower-heavy and hence, have many contract positions available.

when u say sme banking, do u mean credit analysis for SMEs or cold calling SMEs?

Could be either, it really depends on the vacancies available in that particular organization. It is just like how I didn't specify if it's the credit cards department or consumer mortgages department in retail/consumer banking. Because it is quite pointless to be so specific.

But in general, SME banking and retail/consumer banking have more manpower requirements than other departments like markets or corporate banking.

isn't SME and corporate banking the same thing aka institutional banking?

what talking u? that guy was asking the question because there's a huge difference between both. And yeah kindly explain what is the difference between sme banking and corporate banking, both seems the same

I dunno about that particular guy's bank, but in general, the different divisions are New Businesses (small), Corporate (medium), Institutional (large).

Its amazing how ignorant people can be so rude.

Btw, you got absolutely no chance to be in those areas.

Retail and Private banking are your only chances.

Appalled by how rude they are too.. It's quite disappointing, actually.

Anyway, just adding my two cents - retail/consumer banking is your best chance.

hi, u in retail banking yourself? can share more

Just adding my two cents. I was from SIM, worked a few year in retail banking/recruitment and did a masters in a local Uni. Managed to get a full time role in a DCM position although it is not a bulge bracket.

Private universities doesn't mean 0 change to get into FO. Just very very difficult - you need hard work and honestly abit of luck.

Market's really bad now, so I guess whatever offers you get, you should consider it.

Graduated last year. Working in a special sits fund. 9-10k base.

is your special sits fund named goldman sachs?

probably not. 9-10k too low for goldman sachs.

Very unlikely if you graduated from sim uol, unless they can't find anyone that makes the cut from Ivy League and local Uni grads.

Also, Goldman Sachs FO starting pay is in fact lower than that of some BBs' FO. I am in a grad program from one of the BBs and got to learn about this from some of the FO graduates, although we hardly see these people hahaha.

Yeap, exactly.

Are you from SIM?

this forum goes on forever abt sim & ib. can someone just post a linkedin showing a sim ib banker after graduating? then we can move on.

There is no moving on. This **** will just keep repeating itself.

this forum is all about making oneself feel better.

in actual fact, most are just average grad working at low level position. taking normal grad pay

is all hearsay

Every Tom dick and Harry is a grad now. Good jobs are rare. Sim grads have a tough life

Nope, I am from a local uni, and I can say there is no private uni grad in our program, even for corporate functions (back office), where I am placed in. Most are from local uni, and a few from overseas uni, albeit non Ivy League.

However, there are in fact a number of sim uol grads in our FO doing CDD and KYC though, with the title assistant RM in the bank's PB arm.

So would like to shed some light on this to debunk all these claims that your peers have been 'flaunting'. No offence though. On a side note, I do know of sim uol people getting a role in local banks' grad program, especially in the T&O division.

u mean butthurt ppl like yourself who rant abt private uni students on forums to make yourself feel better?

There's more than just banks in this haha. I guess what others said about SIM grads having a hard time landing such roles is true. We do have a disadvantage here, but I guess as long as you go out and talk to people, show that you're keen, its not entirely impossible.

Also, finding out more about what you want to do might help (i.e. don't be like that guy previously who referred to MBB as top investment firms...)

Anything is possible - which is another way of saying I have no concrete evidence to offer, but since you cannot say what I claim is impossible so that means I'm correct.

Every year there are a few (less than 5) graduates who gets to be with the higher echelons. The rest are miserable sobs who barely earns less than 3k. There is a reason why this thread has so many pages - that is too many losers who couldn't make it in local u, think finance degree = money. Let's be honest, no one gives a **** about uol degree unless you are admitted into LSE. When i was in my first year in uol, my peers are all hopeless poly graduates getting their parents to fund for their degree education just for the sake of a qualification paper.

Word of advice, there are hundreds of different fields, don't pick finance just because you are ill informed, educate yourself. Those who really worked hard to get back in life and really put in the effort to strive to be the top in uol, hats off to you. Meanwhile the rest, enjoy your sub 2k salary, 'degree holder'.

so...why did u still enrol into uol? calling yourself a loser?

I see most private uni finance grads in either outsourcers like Citco or smaller audit/accounting firms. Some take up branch sales jobs with banks, this is the only place where I keep reading claims of private grads in BB FO & BO.

hi there, indeed i was a loser. Thankfully, hard work paid off and i was accepted into LSE after year 2. There are those who were once losers and become successful in life, and there are losers who still choose to be losers at this stage of life. Those complaining about their salary only have themselves to blame for being just another wannabe studying in uol. Compare your portfolio and grades with your fellow peers, are you really that different from them? Nahh...still sub-par grades.

Current undergraduates reading this, work hard for your future and not wallow in pity like these losers didn't work hard and took 30k off their parent's coffers for a piece of paper.

Yeah... With UOL, you're literally buying a degree.

I am poster of the above reply. Just to clarify, I have no intention to butthurt or insult the uol peeps. But I feel that there is a need to clarify and debunk many of these false information that your peers have provided.

Also, not pointing fingers on any of you, I think that in life, we have to know where we stand, work hard while live humbly. If we see that our goals (triggered by many of the false info here e.g. Being more Streetsmart than local uni grads, or friend's friend in BB FO) are unttainable due to certain circumstances, we should probably stop living in denial and work towards a goal that is within our reach.

I know many of you guys will still disagree with me, but I just want to emphasize the importance of being realistic and keeping things real. Not trying to put you guys down though. In fact, I have to admit that many of you guys are more capable and have better communication skills than local uni grads. For instance, I know of people who graduated from private uni to reach director/vp level faster than local uni grads because they work harder and smarter than many others. So my point is while you guys might lose out at the starting point, with humility and hard work, we never know who the eventual winner will be.

Just providing my two cents worth, and hope this helps.

I am a uol grad, in a BB performing trade support...

TYPICAL CHAIN OF REPLIES ON THIS THREAD

SIM student: "I know of this SIM alumnus working in the FO of a BB now, earning 9k a month"

Random forummer, might not always be the same person (RF): "wow really? Can I know more about him? Or can you link me his LinkedIn profile? I'm interested to know more about him"

SIM student: "You ownself go search la, got so many of such profiles on the Internet"

RF: "Sian leh, cannot find. These SIM students say got a lot of such profiles/people, but can't even link me to one"

SIM student: "All these butt-hurt local uni students, no common sense/street smartness. Like that also cannot find. No wonder we do better. The world is all about street smartness and communication skills. Also, as long as you work hard, can do it one."