How much increment can you ask for when you are looking for a new job?
 

As mentioned in header:

5 years of relevant working experience, all in private education sector.

Currently getting pay of $3.1K, plus handphone allowance of $80.

Applying for govt-related/public sector jobs, asking for $3.5K.

I am willing to negotiate down to $3.3K.

Employment agency ask me to lower my salary.

Not sure whether can trust or not..think maybe they are in hurry to get commission.....

I already went for 5 interviews and have received one job offer so far but the renumeration package can't be confirmed....been waiting for 3 weeks liao.......

Education level?

Degree-holder: Bachelor of Business Management

Also local polytechnic diploma holder, in Business Admin

29 years old, working full-time for 4.5 years already.

If degree holder, should ask for 4k...Coz fresh degree grad guy is ard 3.6k in civil sector, for second upper.

given we are talking about a local uni grad

It is a public hospital, the employment agency told me that although it is public hospital, it has been restructured such that it does not follow civil service structure pay anymore.

I am not honours grad, but I am on the Dean's List.

Can I really ask for 4K? I apply to quite a number of positions at local unis and local public hospitals? the local public hospitals (for previous interviews) confirmed me but still havent confirm my salary package......3 weeks already.....


Local uni all tell me all positions are on 2-3 year contract basis......

What position in the restructured hospital did you apply for?

It was a executive level position....

grad from smu? served ns?

a male fresh grad w/o honours gets 3-3.2k in public sector. so depends if u can manage ur ego to accept the relatively low pay..

your salary is pretty low for a degree graduate honestly. did you recently get your bachelor's or since 5 years ago have already? what institution? what exactly is private education sector? have you only been giving tuition the past 5 years?

Hi,

I got my bachelor's degree 5 years ago and have been working full-times for 5 years since, from the University of Queensland, no honours, only Dean's List Merit Award.

Private Education sector means working in educational institutions other than NTU, NUS or SMU.

For example, it refers to institutions like SIM, PSB Academy, Kaplan, Curtin Singapore or JCU Singapore.

Funny thing is, when I go for the interviews, (I already went for 6 interviews, 5 with GLC-related organisations), they say asking for $3.3 still okay, for senior executive positions, but maybe $3.5 a bit too much out of their budget.

My sixth interview, was a private sector organisation, actually quite large organisation, is actually a spin-off from one of Singapore's more-important Stat Board; they were really keen in me, the interview dragged to nearly 1.5 hours, and even asked me to consider other positions, but they said being paid $3.1K is currently way-above the market rate.

Please do not think of hospitals being govt link, as they do not follow the cs pay structure at all. Generally bulk of the money in hospitals goes to the doctors (to retain them from joining private) and so the rest of the administrative positions get a smaller cut.

It is common for fresh grad to receive ard 2.8k for executive position. Granted $100 increment a year, your given salary of 3.3k is reasonable for the no of years of exp.

Hi thanks a lot, it really helped me to put things in perspective; advice like this is really great - I got some organisations calling me up offering $2K (max) for degree-holder executive positions, while I have friends and people telling me to go for $4K. I also think asking for 3.3K is also reasonable, although I am not sure if I want to hold out for 3.5K, if possible, when i apply for senior executive positions.

Pay
 

Honestly you pay is really on the extreme lower end considering you have around 5 years of graduate working experience. perhaps it is due to your business major (too many from psb / sim etc around here)

Since you do not have a job currently, you have less bargaining chips play. Which is why companies are offering ~ 3300ish.

You can try putting "As per company HR policies and remu sops" in the expected salary.

your asking of 3.3k for 5 years is low.

suggest that u stop looking at govt linked organisations and educational sector as your overseas uni degree is as good as a diploma to them. this was the case for my sis who grad with a distance learning degree from murdoch.

MNCs, GLCs and SMEs may take u in as a local degree grad's equal IF u can convince them at your interview. this was for my case, where i entered with higher salary than some of my local uni grads colleagues.

all the best.

Can I ask how much asking salary do you think I can ask for?

I did not do a distance learning degree, I went on-shore to do it full-time.

the weird thing is when I went for a interview with a rather large organisation that was spinned off from a govt stat board, the HR manager told me that even in comparison with local uni grad with 2nd upper, I am overpaid - but I go for other interviews with similar organisations and they said it was okay.....just that they are slower in screening through all interviews.....

Spin-off from a govt stat board means that the senior management will have people from there, and that they take reference from their time in public sector. That means unless you're from ivy league universities, chances are they'll prefer local grads and will offer less for those who went overseas (even if on-shore).

3.3k is only about there for positions in hospitals, as they generally pay lower to begin with. You cannot expect them to give you a position higher than entry level despite having 5 years of experience, unless you have connections or you were from public sector (chances are even low for this).

Alternatively, try to apply for other stat boards/agencies if you're truly keen to join the public sector. While you may not be offered a position higher than entry level, at least you can expect 3.8 - 4.2k depending on where you're applying to.

that's just a tactic HR will use when negotiating salary. i think anything from 3.5-4k is ok.

also like another poster mentioned the mentality of recently spinned off stats boards (eg CAG) is largely still a stat board.

try looking at other types of companies.

Hi. When you say you work in educational institutions what exactly do you do in the educational institution? Are you a teacher or do you handle some business function for the educational institution? More specifics on your competency and experiences will help us better gauge how to position yourself better for the market.

I still think $3.3k is too low for a graduate with 5 years experience. Unless you have been sweeping floors and making coffee the past 5 years, I really think you can gun for higher.

Hello, my job function has been:

- Mainly Non-commissioned sales (recruitment and sourcing of prospective students), really in formulating the development and implementation of sales campaigns and strategies to achieve KPI sales number objectives,

-plan and work with foreign University lecturers on curriculum implemetation

- handling (and selling) during information sessions registration and conduct campus tour, plus managing recruitment booths during education fairs (like the ones at Suntec) or university fairs at the polytechnics

- Handle both prospective students’ and existing students queries via phone, mail or face to face consultation sessions, Conduct regular follow up with prospective students, Provide advise with regards to admission requirements and programme benefits to prospective students regrading the undergraduate programs

-Assist newly enrolled students with enrolment process and career options, ensure that they enrol in their subjects properly

- Collect data on students' academic performance and manage the feedback progress

I'll tell you the truth, I really and truly love my current (and third job). The pay may have sucked, working hours were horrible, but I deeply felt a sense of pride seeing my students graduate and win scholarships, knowing I helped.

I saw myself staying there for like 5 - 10 years.

Until a new manager came in and started screaming at me, and picking on me. His behavior was totally horrible. I had to quit before I mentally snapped.

good on you. it's a shame that you had to bump into a less than desirable superior. it's not commonplace where people can be truly proud of the job they are holding. but as they say, people usually leave a job not because of the job itself but because of their immediate boss.

your jobscope is catered towards a very niche crowd but assuming you play a considerable role in what you just said, i can see elements where you were involved in a results-oriented environment, project management, events management, and even down to customer service where you handled students' inquiries. 5 years of this is no pushover so you have to do the rest of the junior to middle level career professionals a favour and not depress wages. in my honest opinion, unless you're really screwed up during interviews, anyone who's telling you you are supposed to get anything below 4k is very wrong. do not believe recruiters as they have client's budget to meet in mind and do not believe HR as cost containment is obviously a measure for them.

i think you need to think through how to better position yourself to your prospective employer with your years of experience and present a more convincing image during interviews, if you have not done so already.

A $1000 increment.......will try!

Im frm the same uni, but grad 9 yrs ago, not on dean list. (similar course) but i think u are underpaid/under offered. 3.1 or 3.2 is like entry level. Now the job market is suppose to be better. My time when I grad and started to wrk was 04 or 05, the times was bad so my starting was 2k, but hopped a few jobs and 3rd job 4 yrs later was 4k. Thats in 08/09. Im sure u can do better, dont listen to agents, they just want to quickly close and earn the commission. If its a headhunter who approached you for another post, they typically try to get u the best deal.

to add, the role you were in , the KPI seems to be difficult to justify. Like how much $$ do you save or sales you brought in for the dept or business you are in.
If you are in a position where you can brag numbers based on your achievements then you can command much more, even leadership role.
5 yrs after grad, I think u should be able to gun for manager or asst mgr post. You may not need to have people under your hierarchy but you stake in the dept should be more significant.
Can you formulate your resume to show more numbers like sales you brought in?

Hey thanks a lot, I am going to ask for 3.5K, nothing less! This really helps a lot. Of course, if I can get more, then I will ask for more!

Just to add on, I am also scared to be greedy....but I want to be paid what am I worth.


I was actually already offered a post by a local public hospital, right away after the interview, via email but they still cant confirm the renumeration package; I have been waiting for 3 weeks already.......

My asking salary was 3.5K; I am okay if annual increment and bonus is still okay, but if can get more, i will go for it.

Goodwill
 

Hi, I agree that with 5 years of relevant working exp for a degree holder, you should ask for at least 3.5k. However, keep in mind that different industries pay differently and in general the private education sector does not remunerate well, but you have to try and find out what's your benchmark like. I suggest you use the Working in nus admin thread as a reference.

I just checked the nus admin thread; for degree holder , with no experience, you go into grade 6 (the lowest), which is less than 3.5K....

I just went to this website paycheck.sg, inputed my data in and they said average salary for 4 years experience, even if in private education industry, is $3.4K++.

I should not undersell myself.

Actually, in my current role (which I just quit), although job title is executive, the discretion to make decisions is extremly wide-ranging, compared to other decisions. I have the ability to make decisions without consultation, and I think in comparision with elsewhere, it is unusual, because when I speak to my colleagues, they all mentioned that even as managers, they have to seek appproval for the work I sometimes do on a daily basis.

Will follow your advice and update my resume.

I just spoke to someone else....this is what that person said:

- Current salary high on market side but as no commission, balances out

- asking for $3.5K without commission still ok but may not get for the future position I am applying for & current salary you are holding \


Anyway, I am still asking for $3.5K, until the situation become very jialat.....

How much to put for current/expected salary in resume?
 

Dear All, need your kind advice:

Let's say my current monthly basic is $1000 (guaranteed).
I also get 1 month AWS plus $1200 allowance per annum (guaranteed).
And say 1 month variable bonus (non-guaranteed).

Only taking into account the guaranteed portion, can I show in the resume, my current salary as: (1000 x 13 + 1200)/12 = 1183?

And if I'm expecting a 10% increment in the new job, I can put my expected salary as: 1183 x 110% = 1301?

Or how do you guys normally calculate and present your current/expected salary in your resume when applying for new jobs just in case the new job does not have any AWS or allowance?

Thank you in advance!

state your total annual package instead of monthly.

Yes, this will be the best choice. However, the HR forms in many companies do not allow this. Should we take the figure for total annual package and divide it by 12 then? If so, it wouldn't match the "last drawn salary" which they refer to in the payslip they request for...

I state my monthly salary and annual in my expected as my current package, I get some retainment shares from my company which amount to 8k a yr. I add this to my annual.

In short, you can put in monthly, but always be sure to calculate your next pay check in terms of overall salary and perks. Sometimes its not always about $$ u move to a next job.
But in your case I can see you are severely underpaid, my advice is not to compromise as you are in your peak and should continue to get a decent increment in every job hop. Come 40++ you may not command good increments.

If you are not cash strap, ride it out, try similiar post but mayb slight more sales driven, since you bring in students for your company/uni.

I have a fren in a similiar post but NUS, snr manager, I doubt she earns little, her main scope is to counsel students in career options and choices, also working with private companies for job placements for uni students in her faculty. She is from the same uni as you and studied a similiar course. Also, this is a new job switch for her as she is previously from the private sector. I believe her salary should be in the range of 8 to 9k, 13yrs exp

there is another thread going on here that sr manager in NUS is an entry level position and surely does not command 8-9k. i think u shouldn't give TS false hope.

Current base salary is ~16k, with about 4k additional salary (comms) per month on avg.
If I were to change to a new job, what % increment would be considered industry average at this salary level?
Online research suggests around 15-20% at least, but I'm wondering if that might be too much to ask for as 15% translates to almost 2.5K jump monthly.

Thanks!

If your pay is actually at that level I doubt you would need advice on how to negotiate a package.

That was not helpful. I'm asking for actual experiences of people changing jobs at that level (which, in the first place, isn't very high in the tech industry) so that I could have some reference points (granted there are many variables, but no harm asking). This has nothing to do with negotiation skills.