Depressed

Originally Posted by approp

fresh grads start with 3.6k now. i started 1.9k in 2003. when you start low, its hard to increase. every year increment is $30 cos i worked in nus, stat boards

Your job is stable. You can increase your income by doing other things such as tuition.
Do you plan to get married?

Originally Posted by Contentment

Life still have to go on. By all means continue to strive for the better step by step. I am worse off than you. 42 male NUS general degree earning only 2700 monthly. Got a wife and 1 kid to support. But I manage to get by with careful planning and basic needs met.

Is your wife working as well? How much does she earn?

Originally Posted by approp

I am 34 female NUS general degree holder. been working since 2003 in fields not related to degree. i am only getting 3600 a month. been applying for jobs but no reply. no skills set at all.

I'm sorry to hear that. It just goes to show that your first degree regardless local or foreign is only your ticket into your first few of jobs. You have about 3-4 years to settle into a specialty/skill set before it becomes difficult to move around too much.

Another possible way is to take up some general role in an SME and maybe you will be tasked to take on other roles?

All the best...

Originally Posted by Contentment

Life still have to go on. By all means continue to strive for the better step by step. I am worse off than you. 42 male NUS general degree earning only 2700 monthly. Got a wife and 1 kid to support. But I manage to get by with careful planning and basic needs met.

what is a "general degree"? life must be tough for you....

Be it female or male, being in your 30s-40s and not earning a "high-pay" is definitely scary. Not doubt about that. However, lets try to understand why companies and would not want to hire us, not willing to increase or give us a high pay.

Most importantly, we must understand that the knowledge we have learnt from our degrees are long outdated and not valuable anymore. We can be from the best unis or the private unis but whatever it is, most things we learn from unis are theories from the past or from the present at that time and not about the future trends. This is one of the reasons why companies love to hire younger talent.

Not to worry people. Once you understand this, always remember and it is very important to have this mindset. Let's upgrade. Let's learn new skills. We have experience which is a valuable thing that young talents do not have, all we need to do is start learning again and with effort we will be better than the young talents because we have both experience and the knowledge of the present and future trends.

The most important thing in a workforce is your value to the company. The company or other companies sees your value when they know you are still a relevant asset. How to become constantly relevant, be willing to change. Be willing to learn. To always stay ahead of people with knowledge and understand new trends for the industries you are in.
This is very important.

My advice for people in this age group is go for industry-based professional certificates. 2 reasons, firstly, you learn the latest development and trends in the industry and secondly, you gain more contacts from different companies in the same field. If your company dont see your value, these contacts may see your value in their company.

The worst thing is to feel that I'm not young anymore, I cannot learn, I cannot be as good as the new young talents. This is the worst thinking. Get rid of that mentality if you have. Lets stay ahead of the in terms in of the industry. Make some sacrifices, spend them upgrading yourself so that no one can overtake you and at the same time be able to relate with the young talents. It doesnt matter how much you earn now, dont let it demoralise you. Its never too late to pick yourself and to show how worth you are worth to a company. When you can show your company your worth, this is when they will increase your pay or companies start poaching you.

Sorry about the long text but I hope it helps.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

what is a "general degree"? life must be tough for you....

It is a science degree. used to earn higher in civil service but backside itchy went to do sales job in private sector. On hindsight it was a bad bad mistake. But no point crying over spilled milk. Yes life is tought esp with the increasing costs but got a roof over my head and 3 meals daily....

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is your wife working as well? How much does she earn?

Yes she is working in entry level civil service but call me conservative or chauvinistic if you want.I feel the husband shld be the only one to shoulder the financial burden of the household not the wife. Whatever wife earns is only a added bonus. To me household income is salary of husband...that's all,period...

Originally Posted by Contentment

Yes she is working in entry level civil service but call me conservative or chauvinistic if you want.I feel the husband shld be the only one to shoulder the financial burden of the household not the wife. Whatever wife earns is only a added bonus. To me household income is salary of husband...that's all,period...

Nowadays both husband and wife earn. Nothing wrong with the wife earning and helping out. After all, this is better than she splurging her income on expensive branded bags, expensive shoes and dining at high class restaurants. May I know how much is your household expenses per month?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Nowadays both husband and wife earn. Nothing wrong with the wife earning and helping out. After all, this is better than she splurging her income on expensive branded bags, expensive shoes and dining at high class restaurants. May I know how much is your household expenses per month?

Household expenses approx $2000.

Originally Posted by Contentment

Household expenses approx $2000.

Impressive. Assuming your wife earns $3000 pm, your HH income is $5700 pm. Your savings is $3700 pm or $44.4k pa. This is a lot. Over 20 years, your savings will be $888k in total. You will be a millionaire retiree couple in 20 years time.