31 yo liao no a levels/poly dip, online degree, no work exp

[jiaklatliao]

hello, i am 31 yo liao, i dropped out of a levels/poly, then went on to do a completely online degree from the uk, afterwards realised cannot use it to find job in singapore. so i left singapore and worked in malaysia teaching english for 5 years. recently, i realised i am losing out and there is no future in this line so now i want to go back to sg to work on my office based career, i hope to earn 3-5k each month that is good enough for me, start a family, work in a stable job, save cpf for retirement.

i know my online diploma and degree are not recognised (although they are accredited uk degrees) so i decided to go back to school for the next 1-4 years then go into job market.

now i have been accepted into 2 courses.

1. james cook university singapore campus 1 year bachelors commerce degree (they gave me advanced standing of 2 years)

2. pursue a 4 year phd in hong kong (top 50 university in the world) with minimal student stipend.

which one do you think i should go after? my point of doing another degree is to cover my online degree and apply for jobs in sg, government jobs, or etc. i will only use the jcu degree after i graduate.

as for the phd, it is very enticing to give it a try but it is a long hard road, and my online degree will still be under it, will that affect my job search in sg if i graduate?

goal in life is just to find any business related job, best is banking or marketing, and earn 3-5k each month, start a family, settle down.

Originally Posted by jiaklatliao

hello, i am 31 yo liao, i dropped out of a levels/poly, then went on to do a completely online degree from the uk, afterwards realised cannot use it to find job in singapore. so i left singapore and worked in malaysia teaching english for 5 years. recently, i realised i am losing out and there is no future in this line so now i want to go back to sg to work on my office based career, i hope to earn 3-5k each month that is good enough for me, start a family, work in a stable job, save cpf for retirement.

i know my online diploma and degree are not recognised (although they are accredited uk degrees) so i decided to go back to school for the next 1-4 years then go into job market.

now i have been accepted into 2 courses.

1. james cook university singapore campus 1 year bachelors commerce degree (they gave me advanced standing of 2 years)

2. pursue a 4 year phd in hong kong (top 50 university in the world) with minimal student stipend.

which one do you think i should go after? my point of doing another degree is to cover my online degree and apply for jobs in sg, government jobs, or etc. i will only use the jcu degree after i graduate.

as for the phd, it is very enticing to give it a try but it is a long hard road, and my online degree will still be under it, will that affect my job search in sg if i graduate?

goal in life is just to find any business related job, best is banking or marketing, and earn 3-5k each month, start a family, settle down.

First question in mind, a top 50 uni in HK accept online degree? i seriously dont think so. well if this post is real, you can pursue a PHD and come back to sg is better then the degree from james cook. Government may or may not consider your PHD as your degree in online course. If they accept you, probably pay will be lower but still will be more then your 3k-5k depending where you go.

if you do not even dare to say out the name of ur hk uni, it is just as good as the james cook uni degree.

which is just as good as your current degree.

come on lah. work in what office based career?

y not you continue to apply for poly again?

[jiaklatliao]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

First question in mind, a top 50 uni in HK accept online degree? i seriously dont think so. well if this post is real, you can pursue a PHD and come back to sg is better then the degree from james cook. Government may or may not consider your PHD as your degree in online course. If they accept you, probably pay will be lower but still will be more then your 3k-5k depending where you go.

it is real. it is an online diploma and degree but i got good gre scores and the degree itself is fch. phds are easier to get in as very few people want to spend so many years without a job in school, and phd doesn't increase your salary vis a vis a masters.

a local university also shortlisted me, still waiting for results.

the thing is in singapore you guys are so fussy about online offline etc yet only 30% of each cohort can go to local university. so many companies dont 'recognise' my online degree. it is a pain in the ass, so i got to go back to on campus to do basically the same modules again. i made a mistake doing an online degree anyway.

i am not confident about finishing the phd, as 50% don't complete, it is not easy. beside i will be giving up 4 years of income and i will be 35 if i do complete, losing out on more working years?

the jcu degree is just 10 modules and 1 year. after i get it i can do a 1 year masters or most probably work for a few years. you think after i get that degree i can find a entry level banking or marketing job? what are my chances? how about getting into the civil service?

that's all i want to do in life, just 3-5k stable job i am happy.

Done online or taught online? "Online" degrees got a huge variance. On one end there are those fake ones or retarded ones. On the other hand you have those like UOL that is taught online and self-study but the degree is no different from what SIM people are getting.

So firstly we have to know what and where you got the degree from? Secondly, PhD from HK in what field? And which Uni in HK?

Originally Posted by jiaklatliao

it is real. it is an online diploma and degree but i got good gre scores and the degree itself is fch. phds are easier to get in as very few people want to spend so many years without a job in school, and phd doesn't increase your salary vis a vis a masters.

a local university also shortlisted me, still waiting for results.

the thing is in singapore you guys are so fussy about online offline etc yet only 30% of each cohort can go to local university. so many companies dont 'recognise' my online degree. it is a pain in the ass, so i got to go back to on campus to do basically the same modules again. i made a mistake doing an online degree anyway.

i am not confident about finishing the phd, as 50% don't complete, it is not easy. beside i will be giving up 4 years of income and i will be 35 if i do complete, losing out on more working years?

the jcu degree is just 10 modules and 1 year. after i get it i can do a 1 year masters or most probably work for a few years. you think after i get that degree i can find a entry level banking or marketing job? what are my chances? how about getting into the civil service?

that's all i want to do in life, just 3-5k stable job i am happy.

i think people need a proof of which local uni shortlisted you before you can get real advice. Because looking at what you've said here, fch or not, it doesnt matter because afterall it is a online degree. getting into CS with james cook degree i think you can just dream on.

[jiaklatliao]

So even after studying in jcu sg campus cannot get into civil service? How about teaching etc? Or mnc job? You guys think possible to find such jobs after jcu?

The phd, i am not sure, but there is a chance to exit with a masters. But seems like a lot of trouble for no money.

[jiaklatliao]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Done online or taught online? "Online" degrees got a huge variance. On one end there are those fake ones or retarded ones. On the other hand you have those like UOL that is taught online and self-study but the degree is no different from what SIM people are getting.

So firstly we have to know what and where you got the degree from? Secondly, PhD from HK in what field? And which Uni in HK?

Does it really matter? Finishing the phd and passing the viva will be difficult. Even then, i will be 35, isn't that too old to start saving for family retirement? Continue in academia i got what chance against the ivy league tsinghua guys? Go to post doc or be a researcher pay is only 4 or 5k, if u can get a job. Go to industry, maybe 3 or 4k, no difference from bach.

Seems like a lot of time for little monetary reward.

You need to think in terms of the labour market and pay realities instead of approaching it from an angle of study this study that etc. First, let’s take a look at your situation and expectations.

By the time you finish your HK online PHD, you will be 35 years old with zero experience working in either Singapore or an “office based job”, so in a sense you are like a fresh graduate. Your expectations of 3-5k is approximately the equivalent starting pay of either an entry associate level job in a MNC/public sector or at the higher end, a management program of a foreign bank/mnc or reputable management consultancy.

Who are your competitors in these jobs? Generally 21-24 year old fresh graduates from NUS/SMU/NTU who have various industrial internships and usually 2nd upper or 1st class honours. Some might even be Masters from good universities. You will neither be competitive in academics nor age nor experience. Public sector and MNC is a dead end for you if you ask me.

What about SME? Maybe, but I seriously doubt they will bother with paying anything more than 3k for an executive Private university students who upgraded from diploma and usually have some years of relevant work experience are usually being offered anywhere from 2.4-3k now, it is doubtful that you will be able to go above that. My best guess your online PhD is going to get you ~2.5k at best and even then your chances are not very high considering your age and lack of experience.

What should you do? My advice is stop wasting time and money on generic online degrees, they are not worth anything especially considering your age and lack of experience. What you need is proper relevant skillsets and experience. Go and look for local reputable polytechnic diplomas that are more targeted on a particular skillset. Study them either part time or full time and in the mean time try to get a local based job (even if it is clerical level) to gain some experience and additional income.

After that, you can better reset your career on that skill path and upgrade with relevant certs and degree as you go along. This will mean studying, starting from diploma (1.8-2.2k starting) and working you way up. Stop fantasizing on shortcuts hoping to grab online degrees to slingshot your way past local degree grads, it doesn’t work this way. If it’s that easy everyone would have done it. Why bother to cramp your studies in poly/JC/uni if an online degree gets you there as well?

Originally Posted by jiaklatliao

So even after studying in jcu sg campus cannot get into civil service? How about teaching etc? Or mnc job? You guys think possible to find such jobs after jcu?

The phd, i am not sure, but there is a chance to exit with a masters. But seems like a lot of trouble for no money.

basically, there is a standard in CS, MNC or teaching. ALL of these requires reputable universities certs. Hence a degree in jcu is really a hard case.