i 3.5k, fresh grad. engineer/public servant

u 2nd lower or 2nd upper or 1st class?
Which statboard or ministry u in??

I only noe that DSTA offer 2nd upper starting pay for fresh grad $3580 since year 2007

2nd upper.
a stat board under MTI. U guess ... hehe

He is telling rubbish. That is the lowest paid company i have ever come across. I regret joining them for 4 years. In 4 years, total less than 10% increment (inclusive of promotion). Btw, my performance is grade "A" over there.

Another engineer
 

Hi younglings,

First of all in any profession you will be paid more if you are profit center not a cost center. Therefore if you love engineering then you need to get a job in the company where engineering makes or breaks company therefore you do look for work where you do get to design next generation iPhone/etc. Don't look for huge payout if you are the cost center, that would be irrational.

Same thing actually goes for finance: biggest payouts for finance guys are in companies where finance is a core expertise of the company. If you are just a finance guy in manufacturing company the only thing going for you is a proximity of robust FSI sector that can poach you so discounting too much is not going to work. Situation is different for engineering guys because SG doesn't really have companies where engineering is core expertise and a differentiator from competition, if engineering is just a back office function, engineering guys in similar maintenance positions like finance guys are not in danger of begin poached because face it, SG is not even on the map as far as decent R&D concerned. However if you do end up in whatever few positions in SG where engineering is a profit/product center you will be treated well.

This is coming from mid-30's engineer making over 200k and on the way to 300k. And no, I don't have any managerial duties, I'm just a profit center for my employer, that's all. And no I do zero sales, I suck at sales but I'm a very good engineer. Why I'm not being replaced by cheaper Indian or Chinese ? Well, the Indians or Chinese who are as good as I am cost the same.

Hi well paid engineer,

It's so cliche. Any Tom knows if you are good you will be paid well. The best chefs get paid millions but the general tze char chef is paid modestly. Even so, there are exceptions. Talented artists like Picasso and Mozart in his twilight years don't get their talent recognized.

How many engineers are like you? As you were probably hinting at, you are one of the super rare breed engineers who cost a lot to hire. However, the discussion here is more about the general engineering profession. For every super successful engineer like you, there are thousands whose pay sucks. Whereas the general professional working in finance banking sector gets paid twice as much. That's also partly why SMU "younglings" smirk at NTU nerds.

Anyway, if one is truly smart he wouldn't be working for anyone. Those who are well paid are certainly quite smart but they also need to be lucky to have their talent appreciated.

Engineering is a low-risk, low-return profession, similar to placing your money in a fixed deposit.

Many people look only at its disadvantage: i.e. low-returns, but forgot all about its advantage: low-risk.

The flip side to professions in which you will not be paid much no matter how good you are, is that you will not starve no matter how bad you are.

Hi All...

I would just like to simply state starting salaries of IT positions in banks/financial institutions with presence in Singapore. The lowest starting pay is around 3.3k in a local bank, and the highest, as far as I know, is 5.8k per month in a top-tier investment bank.(i.e. 40K - 70K per annum).

Though it's not as high as those in Front Office, such as corporate finance/sales/trading roles (starting pay offer of at least 6k to as high as 10k SGD per month for a fresh grad), I'm satisfied with what I'm getting for now. The key word is 'for now'.

I myself am an engineering graduate, specifically computer engineering, but many fellow fresh grads who are in technology graduate/analyst/associate (whatever it's called in each bank) are from varying academic backgrounds, such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mathematics, physics and business/finance.

One thing is similar in all these banks & their hiring strategies: they DO hire nerds, who can get the job done. they PREFER smart people who get decent grades and at the same time participate in activities/committees/volunteer services.

Just my 2 cents.

Just my 2 cents.

It is in SG, not in US. In US it's fairly common place to see engineer make big because as said before difference is non-existent R&D.

In majority companies where engineering is the core competitive advantage, engineering track goes all the way to the top alongside management track.

that makes u a cost center like another one said!

it's quite hard to get in in the first place. count yourself lucky to have won the attention among the many applications these banks always receive, from fresh grads to experienced ones. and they DO look at results.

i also ce grad, but IT roles even in bank r just support positions. IT in banks can never becum a profit center. The systems I use have very outdated software u'll probably hear in the 90s, but these systems work fine and support thousands of transactions everyday. i'm glad i've made the switch, took a huge pay cut and working towards a financial analyst role and a CFA.