to add to, you should consider goinh to private first.. joining public service as fresh grad without a local degree can hardly bring you anyway.. you will probably find yourself lag behide alot from your peers in 3 yrs time.

Inferior complex? :)

I am the other guy. My current team also has a mixed of local and private university candidates.

I help my boss to look at candidates' profiles when hiring for entry level 2 to 3 years experience roles.

Main considerations are the previous job experience and tenure. The qualification is just a "noted" in our minds. Regardless of qualifications, rule of thumb is to always stay humble and have a great attitude. These factors together with a good boss/supporting colleagues will bring you far in your career.

wah how come u so zai can lead two ppl older than u, and one from NUS somemore, u pay 9mil to go Stanford isit? "all through my own hardwork"

Cherish each opportunity. Do your best and hope for the best.
 

Some of your here might be fresh grads, and very hopeful about the future.. But a small advice is, please don't only keep focusing on such details like your starting pay, etc..

Once you stepped into the working world, alot of things is not what you have planned or hope to be.
Your education is just the beginning, even your subsequent work experiences can only help you as much as when it is able to help.

Many factors come into play in one's career. No one can guarantee the smartest student will land the best job, the most hardworking worker will get the promotion, the most networked manager will always be at the top, the most well liked staff will always be well liked.

Most importantly is for each opportunity you have, do your best and hope for the best. But we must always be prepared that nothing is guaranteed in life, especially in your career. Many things are beyond your control.

Many people out there were once best student from best schools, top performers in their workplace, well liked by coworkers and bosses... But do all of them end up having the best career outcome? A financial crisis could easily disrupt one's future, a restructuring in the organisation may mean a reset for an individual... At the end of the day, we won't be able to know what our career outcome will be until we are there.

Cherish each opportunity you get. Do your best and hope for the best.

Important not to look down on oneself.

i really wish i could afford. haha. i am a "farmer". joined private (a listed company) as junior executive 10 years ago drawing 2.5k.

the 2 guys i am leading had been in the SB for more than 10 yrs. i am sure the NUS guy had a higher starting pay than me.

what im inferring is that, u joined private, managed to progress in your career, while they joined SB from the start and barely had progression so now your are their team lead?

actually the two guys are doing okay, definitely not high flyer but still a avg performer at least. they are both at mid management level now. as for me, though i am leading the team but still at mid management level only.

well, like many had said, starting pay cannot determine your career. you need alot of opportunity to progress very fast in public service.. there are plenty of jobs out there you can gain gd experience before joining the public service. thats my thought..

So HR called me and made a verbal offer. I agreed to it as it was above what I formally requested for (on the application); did not want to seem like I'm overly greedy. Did I do the right thing by not negotiating for more?