social science/arts degree prospects

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, I would like to add on to the last paragraph of the above post. If you are keen to join those top MNCs mentioned, don't just focus on your technical competencies and academic scores. I am in one of the MNCs above, but I joined as an experienced hired. 80% of the interview process did not ask me about my technical competencies. These organisations want to see how you response in a work environment, whether you demonstrate their values. You may be strong in technical competencies or related work experience, but end up not getting a role with them. They are willing to train candidates who are less qualified if they demonstrate the right values.

i'm have a slightly different view on this because your situation may not be entirely relvant to the OP as you have some real working experience, so your technical competence wasn't really in question and it was more of a "fit" interview to see if you fit into the culture of the department or team.

for OP who is a student, with no real experience to speak of, its quite hard to convey that he or she has the right values, which is a very vague concept anyways. i think its more important to have a demonstrable interest in working in that particular job position or industry based on extra curricular activities or competitions that is apparent on his/her resume.

you may shoot me for generalisation, but my observation as an ex-NUS student (not stating my course of study save that it is neither of the faculties i'm mentioning here) is that FASS students were generally more unfocused in their career/job seeking goals and plan of action compared to their peers in other faculties.

its probably really no fault of theirs given the sheer breadth and diversity of what constitutes an Arts degree. but for instance, i see Business students and also computing students participating in business case competitions etc. There is also a general expectation of a certain "path" Biz students would take upon graduation, such as general corporate MNC positions, banks and financial institutions, or professional firms.

there is no general expected "path" an Arts graduate would go, maybe perhaps the public sector, but again that is such a broad descriptor as to really mean nothing.

the key is really to distinguish yourself as a student? what sets you apart as a candidate besides the piece of paper you will get after 4 years?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i'm have a slightly different view on this because your situation may not be entirely relvant to the OP as you have some real working experience, so your technical competence wasn't really in question and it was more of a "fit" interview to see if you fit into the culture of the department or team.

for OP who is a student, with no real experience to speak of, its quite hard to convey that he or she has the right values, which is a very vague concept anyways. i think its more important to have a demonstrable interest in working in that particular job position or industry based on extra curricular activities or competitions that is apparent on his/her resume.

you may shoot me for generalisation, but my observation as an ex-NUS student (not stating my course of study save that it is neither of the faculties i'm mentioning here) is that FASS students were generally more unfocused in their career/job seeking goals and plan of action compared to their peers in other faculties.

its probably really no fault of theirs given the sheer breadth and diversity of what constitutes an Arts degree. but for instance, i see Business students and also computing students participating in business case competitions etc. There is also a general expectation of a certain "path" Biz students would take upon graduation, such as general corporate MNC positions, banks and financial institutions, or professional firms.

there is no general expected "path" an Arts graduate would go, maybe perhaps the public sector, but again that is such a broad descriptor as to really mean nothing.

the key is really to distinguish yourself as a student? what sets you apart as a candidate besides the piece of paper you will get after 4 years?

You may be asked on your interest and also technical competencies. But my main point is to not just focus on them entirely. These skills can be trained. My experience is far lesser than other qualified candidates and I am not the strongest candidates in terms of technical competencies.

[QUOTE=vanvanv4n;97240]Thanks for your input! Did you switch in your first year? Also, may I know what you're doing now? Spoke to a soci grad today and she told me about her difficulties finding job as well :/

Hi, I switched from NUS FASS to SMU Business while in the Army. I am working now in a business role in an airline. As a fresh grad I see many peers with arts degree really struggle. Most of them do inusurance sales, recruitment or teach, so if you are okay with that then do an arts degree.

There are some MNCs who hire people regardless of degrees, but you are closing yourself to alot of other opportunities. Besides, doing a more technical degree gets you up to speed with understanding certain decisions made in the business/accounting/engineering/finance world. Sometimes its not about intelligence to succeed, its about opportunity and exposure, and I am not sure an arts degree might necessarily provide u that outlet.

If your passion is in the arts, you can still explore it even with an engineering/business/law degree etc. But you cant do any of these with an arts degree.

Ultimately the choice is yours, but my advice is try to balance passion with practicality. Think about what skills u can learn from an arts degree and compare to other degrees. And avoid doing an arts degree because it is "fun and easy". Heck you can do a marketing degree and that will be better too in my opinion.

Im the guy who switched from FASS to SMU, and I see many points made by other posters which I fully agree with, such as arts is less focused and dont get sold on the hype. Nothing more for me to say as it would be a repeat.

Good luck!

All this talk about future career & pay increase is quite silly when the dude hasn't even started university schooling. Take a look around you, how many people after 10 years are working in a job based on what they study? Only a small minority.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

All this talk about future career & pay increase is quite silly when the dude hasn't even started university schooling. Take a look around you, how many people after 10 years are working in a job based on what they study? Only a small minority.

The problem is it's all very generic 'this is my opinion' talk. Everyone can argue whatever they like, but no way to prove or disprove.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

All this talk about future career & pay increase is quite silly when the dude hasn't even started university schooling. Take a look around you, how many people after 10 years are working in a job based on what they study? Only a small minority.

No it is not silly. How many good jobs out there today do not require some sort of technical expertise? How many people out there have become a facebook engineer, JPM investment banker, without relevant skills in coding or financial modelling?

I applaud OP for being so farsighted and i couldnt agree more with a previous poster that you can always 'pick up Arts knowledge' on the side of a Biz/Law degree, much more easily than the converse.

Unless of course, money is of no issue to you. By all means just do a full blown arts degree.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

No it is not silly. How many good jobs out there today do not require some sort of technical expertise? How many people out there have become a facebook engineer, JPM investment banker, without relevant skills in coding or financial modelling?

I applaud OP for being so farsighted and i couldnt agree more with a previous poster that you can always 'pick up Arts knowledge' on the side of a Biz/Law degree, much more easily than the converse.

Unless of course, money is of no issue to you. By all means just do a full blown arts degree.

There are many jobs that do not require technical expertise or if they do, what you study in school is mostly irrelevant. In fact, some of the so called technical jobs like engineering, IT and bioscience are the worst hit in sg. Macroeconomic changes and labor demand & supply determine money, not whether one is technical or not.

And the world is not just facebook engineer or investment banker, how many jobs out there even need coding or financial modelling in the first place? And if we want to be real anal, how many investment bankers even do financial modelling (as in construct and design as opposed to SOP implementing framework)? 10-20%?

99% do.....

I am working for a Tier 1 MNC and I second the suggestion to consider these places in lieu of banking and finance.

The hours are generally better, culture is quite down to earth and pay is decent. You get 4-5k for most of the top MNC grad programs, which is comparable to the MAPs in banking.

Unless you really develop a keen interest in a FO role e.g. trading, I would suggest you keep your options open.