minimum/reasonable pay for fresh grad?

last SG · 2010-07-03T13:43:28+00:00

I also wanna know. In a dilemma now. Have a business degree with RMIT University, Australia without honours. I quoted $2,400 - $2,600 as asking salary.. my...

Death pit SG

Mcpng1 please dont take half the ppl here advise here. Most of those who are saying 'wah! 2.2k so high ar??? Go lower go lower' have no freaking clue what they are talking about. Probably never even had the chance to GET a degree thats why can think like that. My friend got some jiapahlang degree from dunno what private uni can still command for a 2.5k starting salary and got it. If you are from local Uni, please dont stoop to the diploma holder's level and ask for some rubbish pay like 2.2k

However, since you are looking for a job in a sector not relevant to your major/degree then i think 2.6 - 2.9 is fair and fine. Depends on the company mostly. Like someone said up there, if the company wants you, they will pay you. You dont need to lower your standards to get the job. Be truthful, honest in your interviews and most interviewers will be able to appreciate that.

Lastly, please dont be tempted by the SAF/CD/SPF goverment jobs. Sure, starting salary will be 3k+++ but in a few years, if you compare your pay to your friends in the private sector, you will cry. Trust me. Thats my two cents. Hope it was useful. The halftime break for the Brazil holland match is almost over.

Cheers!

Xcert SG

Cheers!

I agree with him...2.2K is too low for degree...2.6 and above is fair for non-relevant discipline...2.5 if U really like the job...I wouldnt take anything lower than that.

XaN SG

Mcpng1,

Im a senior HR professional/ Recruiter working in many different fortune 500 companies in the last few years. Let me summarise. In singapore an industry is normall segregated into 3 classes. The first is those SMCs. These companies are normally local firms which might have a presence in Singapore/ Malaysia. If you are a biz fresh grad starting work in an MNC, the basic pay will defin be 2K -2.2K. U might have exceptions up to 2.3K but no way more than that.

The second class would be MNCs. They would pay 2.2K-2.6K depending on the results of the interview and the results of the discussion between HR and the Hiring Manager. In these MNCs, normally results do not count for much unless they took u in on a in house scholarship program.

The third class of companies would refer to the premium MNCs. These companies are companies like Shell, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Standard Chartered etc. These companies pay well and normally do not hesitate to pay high for graduates with good results as they are very selective with what they look for in the candidate. Standard Chartered for example revealed last yr they only select one out of 80 candidates for each position on average. These r the companies which noone will reject. They are willing to pay 2.5K-3K for graduates with good degrees.

Do note too that benchmarking for salaries differ in each industry. The industries that pay the best in singapore at this time are the banking and finance industry( 20-30% above average )and the oil and gas industry. Do note too that almost all MNCs do not differentiate between local degrees and overseas degrees. Most companies that differentiate are the local medium size firms or the GLCs . They r the ones u normally they which state " only local degree holders can apply" in their job criteria.

In addition if you are a degree holder, never quote below 2.2K. This is due to the fact that many shrewd HR staff will negotiate with you as they know fresh graduates are very eager to find a new job for experience. In addition always provide a range of about 200-400 difference. This give u and the HR person more flexibility to negotiate if you are selected for the job. hope this will provide enough info for you

F.raon.I.R SG

wow.Nice info from XaN...MNCs dun care about local / overseas degree...?

n0x SG

Its been some time since i last posted in this forum.

Been browsing and want to correct all the wrong perception and nonsense some people have been posting in this forum.

Quote from forum.jobscentral.com.sg/archive/index.php/t-47.html

From lemon_drop:

"Here's what i've been offered so far.

Maybank = 2450
HSBC = 2450
Citco = 2700
PwC = 2400
Merrill ctt = 2600 (without graveyard shift allowance)
HP = 2650

Firms my friends in SMU AND NUS have been offered

HSBC = 2450
Credit suisse ops ctt/perm = 2600/3300+allowance (doing ops graveyard shift)
Barclays ops contract, grave yard shift = 2600
Morgan Stanley ops perm = 3300*
Cummins contract = 2300*
KPMG audit = 2500 (100 more for SMU cos they studied 1 more year)
EY = 2400
PwC = 2400 even with *
Marketing firm = 2800*
Merrill ctt = 3000
UOB = 2500 (normal)/3500* (MA)
Accenture = 4000*/2800
HP ctt = 2600/2300
HSBC/Citibank/UBS MAs >4000*
Deutsche MA = >4000*
Macquarie IB = 8500*
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsu = 2080 - 2400* (depends on grades)

* denotes Cum Laude and above.
MA = management associate programmes."

Above is dated sometime in Nov 2008 and is quite accurate in my opinion because i have friends there.

What Xan said is correct.

Premium MNCs do give up to more than 4k. Usually are those MA programmes.

Cream of crop student going investment banking or consutling can expect pay anywhere from 8k to >10k fresh out of school.

On the other hand i do have friends drawing 2k but they are very rare and usually with very small SMEs.

but the average pay is between 2.6 - 3.2 for a fresh grad

So whoever is saying tt the pay is 1.8 to 2.2 need to keep with the times or perception.

ngyk SG

Join public sector la…....then switch career again lo

XaN SG

Contrary to the beliefs of most pple, most MNCs do not differentiate between overseas and local degrees with the exception of a few companies. The companies which tend to do it more are the SMCs, GLCs and stat boards. Nowadays even GLCs like NCS, Certis Cisco, Singtel are not that discriminating anymore. The last time i worked in 2 GLCs, everyone in my department was holding an australian overseas degree which they studied locally. And we are not even talking about top aus universities like New South Wales or Western Australia or Monash.

If you are a university graduate with excellent results and want to get a higher basic, you can apply for a position in the stat board. they grade you according to your results and quality of your honours degree. For example if you have a first class honours degree u be can paid about 3.2K - 3.6K. as compared to a fresh grad with mediocre results which will get bt 2.5K-2.8K. Their starting pay may be higher than the market but their increment is very low if you are not promoted. The average annual increment for an average performer in a stat board if there is no promotion is about only $90 - $120 while an MNCs is willing to pay much more.

I have interviewed and met up with countless candidates and realised that generally candidates who start off in an MNC tend to achieve success easier or get paid a lot more. This is due to the reason that although many MNCs do not differentiate much between local and overseas degrees, they demand for previous experience in working in a diversified or what we call "MNC' environment where u have exposure to diversity or matrix report environment. Thus if you are offered higher pay in a small local firm or a slightly lower pay in an MNC, always take up the option by the MNC.

If you want to venture into banking as mentioned by MCpng1, you would definitely want to venture into private banking rather than consumer banking. The discrepency is huge. Investment banks like Merill Lynch and Morgan Stanley pay over the odds for grads with the attributes and academic results that they r looking at. What nox mentioned above is extremely true. You can be paid more than 7K a month after training as a Fund Manager for example even though u do not have much experience. However the stress is tremendous and you need to work something like 12 hours a day. In a consumer bank such as Citibank, you could start off in a corporate function or a financial consultant / relationship manager position ( depending on their observation of your traits during your training period ). The starting pay would be more subtle like 2K plus. Of cos for sales positions you get paid commission too. You may not have such a chance again

Mcpng1 SG

Thanks Xan for the informative replies, and thanks to all others who have contributed in this thread as well!

It seems that a degree holder joining a SME is courting doom then? 2000-2300 salary and not "MNC environment", also probably not going to receive much pay increases. Unfortunately, it feels like it's otherwise impossible to get my foot through the door in a particular industry when my major is unrelated. Guess that will be a tough choice.

What are your perspectives of joining the public sector first for a few years then changing out to private? Seems like a lot of people do this, but I wonder if it's because it's a good plan, or because they landed a job in public sector and later found some negative reasons causing them to want to leave?

n0x SG

Thanks Xan for the informative replies, and thanks to all others who have contributed in this thread as well!

I would say most people join SME as a temp. solution and jump ship when opportunity arises. Hey at least that beats bumming around at home. But some do stay on at SMEs for various reasons such as love for the job, good environment or unwilling to uproot from comfort zone blah...

As for switching industry... you have to ask yourself why do you want to switch industry. Are there no major players in your industry? I would say that a grad degree specialized or not is still quite a generalize degree.

For example engineers are train to be analytical so a lot of companys want engineers for their analytical skills. Hence, you can hear engineers going to banks and other stuff.

So then u ask what differentiates a degree holder from another one. it will be their cca their volunteer work internships. For example engineers that made it to banks always have a good portfolio of ccas and internships at banks and of cos good results ie cumlaude/2nd upper and above. SO you have to ask yourself do you have these qualities that huge MNCs are looking for. If you have then i would say it will be relatively easier to ace those interviews.

Again joininig public sector first is akin to joing SME first. The general concensus is do whatever job you have first and evaluate your options later. your fresh grad status "expires" in 18months so within this time you still can "market" yourself as fresh grad.
So its not uncommon to hear fresh grads in SME, public sector or mnc jumping ship regularly. But do not do it too often as it will reflect badly in your resume.

Hope this helps... btw i have yet to know what degree and uni u are from.. i believe i can better advise if i have availabe these information

XaN SG

As what nox mentioned, there is no right or wrong in preferring to join MNC or SMCs. U will definitely get more exposure and money in an MNC but yr role may be more rigid due to the matrix structure and strict conformance to your JD. In an SMC, your role may be more flexible and you might have more time and autonomy although u get less pay. It depends on what you want in life.

Joining public sector as a first step is a credible option. But working many years in the public sector is not. It depends on the job scope too. For example if you work as an army regular in Mindef for 8 years what are you going to do when you leave the force? Your pay will definitely not be as high as what you are getting in Mindef. If you work in a relevant job in the public sector for about 2 years initially and the job utilises your academic specialisation or what you want, then it would be different as this would count towards essential or relevant experience.

As for CCA being taken into account by organizations during interviews, actually virtually no company takes that into account when they are sourcing for talent with experience. This may be used only as a gauge when they r sourcing for trainees ( fresh grads ).

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