The latest graduate employment survey reports are out.
The 2009 batch of graduates from NUS, NTU and SMU were asked about their starting pay and whether they were employed on a permanent basis.
The highest starting salaries come from the 4-year Information Systems Management programme at Singapore Management University. Those who graduated from this course with at least a Cum Laude (“with honour”) got a median starting pay of $4,000. One quarter of them earn $4,600 and above. However, only 72.2% of them are employed on a full-time permanent basis.
The worst performing course is the NTU Art, Design & Media. A mere 61.7% of the graduates are permanently employed. Half of them earned $2,300 and less.
Here are the rankings:
Top Median Gross Monthly Salaries (in brackets are the 75th-percentile salaries)
- SMU Information Systems Management (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – $4,000 ($4,600)
- SMU Economics (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – $3,200 ($4,000)
- SMU Economics (4-yr programme) – $3,000 ($3,763)
- NUS Business Administration (Honours) – $3,000 ($3,600)
- SMU Business Management (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – $3,000 ($3,500)
- NUS Chemical Engineering – $3,000 ($3,500)
- NUS Industrial & Systems Engineering – $3,000 ($3,450)
- NUS Dental Surgery – $3,000 ($3,400)
- NTU Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering – $3,000 ($3,300)
- NTU Aerospace Engineering – $3,000 ($3,250)
- NTU Arts (with Education) – $3,000 ($3,200)
- NUS Information Systems – $2,975 ($3,250)
- NTU Physics & Applied Physics – $2,950 ($3,000)
- NUS Computer Engineering – $2,900 ($3,440)
- NTU Chemistry & Biological Chemistry – $2,900 ($3,300)
- NUS Computer Science – $2,900 ($3,290)
- NTU Computer Science – $2,900 ($3,250)
- NTU Science (with Education) – $2,900 ($3,200)
- NTU Computer Engineering – $2,900 ($3,200)
- NUS Mechanical Engineering – $2,900 ($3,200)
- NUS Science (Honours) – $2,900 ($3,200)
The Dumping Grounds by Starting Pay (Gross Monthly)
- NTU Art, Design & Media – $2,300 ($2,800)
- NTU Accountancy (3-yr direct Honours programme) – $2,400 ($2,500)
- NUS Business Administration (Accountancy) – $2,400 ($2,500)
- NUS Applied Science – $2,500 ($2,500)
- NUS Science – $2,500 ($2,600)
- NUS Arts – $2,500 ($2,600)
- NUS Business Administration (3-yr programme) – $2,500 ($2,700)
- SMU Social Sciences (4-yr programme) – $2,500 ($2,850)
- NTU Maritime Studies – $2,500 ($2,900)
- SMU Accountancy (4-yr programme) – $2,500 ($2,950)
- NUS Nursing – $2,550 ($2,700)
- NTU Environmental Engineering – $2,600 ($2,900)
- NTU Communication Studies – $2,600 ($2,900)
- NUS Real Estate – $2,600 ($3,000)
- NUS Applied Science (Honours) – $2,600 ($3,000)
- SMU Accountancy (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – $2,600 ($4,000)
Top Permanent Employment Rate (in brackets are the average salaries)
- NUS Nursing – 100.0% ($2,568)
- NTU Science (with Education) – 100.0% ($3,030)
- NTU Arts (with Education) – 100.0% ($3,109)
- NUS Dental Surgery – 100.0% ($3,176)
- NTU Chinese – 98.0% ($2,756)
- NUS Business Administration (Accountancy) – 97.1% ($2,448)
- SMU Accountancy (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – 96.8% ($3,586)
- NUS Computer Engineering – 95.7% ($2,890)
- SMU Accountancy (4-yr programme) – 95.3% ($3,073)
- NUS Applied Science (Honours) – 94.7% ($2,674)
- NTU Computer Science – 94.3% ($2,930)
- NUS Material Science and Engineering – 93.8% ($2,880)
- NUS Civil Engineering – 92.9% ($2,801)
- SMU Economics (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – 92.6% ($3,606)
- NUS Industrial & Systems Engineering – 92.5% ($3,099)
- NUS Business Administration (Honours) – 92.1% ($3,389)
- NUS Information Systems – 91.1% ($2,918)
- NTU Civil Engineering – 90.8% ($2,769)
- NTU Accountancy (3-yr direct Honours programme) – 90.0% ($2,529)
The Dumping Grounds by Employability
- NTU Art, Design & Media – 61.7% ($2,431)
- NUS Environmental Engineering – 63.2% ($2,667)
- NUS Communication and Media – 70.8% ($2,536)
- SMU Social Sciences (4-yr programme) – 72.0% ($2,613)
- SMU Information Systems Management (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – 72.2% ($3,754)
- SMU Social Sciences (4-yr programme) Cum Laude and above – 73.3% ($2,673)
- NTU Materials Engineering – 75.3% ($2,745)
- NUS Arts – 75.9% ($2,511)
- NTU Environmental Engineering – 76.3% ($2,777)
- NUS Science – 76.5% ($2,525)
- NUS Computing – 76.9% ($2,841)
- NUS Applied Science – 76.9% ($2,393)
- NTU Physics & Applied Physics – 77.8% ($2,900)
- NTU Communication Studies – 78.2% ($2,562)
- NTU Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering – 78.6% ($2,990)
- NTU Mechanical Engineering – 79.1% ($2,794)
See last year’s rankings.
Do you trust this year’s reports?
103 Comments
out of a sudden, SMU’s first batch of ‘information systems management’ are earning pretty high salary, despite lower percentage of employment. Still… wow… that figure would take the ‘normal’ people 3 years to normally increment up to 3.7-3.8k…
so… the established NTU/NUS computing schools are in deep sh*t of the need of upgrading so their students can talk and present better…
why are so many ppl getting accounting qualification when its lowly paid and extremely long working hours..
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How can you call the other faculties “dumping grounds” ?!
What a dumb and rude article..
I mean you could learn to make the best pancakes.. sell them at a dollar each to say 40% of the population that LIKES pancakes and BUYS pancakes.. and earn like a grand a month.. that wouldn’t make you the worst performing.. you’re just performing at how the market allows it to.. besides.. you make the best damn pancakes.. So that actually makes you the best damn performer in your field..
Then you could work at a desk and be OKAY or shit at what you do but earn alot more and be exposed to a bigger percentage of the population and make 3k a month.. but that’s the bottom line.. you may earn more and there’s more market in said country for that kinda skill.. but you’re just OKAY at what you do.. certainly does not make your college that shaped you the best damn performing college..
Typical Singaporean article. Numbers without background is enough to pass a sweeping statement.
And BTW.. judging from the crap ass style of writing and terminologies used, you can most certainly tell that the writer wasn’t from a ‘Top performing college” either..
I find it personally demeaning to deem NTU School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) as worst-performing solely based on statistics of full-time employment.
As someone who knew a number of the first batch of graduates on a personal level, I can’t help but feel offended by choice of words of the writer (of this article) as “worst-performing”. A large number of these graduates made the choice not to be employed in order to start their own studios/businesses, gain artists residencies, work on commissioned projects, exhibitions etc. Much of such endeavors are unfortunately hard to fit into the demographics of such statistics. While I have nothing against the ways in which the survey was conducted, I found the way this article was written was extremely insensitive, especially to many of the creatives who are doing a lot more than just settle for a 9 to 5 office job.
no electical or electronics?
“dumping ground” that is just the wrong choice of word. i guess the author has no consideration as to the terminologies used here.
we all know that the creative industry in Singapore is growing, it’s small, it’s young but personally i think it holds one of the most exciting and vibrant communities here. the author of this article obviously has no knowledge or understanding about the working path of artists and creatives. designers have full-time jobs, but sometimes we enjoy the freedom of doing freelance as well, we take our chances, we save money when we can, we can succeed, we can fail, but the spontaneity is just part of the nature of the creative industry.
it’s true that businessmen, engineers, science researchers, they work 9 to 5, they get their 9 to 5 monthly fixed pay, good for them.
but people in the creative business are tackling on completely different grounds.
you can fork out the tables and stats but are such comparisons even necessary? we couldn’t care less. call us worst paid, but most of us stay in it because we love what we do.
As a practising overseas journalist right now (I came from one of your so-called “dumping grounds” by the way), I must say your choice of vocabulary is extremely offensive to people like us who ultimately are trying to serve the public too.
Artists, journalists, scientists, mathematicians, teachers, whatever… We are all playing similarly important roles in society. Common sense tells us that we cannot function with the exclusion of any.
Instead, I would suggest that you may perhaps want to appreciate all these aspects of society you call “dumping grounds”. I chose my own path. I wasn’t dumped there. And without people like me toiling for you, would you have any newspaper or TV content? Without artists being willing to work hard for the art they believe in, what kind of uncreative and dull world would you live in?
We all have our different beliefs and choose to go on different paths in lives, and while industries such as IT and science seem to gain more material benefits, perhaps people like me tend to lean towards our passion more as it makes us happier to lead our lives in a way which gives us maximum satisfaction. Why dismiss people like me and my talented friends in the creative business as being “dumped”, which gives the connotation like we are rubbish?
Perhaps you are right in one thing though: the SG government should take a look at these figures and try to take steps to appreciate their creative businesses more with the rise of such businesses overseas. Soft skills such as creativity are largely inborn and cannot be learnt and should be treasured, and these are premiums which need matching pay.
Maybe when they adjust the salaries, people like you will finally stop looking down on us as poor and unwanted, because honestly I do think our skills are worth more than any hard skill you can learn through rote. It’s just that it may perhaps take time to start to appreciate these skills and pay matching premiums for them, but so what? I am willing to work for the low pay still because I love my job. Higher pay would be a reward and a bonus and a well-deserved acknowledgment, but not a prerequisite, unlike many other industries.
I agree with Kay. Indeed, admin should be more sensitive to the graduates, as after all, fresh graduates are on the process of become ‘professionals’ in their own respective fields. We should respect their career choices, and thus, their education leading up to choosing their paths.
As salary.sg has become quite a popular website for students, aspiring graduates and professionals alike, using such words serves only as an unwelcoming sign of insensitivity.
i came from a traditional “dumping ground” faculty and here’s my view.
it’s very common for people – students, teachers, parents – to label certain faculties as “dumping grounds” without knowing what they are talking about. for example, the bio life science supporters used to think their courses are the best in the world. well now we know for a fact life science grads aren’t much better than test tube washers, though it isn’t reflected in the above lists.
controversial as it may be, fairly or unfairly, the “dumping ground” label has always been used. the above lists just used it with little more “substantive” evidence – NOT that i agree with them.
a parting shot – many of my fellow dumping ground graduates are earning a lot more than those from the more popular faculties, and enjoying their work too.
It is infuriating to know that there are such misunderstanding in our society about the purpose of art. It is not a means of money making.
The stand-offish article is not entirely the fault of the writer since he is one of the many that is educated to be an upstanding role model that is practical. He judge results based on meritocratic values since money is perceived as a means of grading social status.
It is also upsetting to understand that end of the day, art/ creative culture is only taken as ways and means to gain access to the economical aspect of it instead of looking at things from the fact that art is there to nurture and cultivate. Facts and figures are statistically over-rated.
What’s worse than being labeled “It’s The End”? I was from ITE and everyone around me looked down on me.
Well, now I’m making 200k a year managing IT infrastructure. Being labeled ITE spurred me on.
So it’s not a bad thing entirely to be in a “dumping ground” course. Who knows it will spur you on to greater heights. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
How come the economics people can earn so much? What type of jobs do they normally go into?
how come there aint data for doctors and lawyers?
dont want to upset the other undergraduates
Starting pay for lawyers 5K
Houseman 7.6K
Damn
I should have applied for medicine and law
Their starting pay is crazy
no statistics for lawyers and doctors because they do not get employment straight after school. these statistics are based on graduates who find employment straight after graduation, naturally doctors and lawyers not included.
doctors: have to go for housemanship before they are employed as workers.
lawyers: have to go through 1 year training contract + bar exam where they are only paid $2000 and $200 per month respectively. after that then they get their $4.5/month starting pay if they pass.
tell the truth: your entire post is wrong on every count. rename yourself clueless!
those who complained are from the dumping grounds? 😛
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2720522&page=19
I found this article very meaningful…user lol might want to read it.
tell lies: how am i wrong? im not certain about the doctors part but i know for sure about the law route which i am taking right now.
6 months training contract (the best firms pay a $2000 honorarium)
+ 6 months taking the bar exam ($200 allowance) before you become a full fledged lawyer. how to include into the stats like that?
Then you should know its $500 for the allowance and $5k+ for the best firms right now.
houseman salary 3k plus
to tell the truth and telllies,
you guys can stop arguing.
Third-Year student interns’ highest earners (repeat: INTERNS) are those in some investment banks, who are paid up to 9k SGD per month, in Singapore office. (meaning, in a 10-WEEK summer internship program, they pocket approx. 22500 SGD)
Period.
houseman salary 7.6k? dream on la. 2.69k only.
dont forget yr school fee is subsidised by MOH
so 2.69 + 5K = 7.69K 🙂
Highest starting pay among all undergraduates
This is not including call money so u can get even more if u do more calls
wow, 2.69k!! why are doctors paid so low?
@wanted to be dr.
You wanna be a doctor just because of $$$ issue?
Oh well… here goes another of those impudent doctor-wanna-be.
Anyway, if u wanna talk about pay, let’s talk:
If you know how to read graphs, you will realise that doctors’ pay’s graphical gradient (rate of increasing) is quite steep compared to other professions. Thus, considering the area under the curve, let’s say within 8-10 years, doctors will have earned quite decent amount of money within the same timeframe.
banker: enjoying your time in the office on sunday?
Oh.. hello Telllies,
Nope. Just got back from a club that night.
By the way, for interns, it’s strictly Mon-Fri, with exceptions of some meetings over dinner/drinks with clients/colleagues over the weekend.
banker: i might just be a double degree student that interned at both law firms and bb banks eh? If that were the case..I would know you were lying..particularly about the “strictly Mon-Fri” part. Absolute lies as you should know if you are what you claim.
whatever u say, man…
I believe you’re in the 6-year business&law course by SMU… but even if you’re not, it doesn’t matter to me ^^
Coz ultimately, these few interns are still penultimate year students who are ‘new’ to business. They won’t enjoy the bonuses, but they still enjoy the ultra high pay (as I said, 9K approx each month. Go find out for yourself. Hint: Private Wealth Management) by certain bank(s).
Whatever u say doesn’t change the fact above, seriously 🙂
banker: its actually closer to 8k (or 5k US if you like). Yea, but the lifestyle is terrible. Money is good, but saying its a Mon-Fri job, I don’t know how you do that with a straight face.
Telllies, you’re misunderstanding something.
I am NOT an intern. I am talking about the interns’ role and pay because that was my statement made right from start (I was emphasizing on the word ‘intern’ coz this article is related to fresh grads, whose starting pay tend to correspond with interns’ pay and vice versa in banks).
Thus, I did say it’s Mon-Fri FOR INTERNS. I did not mean to say it with ‘straight face’, but rather, stating the fact that it’s just a matter of clients’ trust on the interns. If you have assets of, say, 12Mil SGD, would you let an intern handle even 1% of that? I guess not.
Thus, interns do not clock so long working hours on on ‘real’ stuff, but they do spend a lot of time studying to learn. I respect that. But according to their contracts, it only says minimum 40 hours per week.
One more thing, Telllies, don’t think that what you ‘already know’ is all ‘there is to know’. We, interviewers, hate that attitude.
yeah i guess i expected after 5 years of studying one of the toughest courses a doctor should get paid more than a taxi-driver or IR croupier.
really one of the most noble professions – suffer to relieve other people’s suffering.
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how is it fair to name it dumping ground. what kind of un-objective person writes that?? and anyway, it’s just the nature of media/advertising jobs to pay a ridiculously low salary (for communications degrees), average being 1.8-2.2k for an entry level AE/copywriter/art director in an advertising firm. such careers do not pay attention to your degree, everyone has to start at the same place. who are you to make value judgments on the degrees.
it’s rather interesting that sgdr counts the legendary tuition fee grant as part of the salary. (don’t even know how u come to 5k a month)
Every undergraduate in Singapore is receiving tuition fee grant, hence the subsequent bond. if thats the case, then everyone’s salary will have to be revised upwards too.
anyway, take home for a local houseman is 2.69k-CPF+ (SGD110-150)xsleepless nights (usually around 4-6)
and as ‘another dr’ says, the gradient for salary increment is steep as doctors progress along the stages of career, so it’s not all bleak. but the hours put in by doctors in their work can easily rival any of the busiest professions
Doctors are heavily subsidised by MOH and thus they cant be paid too much.
The foreign docs are poor things since they are not subsidised by MOH.
We should pay foreign drs more to attract them to Singapore or public hospitals will relocate to our neighbouring countries!
Hi
I just broke bond and I paid $5000 per month of bond left which is about $120K for 2 yrs of bond so the $5000 is real!
Dont compare salaries since we r privileged to be chosen to be drs and most of us are in it not for the money since we are all rich in the first place to get into medicine.
80% of us live in landed property compared to 20% of our patients so we should work for passion and not for money!
People who work for money are slave to money.
Now it is time for me to work in WHO and volunteer my medical skills for the needy in 3rd world countries!
Wow! Go for it, freedr.
I respect your choice of using the skills for the most needy. I’m one of those 20% though. I live in HDB flats and am taking full grant. So, I won’t be financially free like you for quite a few years ahead.
Cheers!
Impossible that NTU accountancy only having 90% of students being employed. It is always near 100% if not 100%.
computer engineer said: “out of a sudden, SMU’s first batch of ‘information systems management’ are earning pretty high salary, despite lower percentage of employment. Still… wow… that figure would take the ‘normal’ people 3 years to normally increment up to 3.7-3.8k… so… the established NTU/NUS computing schools are in deep sh*t of the need of upgrading so their students can talk and present better…”
(1) This is not SMU’s first batch of ISM grads.
(2) ISM grads have a perm employment rate of slightly above 70% – sorry for being harsh, but that’s pathetic for a technical degree.
(3) You can see more comparison and analysis of ISM versus other courses here:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2729410
freedr:
Congrats on being able to break your bond. Go forth and help WHO – I feel it’s a gd way to spend your years. However pls remember those among your colleagues who are not so fortunate. The common folk like me and anotherdr HAVE to watch our spending and salaries; 120k is a HUGE sum for someone like us.
sgdr:
the fact that you include the 5k into the monthly salary indicates you know as much about this topic as an Eskimo talking abt desert mirages. Plus, you think night calls are a fantastic way to earn money? dude, WAKE UP.
You are NOT a doctor. You dont even truly know anyone who is. Dont pretend to be one, spout rubbish and make the real drs reading this site choke. Thanks
The article sounds like… a pile of balls. Btw, how are the statistics collated? sound dubious to me man.
to errr
It’s collected from students who have graduated within SIX months upon graduation (most students graduate in may/june, thus the survey is done in dec/jan and compiled & released in early April).
Meaning, the latest release this April 2010 was the survey of students who graduated and entered work force in 2009 (one of the worst years). Thus, you can observe an overall decrease in mean values compared to year 2009 release (graduates in 2008), as the economy was on the process of recovering.
However, it’s up to the students who replied the survey whether they’re honest about it.
Thus, the survey result simply serves as a benchmark of how fresh graduates would expect to earn in most companies. Of course, the pay varies from industry to industry.
Cheers.
PS: I’m hoping I would get about 10-20% higher than the current release’s mean (2009 was a bad year to start working!), as that would correspond with 2008’s mean value inclusive of inflation adjustments.
This is why Singapore can’t continue to develop itself culturally without all those people from the ‘dumping grounds’. Do you even know anyone from the arts or media sector? If not, I suggest you do a more thorough research and put the dictionary to a better use for your choice of words in the future.
seriously, if you cld say that ntu comm studies is dumping ground, you really dont know what you’re saying.
Wow! I’m amazed to say the least. What credible website would publish such a rude and biased article?
The choice of words here makes me worry about the writer’s self-concept.. it can’t be too comforting for the ego to be thinking of yourself so lowly right? Because if the writer is not in the Communications dumping ground, where should he be dumped?