Fresh uni grad says a S$5k starting salary is ‘ridiculous unless you are in a very specialised role’

SINGAPORE: Taking to Reddit, a young person sought advice as to what would be considered a low salary for a university graduate in Singapore, explaining that, as the first university graduate in their family, they were unsure of this.

In an Oct 17 post on the r/askSingapore subreddit, u/Expert-Tax-6561 wrote that they “don’t really have a benchmark for what is considered a ‘good salary’,” because, as the first uni graduate, they’re aware that they stand to earn more than any of their other family members from the get-go.

The post author further explained that they studied the social sciences, majoring in social work, but had always heard that they received a very low salary. However, they’ve also been hearing from many of their fellow fresh graduates that they’re getting paid between S$3,800 and S$4,000 and added that while this range is not “astronomical by any means”, it’s also not as bad as people have said.

They added: “It seems that 5k seems to be a standard expectation? Imo it just seems quite ridiculous to expect that standard of pay unless you are in a very specialised role to earn that high. Then again, every sector will have different standards.”

A lot of Reddit users have since commented on the post, with some indicating that they graduated within the last decade and a half or so, and their starting salaries were between S$2,600 and S$3,000.

A 2017 graduate, for example, wrote: “Big 4, 2900. Lol and now graduates want 6-9k.”

Some, however, admitted that by today’s standards, anything lower than a S$3,000 monthly salary could be considered to be too low.

One noted an exception, however. “2.5k starting salary is low, but surprisingly very common for entry-level roles, especially if you work in media or communications.”

An industry expert offered the following: “HR professional here. Realistic local social science degree pay is ~$3,200 to $4,000, depending on the industry and role.

“From what I understand, NUS FASS with above $3,500 usually either govt (like teaching scholarship) or roles in the finance industry (HR).

“$5,000 is usually in ComScience or niche field.

“Given the market, decide on what kind of industry and roles interest you, then do some salary survey research!”

Another gave this advice: “Progression, etc, depends a lot on the SSA you’re in, skillsets, and opportunities. Maybe think a bit about what kind of work you wanna develop, some want to do research, some wanna develop deep clinical skills, some want to do programmes. Then work yourself to form that niche.”

In an update to their post, u/Expert-Tax-6561 wrote, “Thanks everyone for your responses & for those who shared tips on focusing on building my skillset. (Social workers rejoice! Our starting pay isn’t that bad—at least for the orgs that follow NCSS guidelines).” /TISG

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