Fresh graduate faces backlash for calling a S$4k salary offer ‘low’: ‘Fresh grads are demanding the sky and expect everyone to bow down’

SINGAPORE: A fresh graduate seeking career advice on Reddit ended up facing a wave of criticism after describing a S$4,000 monthly salary offer as a possible “lowball.”

On the r/asksg forum, the graduate shared that a recruiter had approached them about a data analyst position at an allegedly “big company in Singapore.” After attending an interview, they were offered the job the very same day.

However, when the official one-year contract arrived, the graduate was not entirely convinced by the salary package.

“The offer pay is $4k, which I do feel like is a bit of a lowball for the role,” they wrote, although they added that they wanted to secure a job quickly and begin building their career.

The graduate’s worries went beyond the immediate pay cheque. They feared that accepting SS$4,000 now could affect how much future employers would be willing to offer them later.

They also speculated that the recruiter might be taking a large cut and asked whether it would be possible to approach the company directly instead.

On top of that, they had concerns about how the role would appear on their resume and whether spending only a year in the position could make them look unreliable to future employers.

“Would future recruiters see that I left the company in one year and view me as flaky (not able to commit to the job) or get the wrong idea that I was fired?” they asked.

Although the contract could eventually lead to a permanent role, the graduate said they were unlikely to stay even if that option became available.

“What do you have to offer?”

The post quickly drew attention, but not in the way the fresh graduate may have expected.

Many commenters criticised him and other young jobseekers for having unrealistic expectations about starting pay.

One user responded sarcastically, writing, “S$4k? Seriously? That’s a lowball, man. You studied 4 years. Maybe study for a master’s too and return with S$12k expectations. Why take a lowball offer when a PhD can give you S$15k after graduation?”

Another joked, “Yes, you are getting lowballed. You deserve a minimum of S$7k for studying 4 years at a prestigious local university and serving 2 years of NS.”

A third bluntly asked, “What do you have to offer? Fresh grads don’t know a thing yet [they keep] demanding the sky and expecting everyone to bow down to them. Let me tell you, YOU ARE DISPOSABLE.”

A fourth added, “Data Analyst is a dead-end job nowadays; AI can do your job very easily nowadays. What makes you think you are even worth more than S$4k?”

Not everyone agreed with the criticism, however. A handful of users sided with the fresh graduate and offered more constructive advice.

One user told him, “Hey, don’t listen to all the salty uncles over here who can’t fathom that fresh grads are earning more than them. S$4k is slightly on the low side for fresh grads, yes, because as you may know from your peers, many are getting offers north of S$4.5k.”

“In the future, other companies will use that to benchmark your next salary. If it’s an issue, you can hold out for a better company, but you know yourself the best. If you think this will be the best offer you can get, I suggest you take this job first and then work extra hard to grow as fast as possible and switch jobs early in your career to boost salary.”

Another user echoed this view, saying, “Ignore most of the salty Redditors here. Yes, the first job’s pay matters, but now it’s about weighing if you can tahan not having a job for the next few months.” 

“If you can hold out, then just wait for a better offer; if you can’t, then just take it. Fresh grad here as well in the same industry, and S$4k is definitely on the low side. But if the name of the company is decent, then there is an argument to just take it.”

In other news, a young Singaporean woman expressed her anger online after her father suddenly lost his job despite spending years working hard and remaining loyal to his company.

On a Reddit forum called “r/SingaporeRaw,” the daughter said she found it rather unfair that her father was laid off after the company decided to relocate its production operations to Malaysia.

Read more: ‘The company he worked for decided to move production to Malaysia’: Daughter upset after father’s layoff, says he ‘worked hard and stayed loyal’