Latest batch of uni grads want at least $3,000 a month

SINGAPORE - $3,000 a month is what the latest batch of graduates are expecting for their paycheck from their first job, according to a survey by JobsCentral.

64 per cent of the 2,213 respondents from a May survey are seeking such a salary, compared to the 55 per cent in 2011.

The respondents were from National Technological University, National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University. They included current undergraduates as well as graduates in the last three years.

Three out of four top students in the survey, that is, those who have attained or are expecting to obtain a degree with First Class Honours, Second Class Honours, Summa cum Laude or Magna cum Laude said that they are expecting more than $3,000 from their employers.

Computing and IT graduates have the highest salary expectations with 78 per cent of them expecting more than $3,000 as a starting pay cheque.

Mr Lim Der Shing, CEO of JobsCentral Group, explained that the salary expectations were in tandem with the current job market, "The low unemployment rate and inflationary environment in Singapore has brought about higher wage expectations across the country. So it is not surprising that the fresh graduate market has followed this trend."

Meanwhile, Arts undergraduates and fresh graduates, on the other hand, have the lowest expectation, with 46.8 per cent expecting to earn more than $3,000 per month.

Three out of four respondents also expect to be promoted in the first two years of their career. 22.6 per cent believe that they may be promoted by the first year of work, while 52.9 per cent expect to be promoted in their second year.

However, there has been a decrease in students expressing expectations of being promoted within two years. It is the lowest since 2007. In 2010, 81.3 per cent expected a promotion in the first two years, and 76.2 per cent in 2011.

Mr Lim added, "Gen-Y graduates place a lot of focus and importance on rapid career progression. In the past, most employers would expect three to four years of service before promoting an employee.

"One solution to this issue is for organisations to create clearer and more segmented career paths so that promotions can be obtained quickly. Such segmentation allows managers to give near-term goals and KPIs for their entry-level staff and such an employee has a promotion to aim for that is within his or her expected time frame."

For the first time in two years, Google toppled Apple to be the graduates' number one choice employer, receiving 38.1 per cent of the votes from the respondents.

Singapore Airlines is ranked second, and Apple slides down two positions to the third place this year.