279ACC

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC COMPETENCIES

Submitted By:
Gabriella karin olivia (4974SUMP)

Bachelor of Art with Honours in Business and Finance

Date of Submission: 31 January 2022

 Graduate Labour Market Survey 

Overview 
Singapore is a small country that is very developed, but the country still lacks many workers.
Most companies and workplaces hire fresh graduates. Of course, not only because Singapore
lacks manpower, they employ fresh graduates as workers, but Singapore itself is also interested
and believes in them that they will further develop Singapore both economically,
technologically, politically and overall for the good of their country.

Main Findings

Current Status of the Graduate Labour Market in Singapore

The massification of higher education since the 20th century and the increasing demand for
high-skilled jobs have made the graduate labour market shift from its previous condition,
especially in Singapore. The supply of highly educated people to the labour market is then
growing universally, especially as young workers who are educated to a higher level replace
previous generations, the share of highly skilled jobs is also increasing in most of the highly
developed countries (Marginson, 2016). Singapore is a small country that is very developed, but
the country still lacks many workers. This of course has an influence on the graduate labour
market in Singapore. The lack of many workers certainly makes most companies and workplaces
in Singapore employ new graduates. We can see this phenomenon from the facts presented by
the data as follows:
Notes:
1. Includes graduates on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme (16.9% points)
2. Employment figures may not add up perfectly due to rounding differences
Source: cna, 2020

Through the table presented, we can see an increase in employment of fresh graduates from
year to year which shows that the share of high-skilled jobs continues to increase. We can see
that in 2020 as a whole, As many as 93.6 percent of graduates were in work or were employed
with only a waiting period of six months after they completed their final exams, that's an increase
of 90.7 percent in 2019. Then in a follow-up survey conducted on 6,894 recent graduates and
853 advanced graduates from NUS were surveyed in 2021, the overall response rate obtained
was 78.5% and 74.1% of graduates were employed (Ministry of Education, respectively). This
shows that many fresh graduates in Singapore are being hired. However, the existence of
cultivating for Singaporean companies and workplaces that employ fresh graduates is not just
because it is only to fulfil the workforce. However, this happens because Singapore itself is also
interested and believes in them that they will further develop Singapore both economically,
technologically, politically and overall for the good of their country. Based on the article Basic
salary of graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) based on the NUS
graduation employment survey 2020 (Published in 2021), most of the fresh graduates employed
were from NUS, NTU, SMU, SIT, SUTD, and SUSS which they have a focus in the fields of
technology, business, economics, and politics. These facts contain a signal that aspects of state
development are very much considered in carrying out employment actions in Singapore.
 Job Markets
Three ways of finding a job
The job market in Singapore for fresh graduates continues to grow. More industries sprang
up, and there was a huge increase in the number of expats and locals setting up start-ups. So,
what should be done differently for seeking job opportunities in Singapore? Some of them are as
follows.
1. The first is to get a job while in college
Institutions in Singapore are renowned for having effective Career Development
Centers (Hairon, 2022). Every university usually has a career program since the
student's first year. Students will be guided to make resumes, interviews and find job
placements. In addition, universities usually hold a career fair every year. One thing we
can see is the existence of the Centre for Future-Ready Graduates owned by NUS
(National University of Singapore) which provides access to jobs, internships and part-
time opportunities offered by NUS and its corporate partners. Therefore, with regard to
getting a job while in college, it means that one can start by becoming a student at one
of the universities in Singapore. When you have become a student in Singapore, it will
also make the next step easier. When you are a student, it means that someone can live
in Singapore legally and get a visa. So the opportunity to get other job opportunities is
also bigger.
2. The second is to meet with an employment agency
Finding a job in Singapore for everyone is possible. However, when an individual is
not a resident of Singapore, then it is possible to need a connecting bridge. The
appropriate connecting bridge for cases of getting job opportunities is the employment
agency. Agencies that match one's industry and skills help direct someone to get job
opportunities according to their field and expertise (Aungsuroch et al, 2022). There are
so many agencies
3. Checking eligibility to work in Singapore
However, the most important step in looking for job opportunities before taking other
steps is Checking eligibility to work in Singapore. In the search for job opportunities,
there is one thing that must be prioritized before taking any steps. This is to check the
eligibility of work in Singapore. That's because not only licensing is the main
 requirement to be able to work in Singapore, but also work qualifications. Currently,
the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore has a self-assessment tool that can be done
online. This tool is used to measure the eligibility of someone who wants to work in
Singapore (Singapore Government Agency Website). However, although an
assessment may give an idea, one should not take it as a guarantee that one will qualify.
Some factors, such as permission quota and personal background are not taken into
account with the online assessment. Then, keep in mind that one cannot apply for a
work visa without a job and a salary offer that meets the minimum requirements.
Therefore, applying for a work visa in Singapore is one of the steps that can be taken at
the end.

What to prepare for job interview?

With several criteria that are quite high, when you are successful in getting job
opportunities, the thing that must be done is to prepare for interviews as well as possible. The
most important but often overlooked thing is conducting research about the job. Doing job
research will help a person in asking thoughtful questions in the interview. Research can be done
by visiting the company's official website.
1. Doing research about the purpose and mission of the company
The detailed information that must be known is the purpose, mission, and overall
corporate culture.
2. Doing research about products and services
In this case learning what you get about the company's offerings is what matters.
Although the role is not related to the company's products and services, it is important to
have a basic understanding of what the company has to offer.
3. Doing research about role that will be borne
Apart from reviewing job descriptions, researching similar jobs in the workforce is also
important. Having this insight can help one prepare targeted questions about the
interviewee's role and ensure one is ultimately qualified (Pransky, 2022).

Refererences:
Aungsuroch, Y., Gunawan, J., & Fisher, M. L. (2022). Recruitment and Selection.
In Redesigning the Nursing and Human Resource Partnership (pp. 31-48). Palgrave
Macmillan, Singapore. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-5990-4_3

Basic salary of graduates from National University of Singapore (NUS) based on NUS
graduation employment survey 2020 (Published in 2021),
https://www.asiaone.com/money/ultimate-guide-starting-salary-fresh-university-
graduates-2021-edition

Center for Future-Ready Graduates. National University of Singapore.

https://nus.edu.sg/cfg/students/jobs-internships/employment-opportunities

Hairon, S. (2022). Overview of Education in Singapore. In International Handbook on

Education in South East Asia (pp. 1-31). Springer, Singapore.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_2-1

Marginson, S. W. Simon Marginson. https://www.researchcghe.org/perch/resources/marginson-

4-january-2022-cv.pdf

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/graduate-employment-survey-2020-covid-19-uni-
grad-jobs-361801

Ministry of Education, https://www.moe.gov.sg/-/media/files/post-secondary/ges-2020/web-

publication-nus-ges-2020.pdf

Pransky, J. (2022). The Pransky interview: Dr Raffaello D’Andrea, Founder, CEO, and
Chairman of the board at Verity; Entrepreneur; Professor; Scientist and Artist. Industrial
Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IR-12-2021-0283/full/html?
utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_journalLatest

Singapore Government Agency Website,

https://www.mom.gov.sg/eservices/services/employment-s-pass-self-assessment-tool