06
March
2015
|
20:40
Asia/Singapore

Strong demand for NUS graduates

Job-seeking NUS students (seen here at the NUS Career Fair) fared well in the Joint Graduate Employment Survey 2014

NUS graduates continue to be in demand among employers and command competitive salaries, according to the Joint Graduate Employment Survey 2014 conducted by the University and two other autonomous Singapore universities. The survey showed that fresh graduates in full-time employment from 22 courses including those from Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering and Science achieved higher starting salaries while employment rates for fresh graduates from 13 courses in Social Sciences, Business, Computing, Dentistry, Engineering, Nursing, Real Estate and Science also improved.

"The latest Graduate Employment Survey reflects the consistently strong industry demand for NUS graduates. At NUS, we remain committed to adapt our education to better prepare our graduates for a faster-paced workplace in the future, said NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost Professor Tan Eng Chye.

The overall employment rate for NUS fresh graduates of 89 per cent is comparable to that in 2013. Fresh graduates from Accountancy (Honours), Dentistry, Nursing and Medicine graduates who have completed their housemanship enjoyed 100 per cent overall employment rates. Almost nine out of 10 fresh graduates from Business, Computing, Design and Environment, and Engineering secured a job within six months after their final exams.

The survey also revealed that the mean gross monthly salary of fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment was $3,325, 3.7 per cent higher than in 2013. The median gross monthly salary for this group was $3,200 or 6.7 per cent higher than in 2013.

Additionally, follow-up graduates'those who complete postgraduate practical training before seeking employment'from Law, Architecture and Pharmacy, reported more than 90 per cent overall employment rates. The mean gross monthly salary for follow-up graduates with full-time jobs was $4,711, 2.0 per cent more than in 2013, and the median gross salary for these graduates was $4,750, 5.6 per cent higher than in 2013.

More than 6,000 full-time fresh NUS graduates from the Class of 2014 and 725 follow-up NUS graduates participated in this survey.