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<DIV class="padlr6 class=font10">STI Home> Singapore> Story</DIV>
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<P>March 8, 2005
Manufacturing's biggest employer of fresh grads
<DIV class=padcell4></DIV>Jump in number of NUS, NTU grads getting jobs in the sector: Surveys
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<DIV class=contentb>By Maria Almenoar and Yeo Ghim Lay</DIV>
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<P>THE manufacturing sector was the biggest overall employer of last year's graduates from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). </P>
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<P>This was one of the key results of employment surveys released separately yesterday by the two universities, with responses from students who graduated in May last year. </P>
<P>NTU surveyed graduates from Oct 29 last year to Jan 7 this year, and NUS' survey was done in November and December and covered graduates who had found jobs as of Nov 1. </P>
<P>NUS had almost double the proportion of graduates getting jobs in the manufacturing sector - 14.3 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent in the 2003 survey - while NTU recorded 30 per cent, an increase from 19.4 per cent.</P>
<P>Universities say this is consistent with the expansion of the manufacturing sector last year by 13.9 per cent, reported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry last month. </P>
<P>Mr Leow Yoon Hwee, 26, is one such student who benefited from the growth of this sector. </P>
<P>'I had two job offers from this sector, which I was pleasantly surprised by, because companies usually look for people with at least five years' experience,' said Mr Leow, an NTU electrical and electronic engineering graduate who earns about $4,000 monthly at Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific.</P>
<P>Salary-wise, NTU graduates who are earning an average monthly salary of $2,500 beat their counterparts in NUS who are earning on average $2,370 per month.</P>
<P>Of NUS's graduates from 29 degree courses, medicine and law graduates drew the largest salary while NTU's graduates in accountancy, business and computer engineering earned the most. </P>
<P>NUS's vice-provost (education) Professor Lily Kong said of the lower starting salaries of NUS graduates: 'We are the only comprehensive university in Singapore with the entire spread of degree courses and there's a clear salary distinction between professional and non-professional degree courses, of which our average salary is made up.'</P>
<P>Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, vice-president and managing director (Asia) of Kelly Services, a recruitment organisation, echoes this view: 'NTU graduates probably get paid better as their courses are more technically based compared to NUS, which has a large number of arts students. So when you average it out, you get a higher salary for NTU students.'</P>
<P>The banking and financial sector also drew more graduates from NUS.</P>
<P>A total of 12.1 per cent of NUS students found jobs in this sector, up from 9.6 per cent in 2003. Eleven per cent of NTU students started their careers in the banking and finance sector, but NTU's figure for 2003 was not available. </P>
<P>Seventeen per cent of NTU graduates were employed in the accounting field.Overall, it was good news for NUS and NTU as they recorded an increase in the number of graduates who found full-time employment.</P>
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<P>NUS had 80.6 per cent of all graduates finding full-time work - up from 73.3 per cent. NTU recorded an increase as well at 81 per cent, an increase from 72 per cent previously.</P>
<P>The private sector, although offering a lower starting salary, continued to be the main employer of graduates with NUS, recording about a 7 per cent increase to 68.5 per cent, and NTU reporting a figure of 77 per cent. </P>
<P>The results indicate a bright future for graduates in the job market. 'The economy has improved, so hiring is expected to increase in the next six months,' said Mr Shantilal.</P>
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