92% of SMU grads find jobs, earn average $2.8k

THE buoyant job market is very much in evidence for the Singapore Management University, going by its latest employment survey.

Eight graduates earn more than $8,000 a month, with one of them making $12,000.

All 92 per cent - of the 386 graduates in the Class of 2006 - who took part in the survey, found jobs within six months.

They also had higher starting salaries than the Class of 2005, in line with the buoyant job market.

Other possible reasons for their good showing include the niche industries the graduates are attracted to, such as investment banking, and internships with big-name firms.

The average monthly salary for last year's SMU's graduates was $2,850 per month, up 13 per cent from $2,520 in 2005.

The top 20 per cent of wage earners among them earn an average of $4,630, about 20 per cent higher than $3,840 in 2005.

Among them are 26 graduates who earn more than $4,000, with eight of them making more than $8,000.

Most of these top earners are investment bankers.

One of them, Miss Geraldine Wu, 24, who has a double degree in economics and business management, is now working at global investment bank Lehman Brothers.

She applied for the job six months before graduation and got the offer before she graduated. She now provides financial advice and capital raising services to corporations and governments.

She does not mind her typical 14 hours a day, six days a week, schedule.

'It can get pretty demanding and has taken a toll on my social and family life. But I've chosen the job and it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make,' said the only daughter of a retired supervisor and secretary.

On average, SMU's business management graduates are earning more, up by about eight per cent to about $2,800. Salaries of accountancy graduates are up by 28 per cent, to $2,880.

SMU's pioneer batch of information systems management graduates had an average starting salary of about $2,980 while the pioneer economics graduates made about $3,130.