95.9% of SUTD’s 2020 fresh graduates found jobs within 6 months
Lianhe Zaobao, 31 Mar 2021, 新科大去年毕业生 95.9％半年内找到工作 (translation)
Despite an uncertain economic outlook, the overall employment rate for graduates from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is still at a record high, with 95.9% of last year’s graduates finding jobs within six months.
80.9% of graduates found full-time employment, of which more than 90% received at least one job offer, about half had two or more job offers, and a quarter received return offers from their internship companies. Another 2.5% of graduates have either accepted a job offer but have yet to start work or are not working but are actively starting a business venture.
The salaries commanded by last year's graduates also remain competitive. The median gross monthly salary for graduates in full-time permanent employment was $28 higher than the previous year, reaching $4,100, and the mean gross monthly salary increased by $134 to $4,369.
Majority employed in the fields of information and communication, and finance and insurance
Since its establishment in 2012, SUTD has thus far graduated six batches of students. The overall employment rate of its 2020 graduates was 95.9%, higher than the past five batches. Its previous record was at 94% for the Class of 2018 graduates. Of the 372 students who graduated last year, 302 (81%) participated in the survey.
SUTD issued a statement yesterday to announce the results of its employment survey, which was conducted in February this year. The top hiring sectors for graduates include information and communications, financial and insurance, as well as scientific research and development.
The school also conducted a follow-up employment survey for the architectural and sustainable design graduates who graduated in 2017. 46 of 62 graduates (74%) participated in the survey. All who joined the labour force after completing their practical training have found jobs.
The results of the joint graduate employment survey released by the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Social Sciences last month showed that the overall employment rate of university students who graduated last year increased slightly to 93.6%, but they were significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with full-time employment rate down to 69.8%.
Due to a differing academic calendar from the other universities, the graduate employment surveys of SUTD and Singapore Institute of Technology have always been conducted separately.
Ashlyn Goh (23), who studied information systems technology and design at SUTD, graduated in August last year, but found a job before the outbreak, and currently works as a software developer at software development company Titansoft.
She was worried that she might lose her job offer due to the pandemic, but her employer informed her that the plan would not change. She said: “I believe that because SUTD students generally choose to join high-demand technology industries, even if the pandemic makes employment difficult, we still have a chance to find a job.”
Soh Su Min (23) who studied engineering product development is currently interning as a biomedical engineer at Crely Healthcare, a medical technology startup company.
She had hoped to find a job before graduation, but things did not turn out as planned. “Fortunately, after the circuit breaker measures were relaxed, job vacancies started to increase, and there was also the SGUnited Traineeship Programme launched by the government, which allowed me to finally enter my ideal company.”
