New Survey Shows 1 in 4 Private School Grads Still Unemployed 6 Months After Graduation

Now, the headline might seem demoralising for students who’re mugging for their exams in a private school now, but here’s the thing: over in Goody Feed, we don’t care if your degree is from NUS or UOL. As long as you’ve the attitude, you’ll have an appointment letter.

And we’re pretty sure that works for most small companies as well, albeit not all.

But moving on, here’s the meat of this survey: according to the latest graduate employment survey released by the Committee for Private Education (CPE) on 10 April 2019, about 27.2% of fresh graduates from private schools are still not working full-time six months after graduating last year.

This 27.2% are either unemployed, working part-time or working in temp jobs.

How the Survey Was Conducted

The CPE surveyed about 2,800 fresh graduates from 40 private schools (which, to be honest, is shocking to me because I thought there are just a few private schools in Singapore).

Only 48.2% secured full-time permanent job (i.e. not contract-based) while overall, 80.7% has a full-time job (i.e. either permanent, contract-based or temp full-time).

Interestingly enough, 5.7% opt to do freelance work.

As for the permanent full-time employees, their median gross salary is at $2,650 a month.

How about those from public university?

It’s a tad bit different.

Okay, that’s a euphemism. It’s actually pretty different.

Results from Public Universities

In the 2018 Joint Graduate Employment Survey, which surveyed 10,100 graduates (like, more than three times the number surveyed by the CPE), it’s revealed that 81.2% secured a permanent full-time job, while 90.2% secure full-time jobs (both perm and contract-based).

The number of graduates freelancing is way lower at 1.8%.

And as for the starting pay?

A median gross salary of $3,500.

Comparing the Numbers

Since permanent full-time employment is the holy grail of most graduates, here are the numbers for comparison’s sake:

Private Uni: 48.2% gets full-time perm jobs
Public Uni: 81.2% gets full-time perm jobs
Difference: 33%

Private Uni: Starting pay of $2,650
Public Uni: Starting pay of $3,500
Difference: $850

Before we move on, here’s something that I thought should be included.

Private Schools Don’t Mean Just SIM

Whenever we think of private schools, we’d think of SIM.

Apparently, nothing could be further from the truth.

There are many private schools in Singapore, and some of them provide a degree in mere one year. These degrees usually just have just a few modules and let’s call spade a spade: it might still be a degree, but it’s not the usual “three-year degree” that we’re familiar with.

And let’s continue to call spade a spade: very often, it’s not about the degree, but about the people. For those who haven’t secured a job, it might not be about that piece of paper, but the attitude.

#justsayingbecauseIhavemanyfriendslikethat

So for those private students out there, don’t be demoralised by the results. If not, there’s still Goody Feed – if you’ve the attitude, that is.

And that you don’t hate us that much.