The National University of Singapore (NUS) will give a leg-up to its graduates by opening up 200 full-time jobs and 800 paid traineeship positions across its faculties and research institutes as well as in administration.

Students who had received financial aid during their studies will be given priority for the traineeship positions, where, with government support, they can receive monthly allowances of up to $2,500.

Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS senior deputy president and provost, said the idea behind the Resilience and Growth Initiative is not just to offer students jobs during this difficult period.

"It is tied with development and mentorship opportunities, so that when they finish their traineeship, they will have the skills and savvy needed to seize opportunities in the post-pandemic world," he said.

Bachelor's, master's and PhD graduates can apply for the traineeships in four different tracks: executive and professional, education, research, and entrepreneurship. Those who perform well in the traineeships, that can last up to a year, may be offered full-time positions.

The 200 full-time positions will span roles in NUS' central administration, 17 faculties and schools, 29 research institutes and centres, and the National University Health System.

Prof Ho said NUS will also be launching specially curated courses for all its fresh graduates, aimed at sharpening their skills in areas such as data analytics and machine learning, finance and accounting, as well as business and management. It is working with the Education Ministry on fee support for these courses.

He said university dons looked at what skills and competencies employers will look for during and post-pandemic and decided to launch courses in those areas.

"So, one bundle will be technology-related courses, as the pandemic has shown that tech will play an even bigger role. We expect that some may also want to take on freelance work, hence we are launching courses on managing a business."

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NUS is also giving a leg-up to those planning to take master's programmes. It may defer the payment of course fees for up to three years (interest-free) from the enrolment date.

The university also announced another scheme where graduates keen on entrepreneurship can take up traineeship positions at companies started by NUS students and faculty.

NUS associate vice-president (innovation and enterprise) Chee Yeow Meng said another 130 traineeships will be offered by 17 NUS start-ups, including successful ones like e-commerce site ShopBack and 2359Media, a mobile app developer.

Ms Angeline Yap, 23, a final-year undergraduate student from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, welcomed NUS' initiative. She said: "It is very reassuring for graduating students, especially in uncertain times like these. I prefer to explore my interests and career options after graduation. Hence, a traineeship will be useful as I can garner work experience before I step into a permanent role."

Applications for the jobs and traineeships open today. For more information on the full-time jobs, go to the Careers page and for the traineeships, go to the NUS Resilience and

Growth Initiative page.