When it comes to graduate employment surveys, statistics published usually paint a rosy picture on the job market. Annual increment and high employment among graduates are usually the norm we expect, rather than the exception.

For example, a Straits Times article in February reported that almost 9 in 10 graduates (88.9%) who graduated in 2017 are able to find jobs within six months of their final examinations. It also reported that the medium monthly salary graduates from local universities is $3,400.

A person who looks at the headline statistics being reported and nothing else may be forgiven for thinking that the job market is good and that university graduates can continue to expect cushy full-time employment at a good salary upon graduating.

But is this really true?

Overview Of The Job Market For University Graduate

To get a sense of the overall job market for university graduates, let’s first take a look at the employment market in Singapore for PMETs.

Based on the information provided by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unemployment rate among PMETs in Singapore is at 3%.

This information, when taken in reference to the employment statistics provided by the universities, may give graduates an impression that it’s easy to find a job in Singapore.

Here’s the employment statistics reported by both local and private universities in Singapore.

Source

From the table above, you can see that graduates from private universities (e.g. SIM, Kaplan) are also able to secure an employment rate of over 80%, though their starting salary are comparatively lower.

Read Also: Why A University Degree In Singapore Is No Longer A Golden Ticket To Success (And What You Should Be Doing Instead)

What Are The Statistics Not Telling Us?

Now that we have established what the statistics are telling us, let’s look at five things they are not telling us.

# 1 Unemployment Data By MOM Excludes Those Without Work Experience

The first thing to know is that the unemployment rate reported by MOM does not include unemployed residents who do not have work experience yet.

Hence, if a fresh graduate is unable to find a job, this will not count towards the unemployment rate for PMETs, even though there is an individual who is out there looking for a job.

# 2 Response Rate Among Graduates Is Not 100%

Unless a survey is made compulsory, it will always suffer from what researchers call a “nonresponse bias”.

Nonresponse bias is the bias that results when respondents and their answers are likely to be different from the people who do not respond. In this case, it’s possible that graduates who respond to the surveys are more likely to be employed as compared to those who do not respond.

Universities Nonresponse Rate NTU 15.7% NUS 19.4% SMU 22.4% Private Education Institutions (PEIs) 68%

Source: NUS, NTU, SMU, CPE

Basically, the higher the nonresponse rate, the higher the chances that the results may be bias and less accurate.

# 3 Surveys Do Not Account For Graduates Who Are On Scholarships

One of the areas that is never reported in job surveys are the graduates who already have a job waiting for them upon graduation. These are the students who are on scholarship, such as SAF regulars, NIE teachers as well as those that are on scholarships offered by private companies.

For example, NIE graduates (i.e. MOE teachers) from NTU have a 100% employment rate. All these statistics obviously skewed the graduate employment results.

If you are a non-scholar graduate from a local university, then you need to be mindful that the graduate employment statistics reported may be an overestimate and that the actual figures will be lower once students who are on scholarships are excluded from the count.

# 4 Some Courses Typically Lead To Guaranteed Employment

Not all courses create equal job opportunities.

For example, if you are an undergraduate enrolled in a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (i.e. dentist) or Bachelor of Medicine And Bachelor Of Surgery (i.e. doctor) from NUS, you are essentially guaranteed a job upon graduation. Both these courses reported 100% employment rate.

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