My son has a place to study computing and information systems at Singapore Management University (SMU). How concerned should students be of the news on layoffs and hiring freezes in the tech industry? What are the universities doing to help boost the job prospects of tech graduates?
The job outcomes for SMU’s class of 2022 should be out by the end of this month. But anecdotally at least, SMU graduates, including those from the School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS), are continuing to do well.
I looked at the job outcomes for 2021 graduates and SCIS graduates had a 98.2 per cent overall employment rate, with seven in 10 landing jobs before graduation.
The mean monthly salary for Information Systems graduates was $4,906 and the median gross monthly salary was $5,000, up from $4,542 in 2020. Those with Cum Laude or better earned a mean gross monthly salary of $5,499 and a median gross salary of $5,350.
Some of the fields the school graduates have gone into include digital transformation, artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things) solutions and cyber security. Their employers are not just tech companies, but also from the banking and finance industry, as well as consultancies plus retail and commerce, healthcare, education, marketing, advertising and media firms.
You asked about what the universities are doing to help tech graduates in their job search. SMU, and indeed all the six local universities, have programmes to help students figure out the jobs that would be the right fit for them and access those positions.
SMU, for example, assigns certified career coaches for every student. They hold one-on-one sessions on researching and identifying potential careers, guiding them on selecting the right internships, building their resumes and writing cover letters. They even conduct mock job interviews.
On-campus recruitment talks and information sessions for companies to woo prospective interns and full-time staff are also held. SMU has had several sessions recently for students, including SCIS ones.
SCIS dean Professor Pang Hwee Hwa assured parents and students that the school continues to focus on the industry relevance of its programmes and career preparation for its students, including internships.
He said IT professionals who can innovate solutions that create value are still in demand, stressing that graduates should be flexible and consider various job opportunities.
