SINGAPORE - More Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) graduates secured full-time permanent jobs last year, results from the university's annual survey show.
The proportion of SIT graduates who found full-time work six months after completing their final examinations was 82.9 per cent last year, up from 77.1 per cent in 2016.
But there was no shift in median gross monthly pay. It remained at $3,200, like in 2016.
Computing science graduates earned between $3,600 and $3,800, while nursing graduates secured $3,650 in monthly pay.
Overall, 92.3 per cent of SIT graduates found jobs, up from 89 per cent in 2016.
In a statement on Monday (Sept 10), SIT's vice-president (industry and community) Ivan Lee said the university is heartened its students continue to "enjoy high employability and competitive salaries despite SIT being a young university".
SIT started in 2009 with 500 students in 10 degree programmes.
Associate Professor Lee said the improved results can be attributed to increased awareness of SIT as Singapore's first university of applied learning, as well as more extensive partnerships cultivated with the industry through its integrated work study programme, industry projects and professional development programmes.
"The recovery of employment climate in the engineering sector also helps to push up the employment rates," he added.
The university said more than 80 per cent of graduates from the accountancy and hospitality business programmes received job offers from the companies they worked in before graduating.
Prof Lee said: "With the world economy being increasingly unpredictable and complex, more and more employers value real work experience."
SIT graduate Nurul Afiqah Mohamad Jumad benefited from the integrated work study programme, joining Ernst & Young as a full-time audit assistant after completing her eight-month work stint at the company.
The attachment gave her "a first-hand experience" of what to expect of the profession, said the 23-year-old.
The survey results also show a slight increase in graduates opting for freelance employment, from 2.5 per cent in 2016 to 2.8 per cent last year.
But there was a dip in the part-time and temporary employment rate, from 9.4 per cent in 2016 to 6.6 per cent last year.
This is the fourth year that SIT has taken part in the graduate employment survey. About 85 per cent of its cohort of 1,530 graduates responded to the survey, which was conducted from March 1 to May 14 this year.
Due to different academic calendars, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) conduct their surveys in November each year, while Singapore University of Technology and Design and SIT conduct theirs in February and March respectively.
The latest graduate employment survey for NUS, NTU and SMU show that 78.4 per cent of graduates were in full-time permanent work last year, compared to 86.2 per cent of SUTD graduates.
The Singapore University of Social Sciences, which was not represented, will join the survey from the next cycle.
