Close to 94 per cent of fresh graduates from Singapore Management University’s (SMU) found a job within six months of completion of their final examinations and also saw both the mean and median gross monthly salaries at an all-time high, despite the current challenging economic environment. The results were revealed in the annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES), jointly conducted by SMU and the other Autonomous Universities.

SMU Provost, Professor Timothy Clark said, “Despite the current economic conditions, we are delighted to see that SMU graduates are in much demand and have once again been very successful in finding employment. This affirms the recognition by employers of our holistic and multi-disciplinary academic curriculum, as well as a co-curricular programme that enables our students to nurture the values and critical skills desired at the workplace.

In addition, SMU’s Internship Programme where each graduate completes an average of 2.6 internships during their time of study, contributes rigour and work place relevance to students’ applied learning. About half of the internships actually translated into job offers and we are proud to be the first university in Singapore to make internships a compulsory graduation requirement.”

SMU also firmly believes in international mobility for students and a 100% global exposure policy for undergraduates means that every student gets to experience some form of global exposure during their time with SMU. This can take the form of an overseas community service project, an overseas internship, foreign exchange programme, or an overseas SMU-X course. These opportunities go beyond just skills training for careers and offer breadth in knowledge, effective communication skills with cultural sensitivity and demonstrate a willingness to learn which both local and overseas employers appreciate in their prospective employees.

Kimberley Sarah Ambrose, a graduate from the School of Economics, did four internships as she felt it was a rewarding and fun use of her summer breaks where she had opportunities to meet many new people. She enjoyed venturing into different sectors to understand a bit more about each, before coming to a decision on what she wanted to pursue.

It has long been a dream for Kimberley to work in the entertainment sector and the idea of working at her favourite company seemed like a far-fetched idea until she stepped into SMU. After speaking to many seniors after attending orientation workshops, she learnt that doing as many internships as she could during her undergraduate days would not only help her refine her skills but also potentially help her land a full-time position.  

She found herself logging onto OnTRAC (SMU’s career services management system) almost as often as she would Facebook, applied for, and did internships during every summer break, from small fintech start-ups like Kashmi, to online travel companies like Tripzilla and even large FMCGs like Nestle. One day, she noticed a listing on OnTRAC that caught her eye – The Walt Disney Company and proceeded to apply for every available position there was. Eventually the company did get back to her and her internship experience there was nothing short of amazing; working on the release of movies from all her favourite brands was something she had never imagined she would do. She was eventually hired by The Walt Disney Company SEA where she does Digital Marketing.

She feels that SMU had prepared her well for the working world, where SMU’s career centre guided her in drafting her first resume and LinkedIn profile. They also helped the students secure various interviews. The interview training and career coaching sessions helped her to be as well prepared as she could possibly be and attend every meeting with confidence. Her career coach would get her to rank the industries she was keen in, do personality tests, and rank what she prioritised in a job. This helped her to make decisions easily on where she wanted to apply or work and then she would strive towards that.

The many Economics modules she had taken also helped to refine her analytical and deductive skills, while the Marketing modules helped her to tap on her creativity and sociability. She feels that both her majors have helped in her current job scope as she handles digital marketing campaigns for movie releases across Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and 20th Century Studios.

The one module that she is extremely grateful for is CAT (Computer as an Analysis Tool), a compulsory module for all SMU students, as it equips them with basic/intermediate understanding of Excel.  She believes that this highly transferrable and foundational skill is imperative for any industry and any job scope. She also commented that all modules at SMU had a constant emphasis on adapting to change and felt that Professors not only took time to teach the fundamentals, but also often challenged students to think outside of the box, and outside of their comfort zones.

Like the rest of her SMU peers, she was also afforded the opportunity to go on global learning experiences. She undertook two overseas trips – one to Scandinavia in 2017 when she was in Year 2, to visit the many Scandinavian companies like IKEA, LEGO, H&M, VOLVO etc. and learn about how differently and yet similarly they operate as compared to Singaporean companies. She also visited major retail malls and companies in Thailand in 2019 in her final year to learn about how they functioned. These overseas experiences helped her see things about the world that one cannot learn in a classroom and she feels that these lessons are useful for her regional role in a global company.

“Being adaptable is a key lesson I have learnt from all modules at SMU, and it is something that the world we live in now needs to be.”

Amanda Seh Yun Ling, a graduate of the School of Social Sciences, has landed a role in the Health Sciences industry, with Johnson & Johnson as a F-HRLDP (Foundational Human Resources Leadership Development Program) Associate. Prior to kickstarting her career, she completed two three-month long HR internships at CPG Corporation and Far East Organisation, in 2018 and 2019 respectively as she felt it allowed her to explore different industries and areas within HR. These internships sharpened her interpersonal skills, learning agility as well as provided her a deeper understanding as to how HR is critical in creating value to an organisation.

As an SMU scholar and as part of the University curriculum, she was given multiple overseas opportunities during her time in SMU. She participated in an exchange programme at Tilburg University in 2018 and attended a Business Study Mission in China 2019 which exposed her to the health-tech sector. According to her, it was also during one of the courses in SMU – Ethics & Social Responsibility, where she learnt about Johnson & Johnson’s Credo. This ultimately led her to her current role at Johnson & Johnson as an Associate under the Foundational Human Resource Leadership Development Program, which she landed prior to graduation. Aside from gaining HR-relevant knowledge through the courses at SMU, Amanda emphasised that it was SMU’s broad-based curriculum and its interdisciplinary nature, which allowed her to participate in industry-relevant group projects to gain transferable skills and knowledge. Guidance and conversations with SMU’s Career Office advisors to help her discover the different career pathways available to her as a Social Sciences graduate, as well as the seminar-style way of learning enabled her to discover her interests, develop a global mindset and increase her resilience and confidence to succeed at the workplace.

Currently, Amanda is nine months into her first rotation in Johnson & Johnson, in the Talent Acquisition function. She is the Project Lead for Asia Pacific TA Internal Communications and is given multiple opportunities to grow and develop through her day-to-day tasks and other regional stretch assignments. She also looks forward to the bi-weekly cohort calls on Zoom where she gets to engage with her fellow HRLDPs who are located globally.

Sushil Siwraj More joined SMU’s School of Computing and Information Systems from Singapore Polytechnic where he completed a Diploma in Financial Informatics.

Sushil, a recipient of the Singapore Digital (SG:D) Scholarship offered by IMDA, had the opportunity to participate in overseas programmes to learn from international experts as part of the university curriculum. He completed study missions in Berlin, London and Taiwan and exchange programmes in Sweden and Canada. This exposure helped him to broaden his perspectives and influence his career choice.

Before starting his career, he completed an internship with GovTech in 2019 and while studying he worked part-time as a Research Assistant for a joint initiative with SMU and NTUC Health. Through his experience and exposure to various teams and products, he was able to explore the different roles within a product lifecycle and thus decided to focus his career towards product management.

Currently employed as Associate Analyst at Mastercard, Sushil works in Data & Services – Product Development. His work involves ideating and innovating new products to fill market gaps, and seeing them through market testing. 

Sushil benefitted much from SMU’s Finishing Touch Workshops that helped students prepare and set expectations for job applications. Throughout his academic life at SMU, Sushil utilised SMU’s career portal and services for resume validation, as well as advisory on possible career routes and options.

Being part of Mastercard’s graduate programme has been really insightful for Sushil. When the Mastercard Launch Programme started in July, he attended the Bootcamp held virtually for all graduates. During the bootcamp, the participants learned more about Mastercard’s culture and business, took part in team challenges and were set up for success as they transitioned from university life to the corporate world. In addition to building foundational knowledge and professional skills, Sushil established relationships with his peers.

Sushil’s work experience has been rewarding and fulfilling, and he has grown while learning on the job. Sushil really appreciates his employer’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and is glad it is a sentiment shared by many in the company.

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