SINGAPORE: A technology student from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), who is on track to graduate with first-class honours in 2026, has recently revealed that she is facing a dilemma over her first full-time job offer.
In her post on the r/askSingapore forum on Monday (Nov 3), she revealed that although she has already accepted a conditional offer for a full-time position with a monthly pay of S$4,700, she’s still exploring other options because, as she put it, she had been expecting her first job to come with “at least a salary of S$5,000.”
“Honestly, I had a mental expectation of at least S$5,000 for various reasons (industry, academic status, and one year internship experience),” she wrote, before adding, “For those who graduated recently and are doing tech, is S$5k reasonable in this job market now? Comments always seem to have a mix of optimistic and pessimistic people.”
The student also said she understands that some people might tell her to just take the offer and be grateful, since “back in their day, they earned less.” However, she pointed out that when you factor in inflation, the pay from those days would actually be quite similar to, or even higher than, what fresh graduates are getting today.
“So, shouldn’t salaries keep up with the cost of living?” she asked. “Also, in the event that I do get offered a higher-paying job, is it ethical/frowned upon if I were to go back to my base offer and negotiate for more, or even ‘cancel’ the offer?”
“Keep looking.”
In the comments, one Singaporean Redditor encouraged her to stay open to other opportunities. “Definitely keep looking,” they wrote. “And the tech landscape is changing. Pivot yourself to more AI-related skills. SWE/SDE are on the chopping blocks this year, along with TPM.”
Another commented, “How are your peers doing? It’s hard to give a data point cause I don’t really have any peers in SIT. Generally, for my friends in NTU/NUS/SMU, they are getting about S$8k+/mth basic. Most of them have first-class honours (FCH) and have more than 2 years of internship experience.”
“They also have negotiating power because they have multiple offers. For those more mediocre ones, I think they are getting around S$4-5k if they do find a job. Most have not landed anything yet.”
A third added, “Just accept the offer first, la. It is a conditional offer 1 year before graduation also, so depending on what the conditions are, it’s not guaranteed anyway. The company is already prepared for the fact that either you or they themselves might withdraw, so feel free to look for a better offer.”
In other news, an expat who has lived in Singapore for three years took to social media to ask locals if they actually want foreigners like him to “leave the country”.
Posting on the r/SingaporeCitizens forum, he explained that although he hopes to settle in Singapore permanently, he has been having doubts after reading anonymous comments and posts online, which make him feel that he and other foreigners “may not be as welcome” as he initially thought.
