Yahoo Finance Polytechnic Graduate Salary 2019: These Are The Highest Paying Industries for Polytechnic Graduates in Singapore
I grew up in a time when people assumed JC education was superior to Polytechnic education. After almost flunking my A-Levels and spending most of my 20s in University, I sometimes wish I had the chance to go back in time and tell my younger self to go to Poly instead.
That being said, the decision to go into Polytechnic should always depend on whether you have a clue what you want to do with your life. 16-year-old me still wouldn’t have known what he wanted to do with life. All he wanted to do was make a difference in the world, and earn a fair bit of money while doing so.
I wish I had something like the Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey back in my time. Based on the results from 2017, apparently fresh polytechnic graduates today can expect to earn a median salary of at least $2,000 a month.
But which polytechnic diplomas lead to jobs that pay the most?
The Survey results are presented this way:
Course category | Median gross monthly salary for fresh graduates | Median gross monthly salary for post-NS graduates |
Health Sciences | $2,500 | $2,600 |
Built Environment, Engineering and Maritime | $2,200 | $2,470 |
Business, Management, Design & Others | $2,100 | $2,500 |
Information & Digital Technologies | $2,200 | $2,400 |
Applied Sciences | $2,010 | $2,327 |
Of course the survey results wouldn’t say specifically which diplomas command the highest salaries, so here’s our educated guesses on what the highest paying diplomas are.
Rather than wondering what the best polytechnic in Singapore is, it is better to decide on your future field of work.
1. Diploma in Optometry
Singapore loves being number 1 in the world. We’re also number 1 for childhood myopia between seven and nine years of age. That’s a pretty crazy statistic but really not surprising. In the first few months of National Service I was assigned to a special platoon in BMT – we all suffered from acute myopia. An entire platoon of recruits, practically blind without our glasses.
As a result, optometrists are in high demand in Singapore. But only a 120 or so students go into the three-year Diploma in Optometry each year. Both Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic offer this course. The interesting thing is that there is currently is no full-time Degree in Optometry offered in Singapore, the only degree course shut down in 2013 when it couldn’t meet its enrolment target of 60 students.
In fact, according to Dr Adrian Yeo a director at Singapore Polytechnic, said that in Singapore’s robust market, “the (optometrist) job requires only a diploma”.
Optometrists in Singapore today are earning a median gross wage of $3,676, based on MOM’s Occupational Wage Table for 2017. Someone starting out could possibly expect to earn about $3,000.
2. Diploma in Micro and Nanotechnology/Diploma in Nanotechnology and Materials Science
One of the few manufacturing industries that remains a driving force in Singapore is the semiconductor industry. This is despite stiff competition from countries like Malaysia and China, which enjoy lower labour costs and as a result, lower production costs. Sadly, while it once enjoyed a huge boom, the semiconductor industry is now seen as a sunset industry. In response, companies are diversifying their business, entering into other sectors while still retaining their core advanced manufacturing advantage.
It therefore still makes lots of sense to enter the nanotechnology diploma courses offered by Nanyang Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic. Graduates of these courses usually become assistant or associate engineers in a variety of roles.
Assistant and associate manufacturing engineers are earning a median of $3,726, based on MOM’s Occupational Wage Table for 2017. Someone starting out could expect to earn about $2,500.
3. Diploma in Banking and Finance
This is a no-brainer, honestly. The finance industry is generally capable of sustaining the significantly higher incomes that almost all their employees earn. Even though a diploma may not accelerate your journey up the corporate ladder as quickly as a degree, there’s no reason you can’t earn incredible salaries in your starting role – especially if that role is foreign exchange dealer/broker, one of the 10 highest paying jobs of 2015.
But even if you’re not losing sleep and putting your long-term health at risk by working as a foreign exchange broker, finance diploma graduates can look forward to a myriad of jobs, including financial planning, accountancy, corporate finance and risk management.
A credit and loans officer, for example, can earn a median of $3,740, based on MOM’s Occupational Wage Table for 2017. Someone starting out in the finance industry could expect to earn about $2,700.
One last word…
Ultimately though, you shouldn’t be choosing a course based on what pays the best – that’s a sure way to end up doing something you probably won’t like and will make you unhappy at work. If you know what you want to do in life, do it, and do it well, regardless of how much it pays at first.
How did you choose your course in polytechnic? Let us know in the comments.
Related articles
Graduating from Polytechnic or ITE? Here’s How You Can Kickstart Your Career
6 Ways Students Can Get Career Guidance on What Course to Take at University
Getting an Education Loan in Singapore – Guide to Funding Your Tertiary Education
Image Credits: Michelle Lee via Flickr
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