Industry Insights

Discover the different industries you can join in the job market and explore the various opportunities within.

Accountancy and Financial Management

With accountancy and financial management qualifications, one can find work opportunities in a range of organisations, varying from the “Big Four” to smaller accountancy firms, as well as in corporations and the public sector. Being in the accountancy industry also gives you a good perspective of how businesses and organisations are operated, opening doors to start your own company in the future.

In recent years, businesses have started to use technology such as cloud accounting software and applications to increase efficiency for accounting and financial management. Accounting professionals are encouraged to upskilll constantly, picking up data analysis and mastering digital accounting.

Accounting firms typically offer a diversity of services such as consulting, assurance, risk assessment, corporate recovery, tax and forensic accounting, aside from the customary accounting and auditing services.

Due to the range of services they offer, employers are constantly on the lookout for candidates with good analytical skills, attention to detail and an ability to convey financial data clearly. Graduate accountants often join firms as trainees and will be required to take professional qualifications to enhance themselves. It is mandatory to go through the Singapore Qualification Programme (Singapore QP) in order to practise as a chartered accountant here.

Job areas include

• Assurance management • Auditing • Financial consulting • Risk assessment • Tax consulting

Skills required

• Numerical skills

• Commercial awareness

• Strategic planning skills • Analytical skills • Decision-making skills • Good communication skills

Job hunting tips

Get licensed, stay on top of your game in terms of accounting skills and network extensively in this professional circle.

Banking and Finance

Specialising in different areas of banking and finance (e.g. asset management, hedge funds, private banking and equity, risk management, venture capital and corporate restructuring), employers such as retail banks and investment firms offer a diverse range of roles to graduate hires.

Competition is tough in the banking and finance sector in Singapore, as the city-state is a regional and global hub for investment and finance. Improve your opportunities of securing a job in this field by seeking out internships during your university days to gain relevant work experience and build your knowledge and networks.

Take note that employers appreciate candidates who excel in problem-solving and have excellent organisational and team management skills.

You should also make it a point to read financial business news regularly to update yourself on any changes in the industry. While employers prefer numerical and business degrees, it is not a necessary requirement.

Job areas include

• Business/Commercial banking • Consumer/Personal banking • Corporate finance • Foreign exchange trading • Investment banking • Marketing and communication • Operations and technology • Private banking • Private equity • Risk management • Treasury • Wealth management

Skills required

• Numerical and analysis skills • Problem-solving ability • Resilience

Job hunting tips

Score an internship and ace it! Networking is crucial in banking and investment. Research potential employers and send in your applications early.

• Able to work under pressure • Excellent communication skills • Strong understanding of financial markets • Decision-making skills

Consulting

Graduates looking to break into this sector can choose between different areas of expertise ranging from human resources (HR), integrated solutions, management and strategy advisory work. They are also able to specialise in a particular sector, such as information technology (IT) or finance, with finance consulting being the most popular choice among graduates.

Many employers offer graduate specialist programmes, where you will be assigned to work in teams with a mentor. You will also be involved in projects and have the chance to experience the day-to-day business to help you pick up skills on-the-job. However, there are numerous perks to working in this industry, such as a variety of job roles and travelling opportunities post-COVID. Be prepared to work in a highpressure environment, though!

As most roles in this field will require you to interact with clients, having good communication skills is absolutely essential. Strong organisational and problem-solving abilities, as well as the capability to work effectively in teams, are also crucial skills, especially when you feel the crunch with impending project deadlines.

You may also need professional certifications and licences to practise in certain fields, so do your research and consult the relevant parties to help you plan your career pathway.

Job areas include

• Human resources • Integrated solutions • Management • Strategy advisory • Finance consulting

Skills required

• Commercial awareness

• Numerical and analytical skills • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills • Persuasion and negotiation skills • Problem-solving ability • Able to work in a team • Self-motivation

Job hunting tips

Consulting is one of the quickest developing corporate careers, requiring driven personalities and self-starters with nimble minds. Make sure you ace the case study interview!

Education

Despite the long hours and the need to juggle multiple responsibilities, a career in education is highly rewarding as it gives you the satisfaction of preparing future generations to achieve their aspirations.

Major employers include the Ministry of Education (MOE), public and private institutions and tuition centres. Besides becoming a teacher, you may also want to consider roles such as career counsellor, educational psychologist, or corporate and administrative roles.

Upon graduating with at least a bachelor’s degree, those aspiring to teach with the MOE will need to obtain a postgraduate diploma in education at the National Institute of Education (NIE). Graduates from all disciplines are welcome to apply.

Job areas include

• Early childhood education • Primary education • Secondary education • Tertiary education • Teaching English as a

Foreign Language (TEFL) • Education psychology • Education assessment • Career counselling

Skills required

• Passion • A strong belief in education • Effective interpersonal and communication skills • Organisational and time management skills

Job hunting tips

Gain some teaching experience as a tutor, volunteer teacher or substitute teacher prior to applying if you can. Experience is not necessary, but it is highly valued as it allows you to be exposed to different student behaviours, and helps you cultivate your own teaching style in the classroom.

Healthcare

Employment in this industry is not closed off to nonmedical graduates. While most medical careers require specialist knowledge and training, applicants from other degree backgrounds can also explore a number of career options, such as healthcare operations and management, medical and pharmaceutical sales and marketing, medical product management and healthcare informatics.

Depending on your role, you may need to be prepared for long hours and heavy workloads. However, those working in administrative or research roles typically have regular hours.

Whichever role that you take on in this industry, it is vital that you have a passion for serving and helping those in need, and are dedicated to your tasks. Being meticulous and patient are important traits as well.

Graduates keen on a career in this sector can consider applying to public and private healthcare providers, biomedical firms, research consortia, or local healthcare startups that focus on specialised products (e.g. hospital management software and medical robotics). You can also opt for a position with non-profit organisations such as Mercy Relief or the Mercy Corps.

Job areas include

• Clinical medicine

• Allied health (e.g. nutrition and therapy) • Laboratory work • Healthcare regulations • Manufacturing and supply • Quality management • Research and development • Sales and marketing

Skills required

• Resilience • Communication skills • Organisational skills • Able to work in a team

• Excellent grasp of technical knowledge

Job hunting tips

Experience in the field will show you if you are suited for a role in healthcare, which is why placements and internships are important. It takes time to build up your knowledge and skills in this sector too, as is obtaining the necessary qualifications.

Hospitality and Tourism

Home to two integrated resorts, i.e. the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore has a strong hospitality and tourism industry. Although the industry took a huge hit due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, this sector is set to be revived with the anticipated return of meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE).

Singapore has also retained its popularity as a stopover location as countries reopen their borders, and can offer graduates ample career opportunities, ranging from hotel management, leisure and events management. The sector also requires manpower for support functions such as IT, marketing and HR.

Working in hospitality and tourism requires much patience, energy and emotional intelligence. Shift work and irregular hours during the seasonal peak periods are common.

Most graduate employees start out from the bottom or through graduate programmes, obtaining training and professional qualifications on the job.

Job areas include

• The food and beverage industry • Hotels and resorts • Leisure and recreation management • Meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) • Spa and wellness management • Tourism and attractions

Job hunting tips

Demonstrate your passion for the hospitality and tourism sector to show that you have the drive to go the extra mile.

Skills required

• Client-facing skills • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills • Organisational skills • Able to work in a team

• Problem-solving ability

IT and Technology

Singapore is a global IT hub and many technology firms have established their offices here. Given the pervasiveness of technology today, the expertise of IT professionals is not only needed in the tech sector, but also in the non-IT industries as well (e.g. finance, health, media and legal services).

Some of the more popular roles that graduate candidates can consider include technology consulting, systems analysis, network engineering, software testing and technical sales.

Graduates without an educational background in IT can take up technical modules in school or obtain professional technical qualifications on a part-time basis as they work.

A common way into the IT sector is through graduate programmes, especially if you want to apply to major organisations. On the other hand, many smaller employers prefer to hire directly.

Employers greatly value candidates with good problemsolving and time management abilities as these are vital to helping them meet project deadlines. Good interpersonal and communication skills are also essential due to the teambased nature of this sector.

Job areas include

• Application development • Cloud innovation • Data analytics • E-commerce • Information security • Infrastructure

• Project management • Systems administration

Skills required

• Adaptability • Commercial awareness

• Technical skills

• Problem-solving ability • Time management skills • Communication skills • Organisational skills • Able to work in a team

Job hunting tips

Employers often stick to conventional recruitment methods such as job postings, campus events and recruitment fairs. Prepare digital copies of necessary documents and materials for your online application.

Legal

Upon obtaining your law degree, you will have to first undergo a training period – that lasts between six months to a year – before you can go through the bar examinations and practise as a lawyer. Large law firms may offer graduate trainee programmes with opportunities to rotate across different departments, while smaller firms allow you to engage in a wider range of work once you hit the ground running.

Law graduates can also ponder roles like in-house legal advisors for commercial organisations, advising them on various legal strategies.

Employers in the legal industry need support staff members for the finance, HR and even IT departments too. However, depending on your role, your working hours can differ immensely.

As a graduate lawyer, you may be faced with long and intense hours at work, though job flexibility may increase with career progression. Legal advisors to commercial organisations, on the other hand, have a less hectic schedule.

A second-upper class law degree is generally required to find work in local law firms, and employers also look out for candidates with attention to detail and excellent problemsolving abilities.

Job areas include

• Arbitration and dispute resolution • Civil litigation • Conveyancing • Corporate and commercial law

• Criminal law

• Intellectual property law

Skills required

• Analytical skills • Communication skills • Good networking ability • An eye for detail • The ability to work under pressure • To be highly committed • Problem-solving ability

Job hunting tips

Consider taking up paralegal jobs as a student to meet contacts and form your professional network. You can also intern or volunteer with NGOs or political organisations to get more exposure if you are interested in these aspects of the profession.

Manufacturing, Logistics and Supply Chain Media (Advertising, PR and Communications)

Manufacturing, logistics and supply chain are essential in many industries, especially in the fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail sectors.

Manufacturing involves turning raw materials into products through value-adding, where engineering graduates would be responsible for the safe and efficient planning, management and maintenance of production methods and processes.

In logistics and supply chain, standard operating procedures (SOPs) are developed for the prompt delivery of goods and services. Graduates in this industry use logistical software and tools to oversee the inventory, distribution of goods and services and cost management. Recommendations are then made to improve productivity and efficiency.

The logistics and supply chain area of work typically welcomes applicants from all disciplines, and major organisations may even provide management training schemes to prepare their graduate hires for the job. These often include a series of job rotations so that they are able to better appreciate the processes that affect an organisation.

However, those who are interested in manufacturing may need a relevant engineering degree and technical skills required for the role they are gunning for.

Job areas include

• Operations manager • Assembly engineer • Customs management • E-commerce • Freight/Global forwarding • Logistics • Supply chain management and service • Supply optimisation • Transport management • Warehousing

Job hunting tips

Employers usually keep an eye out for graduates who are not only strong in planning and people skills, but boast technical expertise in project and logistics management as well.

Skills required

• Planning skills • Organisational skills • Strong communication skills • Interpersonal skills • Able to work in a team

• Leadership skills • Problem-solving ability • An eye for detail The media industry is immensely vibrant due to its relevance to all businesses. Graduates typically find their calling across platforms of outreach, such as print, online and broadcast, where they can work in areas such as brand management, public relations, copywriting, database management and analysis, as well as market research and sales promotion.

Familiarity with traditional areas of work in this industry such as journalism, events and marketing are essential, and graduates need to be well-versed in social media management and able to adapt to ongoing communication trends too.

Despite the breadth of the industry, vacancies are limited, and competition to get into the industry can be stiff. While large organisations do run graduate schemes, most graduate applicants will likely have to apply directly for entry-level jobs.

Job areas include

• Advertising • Copywriting • Digital/Web marketing • Events management • Film/Stage production • Graphic design • Journalism

• Media purchasing • Public relations (PR) • Social media management

Skills required

• Creativity • Able to work in a team • Strong analytical skills • Tenacity and resourcefulness

• Data management

Job hunting tips

A solid portfolio can greatly increase your chances of a successful application. Networking is also immensely important and may help you get a foot in the door to the industry. For this reason, it is a good idea to start taking up part-time roles and internships even as a student in order to build your connections and portfolio.

NGOs and Non-profit Organisations Public Sector

Graduates keen on helping the community can find their calling in non-governmental and non-profit organisations. Singapore is home to around 140 international not-for-profit organisations, all catering to a variety of social, humanitarian and environmental issues. As such, there are plenty of options for graduates.

Depending on the area of expertise and the role that you apply for, there may be a need for specialist knowledge and skills, and some organisations may impose certain certification criteria.

Whatever your role is, employers generally look for a definite trait: Passion and commitment to the cause. While salaried positions tend to be on the lower scale compared to the corporate sector, employees working with NGOs and nonprofits derive their motivation from the satisfaction that they gain from serving and helping people.

Job areas include

• Community relations • Environmental • Services (children, youth, family, elderly, special needs and healthcare) • Social work

• Volunteer development

Job hunting tips

Employers look for candidates who are able to demonstrate their commitment to the cause and contribution to the organisation.

Skills required

• Problem-solving ability • Organisation skills • Communication skills • Technical skills (depending on the role) The public sector is Singapore’s largest employer, consisting of different ministries, statutory boards and a variety of organisations such as the Public Service Division, the Singapore Armed Forces and the Home Team. Graduates engaged in public service often find their roles to be satisfying and fulfilling.

Depending on the role and ministry that you are hired into, your job scope and the skills required may vary. In general, though, all public sector employees must possess a passion to serve the community and have good teamwork and communication skills. A maturity in order to draw up and execute national policies is vital as well.

As a public sector employee, you will benefit from frequent training for upskilling and job security, and may also be offered flexible working hours should the need arise. However, do be prepared for longer working hours during peak periods, such as before project deadlines and launches of new initiatives.

Many graduates enter the public sector through graduate programmes organised by the individual bodies, but departments and organisations also hire graduates directly.

Do make it a habit to check in with the ministries that you are interested in for new positions available.

Job areas include

• Government agencies • Ministries

• Statutory boards • Uniformed groups

Skills required

• Communication skills • Organisational skills • Able to work in a team

• Good interpersonal skills

Job hunting tips

As this sector offers a wide range of positions, do thorough research and find and identify the fields of work which interest you. Be prepared for a series of interviews and assessments too! Keep in mind that psychometric tests may be included in your recruitment process too.