What are your experiences with hiring NUS, NTU and SMU grads?

[bil21]

I am in the IT industry and over the years I have seen many fresh grads from NUS NTU and SMU , and i find that they have
             very little "real world" knowledge and they require a lot of training. Some of them are good but I find that many of them
             cant solve problems by themselves and require a lot of help. Is this the same experience you are having at your company ?
             We have a few Interns from Germany and Poland working at our company and I think they are much better than the local grads.
             I am starting to prefer hiring those that have completed their degree overseas as they seem to be more independent and capable.
             Is this the same sentiment throughout the industry ?. I also realized that there are alot of poly students that study IT but prefer
             to choose another path like Mass Comm or business after they grad.

[otherwise]

Some bright people but the teaching style encourages memorisation rather than thinking so that is what they do.  As a result they can generally reproduce loads of stuff but can't apply it anywhere they haven't seen before.

[Selamat Datang...]

That's the average Singaporean worker.  Dedicated in terms of time and effort, but not in terms of analytical results.  A hard worker (but NEVER ask them to skip lunch) but not good at working smart.

There are of course exceptions.

[curioustoo]

"I also realized that there are alot of poly students that study IT but prefer to choose another path like Mass Comm or business after they grad."

Curious about this phenomenon too

[Ricardo_singapore]

I have to agree with you , my company prefers Grads from US or Australia over local grads. btw how did you get foreign interns to work for you? and how much do you pay them ?.

[foreign interns]

would be nice if one can strike a balance.
Only gripe is that those from US can't write or spell properly/

[Creative thinking]

Same goes to those from UK. They are better in writing essay than technical report.

with regards to the OP, it is not the Univ education to be faulted but the entire primary to secondary education system in Sgp.

Sgp edu sys restraint creative thinking and freedom of speech. These cumulative problems inevitably stunt the ability and the guts to defer from norm. Everything is systematic and structural if it deviates its in violation of the norm that is a No no in Sg society. Pretty much similar to Germans style but they have the freedom bit.

[No brainer]

My understanding is that SMU is one of the best universities in the world. Recently a study which was advertised on television revealed that students who've the choice of being enrolled at Harvard, MIT, Stamford, Cambridge or Oxford  still chose SMU in Singapore as the place to go to. Admittedly these are only Americans but still, it shows the fine standing with which SMU is regarded.

[and]

which study would that be? I'd like to see some objective reporting backed up by reliable research before I believe that!

[hmmmmm.....]

"No Brainer" has no brain!  

[toothy]

"No brainer" was just taking a dig at the NUS Biz School ad. It was not SMU.

[curiousio]

Does anyone have porblems employing UniSIM graduates?

[Outbound]

Our company (Fin Services) stopped hiring local graduates from 2003 onwards.  We now only hire locals for graduate positions if they have studied key subjects as part of an exchange program outside of Singapore if they have key language skills (Japanese, Korean specifically).  

We actively aim to recruit US and Australian trained Singaporeans or Singaporeans who have done undergraduate programs here then studied masters overseas.

Same issues as others have raised.

[Creative Thinking]

As much as everyone appreciate the Univ academic standing. It doesn't necessary demonstrate the resourcefulness & creativity of an individual.

'Outbound' seems to have a solution.

I know one of my friend who graduated from UK and returned to Sgp to join a local company. After 3 months her company has replaced all local grads with local or Malaysian who have graduated overseas.

Intriguing, cause? The overseas grads are more diligent and positively motivated able to think out of the box and work independently. Also less attitude.

"Less blame & more brain" sums it all.

Your thoughts?

[eeevvala]

The problem is the locals have this mentality that they are the best , and being at these highly "acclaimed" local universities to them is like being inducted to the elite class.

So with all that hype surrounding them , they feel management owe them a living and should be greatful that these high fliers chose to work for them. These are the pampered lot who probably brought their maids along to the local university.

Compare this to an overseas grad, who most probably had to fend for himself (of course there might be some exceptions) be independant and is exposed to the real university life , where tutors do not just fill you with facts but make you think .

I guess we have all heard of the no U turn syndrome that afflicts the majority in this island. Wonder when they will wake up from their slumber and realise it.