Apple most popular employer among fresh grads
Posted: 11 August 2011 1257 hrs

SINGAPORE: Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPad, is the most popular employer among entry-level jobseekers in Singapore.

This is the second consecutive year that the technology giant clinched the top spot in the annual survey by JobsCentral.

Close to 40 per cent of the more than 3,200 local university students and graduates surveyed chose it as the company they would like to work for.

CEO of JobsCentral, Lim Der Shing, said Apple's cool factor doesn't just affect the sales of its products, but has clearly spilt over to have a positive influence on its image as an employer.

But Mr Lim added, "Just like the popular gadgets that Apple produces, it's yet to be seen whether it's a passing fad or a trend that's here to stay."

While Apple is the employer of choice overall, Google appears to appeal most to the crème de la crème among the respondents.

Among those who received or expect to graduate with a First Class Honours or Summa Cum Laude, the majority expressed that they would like to work for Google.

Last year, Google came in second in the rankings among these top students, trailing behind Apple.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) displaced Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as the top government employer.

STB has been the most popular employer in the public sector, according to the survey, for the past three years.

The survey also looked into the salary expectations of fresh graduates.

Similar to last year, most respondents picked a range between S$2,500 and S$2,999 as their expected monthly salary for their first job.

However, a greater percentage of respondents this year (33 per cent) selected the S$3,000-S$3,499 range compared to last year (27.8 per cent).

While only 15.8 per cent of the respondents expected more than S$3,500 for their first job last year, 21.9 per cent of this year's respondents expect at least S$3,500 for their first job.

- CNA/cc