My commencement was sometime last month (July '16). It was a rather joyous occasion where I got to celebrate the completion of 4 years of education with my peers. Imagine my surprise when I got a special ticket for the occasion. My A+ in risk and insurance (back in year 3 sem 1), which garnered me a ntuc income prize that same year was again reflected in the graduation ceremony. My family got VIP tickets as a result and I got mentioned as a prize winner lol. Good old second upper got bumped up the ceremony thanks to this award.
FYI, VIP tickets essentially mean you get to sit at the front section of the stall seats right in front of the stage.
While the ceremony itself can feel draggy, it is worth noting that all the graduates sitting alongside you have also persevered hard and are deserving at least your respect. There is a certain air around that can be felt. Partly one of excitement, one of nostalgia. For most of these people you may not have seen them frequently over the course of the 4 years because of scheduling. The best part of the whole occasion was probably after the ceremony itself when everyone was spamming pictures haha!
What's next then?
If you are reading this blog and have graduated and aren't doing much now, cheer up! If you are trying to find a job but haven't found one, keep going!
If you have yet to graduate... Now then perhaps I might impart some knowledge (in the form of experience) to you.
- Don't wait till after you graduate to decide what you want to do or where you want to go.. To be honest I don't have an inkling where I'll be in 5 years. But I know what I want to expose myself to.
- If you are year 3, that is the prime to research. Find out when all the deadlines for application for full time jobs are (assuming that's where you want to be). Banks (for example) have their deadlines in December for the July/August intake the next year. Don't be caught because you missed the deadlines. Monitor Biz Career services email blast for opportunities. Their service is really incredible. I don't believe our other friendly unis have such an email service. To be frank, applying through their portal isn't ideal. BUT it does open your eyes to the types of jobs available in the market. If you don't intend to go into banking, there are really many options around. Read up, ask around, attend career talks and fairs. Grab as many free pens as you can. Just kidding. It gets very tiring balancing 1) applications, 2) career fairs, 3) school work. I choinged like mad during y4s1, though nothing much came out of it. Still, keep your goal in mind!
- Even if at the end of the day, you can't get into that prestigious investment banking job you really wanted (pui just kidding. Who wants to slog 100 hour weeks anyway.) Be flexible. If you have multiple offers of jobs, good on you! I would say choose one that gives you the most exposure and future growth opportunities. If you do not have a gazillion offers (like me), don't give up. Explore different options - say for example start-ups. You get thrown into do everything (quite literally), low job security, but the amount of learning you get is enormous. On this topic of start-ups. If you really are interested in it, I suggest checking out whatever stuff NUS has on it beforehand. I only recently found out NUS has some "facebook-style" office cum innovation lab thingy in the building at the carpark opposite kent ridge hall. It's very hip sia. I only knew about it 2 months before graduating. What a waste.
That's all the stuff that comes to mind. If you have other questions, feel free to post below. I might dedicate a blog post if there are ones that are interesting to write about.
Have a great week ahead!
RRR
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