SG Career Search

FACED with an increasingly tight job market, undergraduates here are lowering their expectations and saying 'yes' to unpaid internships in a bid to land a good job.
Usually they are paid a stipend or allowance when they intern.

Graduates are the hardest-hit as the unemployment rate soars.

The number of jobless degree-holders peaked at 14,800 in December last year, more than a 100 per cent increase
from 6,200 a year earlier.

Undergraduates my paper spoke to said they were willing to go for unpaid internships at "prestigious companies with enriching job scopes".

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduate Esther Lim, 23, who studies accountancy, said: "The job could be an entry point for me to get a permanent place in a good company. Besides, it would look good on my resume."

When contacted, NTU said there are still enough placements for students.

"There is no need to consider rolling out programmes to attach our students for no-allowance or free internships," said its director of career and attachment office, Mr Loh Pui Wah.

Singapore Management University students can tap free internships, but these do not form a "significant" portion of the university's total pool of internship opportunities.

National University of Singapore student Jalea Poon, 20, said she would work for free for a month.

"My parents would be unhappy that I'm not drawing a salary and would say that I'm being stupid to work for free," she said.

Agreeing, NTU's Ms Lim said: "I need to get a paid job to feed myself!"

By Chen Jingting