Your grades before university have a huge impact
In my opinion, society doesnât ârankâ universities based on research output or the quality of academics. They make that decision based on exclusivity rather than whatever ranking system is out there be it Times Higher Education, QS or ARWU.Â
They donât care so much about what you learnt in university but the fact that you got into an exclusive university to begin with.
Of course, I wonât discount the fact that these universities have great programmes and even better opportunities to expose students to industry.
But itâs this pre-selection function of universities that makes hiring decisions for recruiters easy. The risk of choosing a poor candidate is reduced because the candidate already cleared a stringent selection process and are deemed the cream of the crop.
Because of this, your grades prior to entering university makes a big difference.
Iâm not saying late bloomers have no chance to catch up, I’m a late bloomer with poor GCE ‘O’ Level results after all. But youâre at a disadvantage if you are one.
Till today, there are people who refuse to acknowledge that there are more than 3 universities in Singapore, no prizes for guessing which three!
Itâs a race against time
Once you graduate, you have to make a decision of whether you want to climb the corporate ladder or try going at it on your own. If you choose the former, you need to be aware that itâs a race against time.
Spend the first few years of your career figuring out what you want to do in the longer term. During this phase, donât be afraid to cut your losses and quit jobs even before youâve spent a year there. Avoid giving in to the sunk cost fallacy.
Research has shown that the biggest pay raises comes from switching jobs, but your ability to job hop will plummet as you get older.
So as soon as you figure out what you want to do, you need to be focused on growing your salary and getting the promotions. These opportunities for growth usually peaks by your 40s and will start to plateau.
Be strategic with your time and work towards being as irreplaceable as possible. This could mean diversifying your skillsets to take on additional responsibilities or niching down to become even more specialised.
Remember, your salary is not a measure of the cost of your labour, but a measure of how replaceable you are.
Passion vs Reality
When choosing a major, itâs a balance of finding what you like to do and what skills the market needs.
Choosing to study what you love is an easy choice, but not always the right one. The hard truth is that if what youâre passionate about is of little value to society or if there is just too much supply, no prudent company will pay a high salary.
On a similar note, if you’re passionate about something but arenât great at it, no company will pay for your incompetence either.
To truly be paid to do what you love, you must first love something that solves a problem or fulfils a need. Not only that, you have to be at least halfway decent at it.
Failing which, you must either have unlimited time or unlimited money.
Consumers pay to satisfy their needs, your need to do what you love doesn’t even cross their minds unless it coincides with the satisfaction of their needs.Â
While itâs possible to find a job doing what you love, those are rare.Â
More often than not, your passion will be exploited to some extent due to the supply demand dynamics. Desirable jobs could offer lower salaries or employers can be extremely picky about who they employ as they have the luxury of choice.Â
The starving artist or aspiring actor working as a waiter tropes have some truth to them.
