Are you working because of your pay?

On 26 May 08, CNA ran a report with regard to business fresh graduates earning starting salaries to the tune of S$15,000! The original article can be found below.

For the majority of the population (much like myself) who have had or who are having measly starting pay in the range of $3K and below, I wonder what is the real motivation in going to work for us when we learn of some young punk earning 4X higher than our original salary, and who are presently earning much more than us, despite the 5-yr age gap? Do we simply compare ourselves with those earning $1.6-$1.8K to feel better and ignore these so called "top earners" as merely "rare individuals constituting perhaps 0.1% of the workforce"?

Alternatively, we can always tell ourselves that the job is not about the pay/salary - We work because we Love our job!! We love to attend meetings that have no meaningful conclusions; We love to spend 8 hours in office because we have nothing better to do with our lives; We love answering to bosses who should be our subordinates; We love the office politics, fake smiles and sarcastic remarks; We love to wake up early and squeeze in the commute because it's unhealthy to wake up late and lonely without the squeeze; We love to meet up with unreasonable clients because we enjoy getting scolded for no apparent reason. We love receiving projects with datelines that have expired 2 weeks ago because we have the power to reverse time.

Oh yeah, it's never about the pay; We just love our job.

Here's the original article:-

Survey shows NUS business graduates get higher starting pay

By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 26 May 2008 1937 hrs

SINGAPORE: The job market is looking rosy for business graduates from the National University of Singapore.

A survey on its 2007 batch of graduates showed that almost all secured jobs within six months of graduation.

Eight in 10 got a job even before graduation and about seven in 10 received two or more job offers.

The graduates are also getting higher starting salaries, with top earners receiving up to S$10,800 a month.

NUS said the mean starting pay of its business graduates rose by some 13 per cent to more than S$3,000.

Most of the graduates are employed in banking and finance, oil and energy, and fast moving consumer goods industries.

Also doing well are graduates from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Its largest cohort of more than 4,800 last year were the highest paid.

Nine in 10 of them secured jobs within just a month of graduation and more received multiple job offers.

Salaries of some top earners exceeded as much as S$15,000 a month