Here are some of the most intriguing employment prospects available to business school graduates in Singapore, including fintech and AI.
Singapore’s dynamic international milieu and solid economy provide numerous opportunities for business school graduates.
With a growing GDP (up 3.1% in 2018), new jobs are continually being generated. In fact, employment numbers have been increasing since 2010, and the government intends to create at least 25,000 new jobs per year.
In this environment, businesses require the skills and insights that business school graduates can provide. But where are the most in-demand occupations in Singapore right now?
Here are five of the most promising career paths for business school grads in the country today.
1. Finance
Singapore, with 127 banks and over a thousand financial organizations, is a leading destination for graduates interested in finance.
Singapore is ranked fourth in the Global Financial Centers Index due to its pro-business policies and competent regulation.
Investment banking and wealth management are two of the most important financial activities, with several options for recent business school graduates.
The curriculum of Singapore’s business schools reflects this. SMU’s Master of Science in Management (MiM) program offers elective modules in finance, including investment banking, equity analysis, and sustainable finance.
After graduation, abilities like these will prepare students for careers in the country’s second largest business.
2. FinTech
Along with more traditional institutions, disruptive fintech startups such as PayPal and Kickstarter are establishing themselves in Singapore, bringing with them new prospects.
Singapore has over 450 fintech businesses and is Asia’s third largest fintech market by funding. Recently, the government stated that it would award virtual banking licenses, allowing digital banks to operate without physical offices.
All of this progress is opening up new opportunities for graduates. A recent poll found that 94% of Singapore’s fintech companies want to expand their personnel. The most sought-after positions among these hiring were in business development, sales, and marketing.
To succeed in this industry, individuals must have a thorough awareness of how new advancements can be successfully applied to business.
At SMU, students enrolled in the MiM, MBA, and MSc in Innovation (MI) programs can take ‘Innovation Management’ as an elective module.
This allows students to become familiar with the tools and methods that businesses might utilize to capitalize on new technological breakthroughs.
3. Consultancy
Working at a consultant allows recent graduates from business schools to gain expertise in various industries, expand their network, and travel the world.
For these reasons, it is a popular sector, with business increasing in the Asia Pacific region. In 2018, the consulting industry in the region experienced a 6% growth and reached a record worth of $50 billion.
Much of this growth was driven by technology and risk consulting, which were the most popular consulting services in the country in 2015 as more businesses invested in digital transformations.
These services are provided in Singapore by consultancies such as CrimsonLogic, IMB Consulting, and TCS.
If you want to take advantage of Singapore’s consulting environment, you’ll need some practical experience. To help students enter this field, local business schools are incorporating practical experiences into their curricula.
MiM students at SMU can apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a final project or obtain work experience by working for a company. They could either do a full 20-week internship or combine the Consulting Practicum (SMU-X) with a 10 or 20-week internship.
4. AI investment
Singapore is the top global investment destination for AI and robotics, according to fDi Intelligence rankings.
Earlier this year, e-commerce giant Alibaba established an AI research center in the country, with a focus on natural language processing, cloud computing, and machine learning.
Salesforce, YITU, and Adatos AI have all hopped on board, choosing Singapore as their hub of operations for AI research.
Along with these behemoths, the country is home to a slew of AI startups, ranging from risk management platform ChasShield to healthcare optimization tool Ucare.ai.
As AI technologies advance, opportunities arise for clever graduates to use their business expertise to assist AI enterprises in leveraging new breakthroughs and growing.
5. Data
Singapore is a major data hub in Southeast Asia, with a data analytics sector worth at least $1 billion annually.By 2022, analytics services are expected to be worth $27 billion around the world.
In this context, firms require data scientists, analysts, and people who can display data.
This is where the nation’s business schools come in. Institutions such as SMU provide its students with the tools they need to incorporate data analytics into their decision-making processes.
Modules such as Consumer Analytics and Business Analytics & Quantitative Methods help students improve their data management skills.