Welcome to the latest edition of ST HeadSTart, bringing you the best of The Straits Times’ career and personal finance coverage every Monday morning. Sign up here to get weekly tips right into your inbox.
Good morning.
The nature of internships is evolving and getting highly competitive. Interns, particularly those who are going through six- to 12-month internships, are being tasked with heavier workloads, with a growing number taking on responsibilities comparable with those of full-time staff, experts told journalist Tay Hong Yi.
What’s more, the selection process for coveted internships at some companies is getting more stressful, with interns now being put through multiple rounds of interviews and technical assessments.
The good news is you can make a valid argument to employers to consider your internship experience as legitimate work experience. This is because with a lengthier internship of six months or longer, you’re more likely to have taken on more responsibilities and demonstrated a positive impact.
Are you vying for an internship or applying for a job after one? Tell me more at headstart@sph.com.sg
Have you ever wondered how much people in your role and age group are earning, or what might be the fastest-growing jobs in the next five years? Do explore The Straits Times’ Singapore salary guide 2023 to get a better idea. You’ll also get more information on the key areas that are primed for growth and the soft skills that are now in demand.
Meanwhile, results from the annual Manpower Ministry occupational wage survey, released in mid-July, revealed that the median gross wage for librarians climbed to $6,269 per month, up more than 50 per cent from 2021. Here are other jobs in Singapore that saw over 50 per cent median wage growth last year.
Have a good week!
Singapore salary guide 2023: How much should you be paid?
Are you earning enough? See what the data says using The Straits Times’ salary guide.
Librarians, creative ad professionals among S’pore jobs with over 50% median wage growth in 2022
The median gross wage for librarians has climbed to $6,269 per month, with only creative advertising professionals, visual merchandisers and client account service executives seeing a higher percentage growth.
askST Jobs: Counting internship stints as part of work experience
Some interns are taking on responsibilities comparable with those of full-time staff and can make a valid argument to employers to consider their internship experience as legitimate work experience, experts said.
Platform workers are spending more than they earn; savings in ‘unhealthy range’: DBS study
Gig workers are spending more than what they are actually earning for the second year in a row, and thus have had to tap their savings to cover their expenditure needs, a DBS shows.
Me & My Money: Invest in projects you have expertise in
Mr John Sharp might not have passed up on the chance to make $70 million from a $500,000 investment eight years ago if he had used artificial intelligence to help him make investment decisions, like he does now.
The pitfalls of investing in private businesses
It can be risky investing in a privately held company if you are a minority shareholder, because your voting power and sway over management is limited, warns Invest editor Tan Ooi Boon.
Young people keen on creating content to get support from upcoming media hub by mm2 Asia and *Scape
The integrated media hub is slated to open in conjunction with the refresh of *Scape in 2024 and will support young people here in making it locally as well as abroad in the areas of film-making, social media and music.
Proposed anti-discrimination law sends clear signal in foggy world of workplace biases: Observers
However, issues in nailing down and punishing workplace bigotry remain, even with the new Workplace Fairness Legislation in place, as a reader points out.
Thank you for reading this week’s round-up of ST’s career and personal finance coverage. Have a great work week ahead.
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