Traineeships a mixed bag of experiences for graduates

Several recent university graduates spoke of their experience related to the SGUnited Traineeships Programme. One of them is Mr S. Tan, 25, a psychology graduate from NTU, who wonders if companies are holding back on full-time job offers to take advantage of the traineeships programme. Mr Tan said that after spending three months from last May as an intern in a design company, he was promised a permanent job with a starting pay of $3,000 a month. But after the programme was rolled out in June last year, the company offered him a trainee position instead, even though it had yet to receive approval to participate in the programme. “Only after the company failed to get approval to take in trainees did they offer me a permanent job, much to my relief. They tried to cut my salary to $2,500 to match that of a trainee’s pay, so I negotiated with them. While my salary was increased to $2,800, which I’m thankful for, it was not restored to the amount that was promised in the beginning,” said Mr Tan, who is still with the firm.