By Cassandra Chew

THIS time last year, many graduating Singaporeans in the United States would have found jobs, be shopping for suits, and be preparing to move from student digs to apartments in big cities.

It was common for those from the top schools to snag job offers in August at the end of their summer internships with investment banks such as Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley.

This year, many like New York University (NYU) mathematics and economics graduate Kenneth Kwok, 25, who finished his studies last December, are contemplating coming home.

Hardest hit among the estimated 4,000 Singaporean students in the US are those hoping for jobs in finance. Full-time recruiting season this year began just as markets tanked in September.

Discouraged by the difficulties faced by his peers in snaring even a first-round interview, Mr Kwok plans to return to Singapore next month.

'There isn't anything left for me here. There's no way I'm going to get a job because the banks are saving jobs for the locals,' he said.

Others like University of Virginia (UVA) finance and management student Cheryl Kong, 22, are drastically levelling down expectations. The 3.8 grade point average student sent out more than 40 applications, but heard from only a few employers. She grabbed the first offer she got two weeks ago in corporate banking, which pays US$60,000 (S$89,400) a year, even though she was hoping for an investment banking job.

'My seniors easily got 20 job interviews last year. But the big banks aren't hiring today. Those that are hiring shortlist 10 interviewees out of hundreds of applicants, only to offer one position,' she said.

To add to her woes, many US companies are shying away from hiring foreign nationals because of the added costs of sponsoring a work visa, which can run up to more than US$3,000.

Ms Patricia Rose, a career services director at University of Pennsylvania, noted that with fewer jobs available, companies prefer to avoid the hassle and hire locals instead. Some banks and finance institutions have stopped on-campus recruiting altogether.

She added: 'It is a bit too soon to know how slow this recruiting season will be, but it is going to be the level of the years starting 2000 when we had a recession and 9/11.'

CNN reported on Wednesday that an estimated 200,000 jobs were lost in the US last month. So, many newly minted graduates are pinning their hopes on the Asia-Pacific region, reasoning that there is greater growth potential there.

The latest Contact Singapore finance career fair held last month at the Marriott Marquis in New York saw a surge in the number of people attending. The annual fair is open to anyone interested in working in Singapore.

New York-based trader Pan Yongchuan, 26, who was there, observed that the event was packed with college students rushing to impress recruiters, and a handful of mid-level bankers who had lost their jobs in the crisis.

Instead of heading straight to the buffet table to load up on free char kway teow, many Singaporeans stood in snaking queues to ask recruiters about the state of the Singapore economy and opportunities available in the country.

Of course, as in previous years, most top-scoring students from the best business schools like University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and UVA's McIntire School of Commerce secured jobs upon graduation.

But few feel at ease. Final-year UVA student Ng Yi Xian, 23, who has an investment banking job offer in the bag, said: 'I'm not expecting a bed of roses. I wouldn't be surprised either if this offer is later retracted.'

Starting packages are also no longer as fancy as before. Last year, fresh hires at investment banks could command an annual base pay of about US$65,000, not including yearly bonuses of 150 per cent of base pay, sign-on and relocation bonuses of about US$10,000.

This year's graduates are offered a similar pay, but minus the relocation and other bonuses, take it or leave it.

Taking heed of the dire straits out there, their Singaporean juniors are doing whatever they can to better their odds at landing increasingly scarce jobs.

Third-year Columbia University student Tan Kay Wee, 23, is extending his studies and pushing back his May graduation to December next year. The economics operations research major wanted to have one more summer internship to try out consulting. He has so far completed two internships in finance.

'With things going the way they are in the financial markets, I thought I might as well go ahead and find out what else I'm good at because you must like a job in order to perform well,' he said.

Other third-year Singaporean students are desperately looking for unpaid internships during the school semester to beef up their resumes.

NYU executive director for career development, Ms Trudy Steinfeld, said students are doing the right thing by choosing classes and internships that give them more relevant skills, and tapping all available networks.

'You never know where jobs come from because many are not advertised, but the right person could be your connection to a job,' she said.

In spite of his efforts, Mr Tan said it was difficult to remain hopeful. 'The job market is going to get worse. I just have to do my best and see what comes.'

casschew@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 8 Nov, 2008.