For me, it was more of a process of elimination. I realised that I was no longer interested in science subjects after studying them my whole schooling life. One of the few non-science subjects I was drawn to was Business, due to my liking for public speaking. However, I decided on Accounting instead as I wanted to graduate with both soft and hard skills that are vital for a successful long-term career.
When I went to the NUS Open House, I instantly knew that I wanted to stay at one of the residential colleges located at UTown. I would say this is the main reason why I chose NUS.
I was quite skeptical of NTU’s 3 year honours programme when choosing my university. The fact that all its students graduate with an honours made me wonder if it is trivialised in the outside world. Moreover, I heard that NTU is known for sending a large portion of its graduates to the Big 4 Auditing firms. I was not keen on restricting myself to Auditing and wanted to explore other areas of business such as banking, which I thought NUS would be able to provide. However, please do not take my word for it and do your research as most of this information is anecdotal.
On a side note, I have heard that SMU does well in setting its students up for Banking because of its connections to the Banking and Finance sector.
For students considering which school to go to, please consider practical factors like proximity to school, social life, how the school can help with your interests or hobbies and how good the school’s career office is.
There are some factors and facilities that are unique to certain schools, like NTU’s guaranteed hall system, NUS’ S/U system, NUS’ UTown, SMU’s vast network of business connections, SMU’s Interactive Pedagogy (where there will be a two-way transfer of information and will be dynamic), etc.
I would advise against making decisions based on university ranking as they are usually based on postgraduate research.
I’d like to advise everyone to stay in a hall, if possible, and contribute to it as well. This experience is great as you can befriend people from different faculties and build on your leadership skills. For example, I had the opportunity to be one of the leaders at my Residential College.
However, I would like to emphasize the importance of contributing to your hall. Do not aim to hit the minimum points for retention of your place. If you are merely looking to stay closer to the school, I would suggest you stay in the residential apartments instead.
Moreover, staying in a hall gives you the opportunity to meet seniors who might share their notes with you. In university, notes don’t come from online sources or a Ten-Year Series. Nor can they be bought at stores. They come from seniors. Hence, staying in a hall increases your chances of meeting such wonderful seniors. Don’t party too much though!
For more information on hall life at NUS, do take a look at my Reddit post!
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
NUS Business Curriculum
In summary, students from both Accounting and Business spend the first year taking foundational courses in the various specialisations, which are:
Accounting
Finance
Marketing
Leadership and Human Capital Management
Operations and Supply Chain Management
Business Analytics
Business Economics
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
From the second year onwards, students will start doing the prerequisites for the specialisations they intend to study in Year 3 and 4. Business students are allowed to specialise in up to 2 areas whereas Accounting students are allowed to specialise in one other area apart from Accounting.
6. What is the grading system like in Business school?
In Business school, class participation is very important as it constitutes a huge percentage of grades. This can be as high as 30% sometimes. In my opinion, it is very useful because it hones the students’ presentation and public speaking skills. These are skills that will eventually be used in the workforce as employers have been increasingly looking for employees who can share their ideas well and are willing to respectfully challenge their superiors. However, don’t worry too much if you don’t get the chance to accumulate class participation points. Professors usually take note and pick on the quieter ones closer to the end of the semester but the onus is still on you to make the most of this opportunity. Although they may try to help you out, it’s still on you to break out of your comfort zone and speak up.
Grading for the different modules vary. Some modules can be solely graded on projects whereas for others there may be a 50-50 split between projects and examinations. Moreover, the grading and structure of the modules can change with each professor.
7. Which module was the most interesting to you?
Some of the more interesting modules I took were from my Residential College Programme.
For example, there is a module on Superheroes where students spend a semester watching superhero movies.
8. Does your specialisation affect your employability?
I believe most people take specialisations to get a job in that specialisation. For example, if someone wanted to work at a bank, he/she would do finance. However, there are some who take specialisations based on their interests and others who take without giving it much thought and regret afterwards.
For example, some take accounting thinking that their mathematical capability complements the degree. However, they soon find out that they don’t find accounting interesting at all. Hence, that is why I would like the stress on the importance of reading course notes before you apply for a specialisation to see if it interests you.
There is a small window of opportunity for people to change their specialisation if they don’t like it. This only applies to those who have enough credits. If you have missed this window, don’t fret as there are still other options available. Some people take Leave of Absence to do year-long internships, which could be as value-adding as a specialisation in some cases.
9. What skills have you picked up from NUS Accounting?
Some useful skills I have picked up, apart from marketing, accounting and finance knowledge, are writing reports and making professional presentation slides. Apart from the hard skills listed above, I picked up valuable leadership skills from my time as one of the leaders of my Residential College and time management skills from juggling my extracurricular activities, projects and my personal social life.
The type of skills you pick up in school is entirely up to you. You need to step out of your comfort zone to learn skills that you don’t have. For example, I have friends who attend case competitions where they pick up essential analytical skills. These competitions also allow participants to network with employers. Others improve their coding and data analytics skills through external courses.
To conclude, apart from pursuing a good degree, you need to build your portfolio up as well. Many times, you might have to venture out of your school on your own to do community service and external courses. This is because employers have, time and again, proven that they look beyond grades.
“University is the time for you to experiment and make mistakes since you wouldn’t want to be making mistakes in the workforce.”
10. Will technology render Accounting students obsolete?
AI is indeed going to revolutionise the accounting industry but it won’t be as bad as people make it out to be. The use of technology is already prevalent in accounting today. Apart from the accounting software used by businesses universally, technology is also lightening the workload of auditors by aiding with random sampling and the reviewing of data. There is a trend of technology taking over the relatively simpler tasks in the accounting and auditing industry.
However, it must be noted that these simpler jobs were already at risk of obsolescence. Prior to the prevalence of technology that we see today, companies had already resorted to outsourcing work to less developed countries to reduce costs.
Instead of seeing technology as a menace to our society, we should embrace the efficiency it offers. We should move away from such laborious tasks and shift our focus towards areas that technology won’t be able to replace in the near future. Consulting is one of those areas where humans will always be required to communicate with various stakeholders and provide sound business advice through the analysis of accounting data. Moreover, accounting knowledge is needed to build these technological infrastructures in the first place. Hence, accountants will still be required to advise in this regard. NUS has acknowledged this need by adding compulsory coding and data analytics modules to the Accounting course. Hence, even though accounting students will have to adapt to the changes technology brings, this won’t render them obsolete.
11. How were your Accounting internships?
When I first started university, I only had to deal with fictional accounting problems. Hence, it seemed like I was merely working on mathematical problems. However, after my internships, I found out just how much practical work goes behind gathering the relevant numbers that we see on financial statements. Apart from gathering these values, accountants also need to make sure they are reliable and correct and this often involves asking clients if they have misplaced any receipts. Clients may take offence at this, which makes communicating with clients all the more nerve-racking.
I also learnt that companies may employ accounting methods that differ from accounting theory in order to accurately report the true value of their businesses.
More importantly, I got to work with my graduated seniors. They were able to advise me about the various companies, job prospects and viability of the various career paths. Internships were good opportunities to network and learn more about the industry.
“Audit Internships allowed me to apply what I had learnt in school and understand the problems faced by auditors when auditing companies’ accounts.”
12. How did you get your current job?
In Year 4, I chose to cut back on work because my GPA was more or less stable by then. Hence, I focused my efforts on applying for jobs. I prepared resumes, did online tests and online interviews with employers. I also regularly spoke to my career advisers who helped mould my portfolio to fit the banking sector. From what I have heard, the business school advisers are better than the general school ones as each adviser specialises in a particular industry.
“After I got my job offer, I got the chance to relax for the last semester.“
13. Why did you choose to go into banking?
When I first started university, I was keen on going into the accounting and taxation industry. However, after doing auditing and accounting internships, I soon realised that accounting wasn’t for me even though I enjoyed studying it in school. The internships made me realise how long the working hours are for auditing. At the same time, seniors told me how the job prospects and work-life balance for the banking industry was better than the accounting industry.
Ultimately, think of a degree as a certification of your ability to work hard under pressure and adapt. The things I do at my workplace weren’t taught at school but were picked up while on the job.
14. How do you think Accounting graduates fare against Business Graduates when it comes to employability in the finance sector?
In theory, accounting students have an advantage over business graduates because their accounting major allows them to understand numbers well. However, in the outside world, not everything is about majors and grades. For example, banks, from my own experience, tend to look for graduates who have built a good portfolio and have done banking internships prior to graduation. Better yet, some banks prefer students who have worked with them before. Hence, employability really depends on a multitude of factors and hence, it is hard to compare accounting graduates with business graduates.
“It all boils down to your ability to showcase why you’re employable.”
Moreover, nowadays, accounting students also have to compete with engineering students and computer science students for banking and finance jobs as well.
15. What are the more common jobs NUS Accounting students end up in?
Quite a huge portion end up in one of the Big 4 firms but I feel like the collective interest of students is slowly shifting away from Big 4 Auditing. Many people wish to branch out into other areas like consulting, marketing and banking.
16. Having graduated, what advice do you have for prospective university students?
Consider what interests and drives you! Don’t only consider which degree would make you the most money, which degree is the easiest or where your friends would be going. This is one of the key milestones in your life. Spend your time after ‘A’ Levels to do your research. Ask seniors and those who have walked the path!
I would like to advise all incoming accounting students to plan their modules wisely especially if you plan on joining an exchange programme. You can’t take accounting modules overseas because we need to adhere to the Singapore Accounting standards. With proper planning, you can make better use of the fact that grades are non-transferable by taking your harder modules overseas. Also, think about the career path you want to take and the skills required to enter and succeed in it. Plan accordingly!
Feel free to drop me a message if you have further questions!
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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