According to results of the annual Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey, fresh university graduates from SMU, NUS, NTU and SUSS earned a higher starting pay last year, with those in the information technology (IT) sector posting the highest rates for full-time permanent jobs. Half of the graduates from SMU who had job offers before finishing school received them through internships. SMU School of Information Systems graduate Tay Jing Ying said her two internships enabled her to “explore different industries and gain global exposure”. She secured her second internship with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where she is currently employed as a technology analyst. She added that apart from the technical knowledge gained, the curriculum has boosted her analytical thinking, resilience and interpersonal skills, which are crucial in the real world. SMU was the first university in Singapore to make internships compulsory for all students.