17 November 2018
For Singapore students, grades obtained at the GCE ‘O’ Level examinations still matter in the search for jobs, but employers are now looking at other ways of evaluating candidates.
A spokesman for the Public Service Division said that public service agencies consider past work experience, skills and credentials needed for the job. For fresh graduates, they also take into account participation in co-curricular activities and internships.
Academic grades have are a sore point in the job application process. Even if a candidate has obtained higher qualifications like bachelor’s or master’s degrees, human resource managers still ask for GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level results.
This is not an ideal situation.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced recently that from 2020, polytechnic graduates applying to Singapore’s local universities will not need to include their O-level results.
Universities are also beginning to rely less on O-level results, although they do continue to have subject-specific requirements.
For jobs in the civil service, applicants may be required to submit their O-level results along with other academic certifications, but the civil service does not use them in assessing the candidates.