Want to know the average salary for your position in Singapore? Here is the latest list of up-to-date, quality salary surveys according to salary levels and employment trends. Some of the best paying careers in Singapore are in the sectors such as medicine, management, finance, administrative, law, engineering and shipping sector.



To secure a senior executive position, candidates should ideally possess an postgraduate qualification from an internationally accredited universities, An MBA in Singapore or an Executive Master of Science program will be highly desirable to ensure excellent career options. Most established business schools in Singapore including INSEAD, Chicago and Baruch college, The City University of New York also offer excellent executive and career placement programs where major MNCs and agencies are invited to their networking sessions.

A brief list of best paying careers along with indicative monthly salaries is given below:

Doctors and Physician:

While specialized surgeons and neurosurgeons are the highest paid, general physicians and surgeons are paid less.

Specialized surgeon - $ 30,755

General Surgeon - $ 17,872

General Physician - $ 6,173

Managerial Posts:

The list below is indicative that may vary with experience and responsibility of job. A management qualification or MBA is desirable or compulsory for most positions.

Managing Director - $24,472

General Manager - $16,667

Company Director - $15,513

Operations Manager (Finance) - $9,808

Computer and Information System Manager - $8,930

Personnel/ Human Resource Manager - $8,420

Business Development Manager - $ 8,290

Marketing Manager - $8000

Advertising and Public Relations Manager - $7,533

Sales Manager - $7,100

Finance:

This was the most lucrative sector to work as per data released on 2008. Recession may have taken a hit but still it remains most lucrative sector to build a career.

Commodities and Futures Broker - $17,464

Foreign Exchange Dealer and Broker - $11,095

Fund Manager - $8,125

Budgeting and Financial Accounting Manager - $8,000

Personal Banker - $ 6,250

Financial Analyst - $6,000

Securities Dealer and Broker - $5,750

Actuary - $5,100

Credit Analyst - $4,631

Law:

Legal Service Manager - $12,318

Legal Officer - $9,790

Lawyer (Except advocate and solicitor) - $7,400

Engineering:

Engineers are not highly paid in Singapore. As a result, some shift to other career options with MBA and some go for sales.

Power Generation and Distribution Engineer - $7,848

Chemical Engineer (Petrochemical) - $7,547

Automation Engineer - $6,680

Instrumentation Engineer - $6,616

Marine Superintendent Engineer - $6,340

Aeronautical Engineer - $5,242

Production Engineer - $5,091

Civil Engineer - $4,746

Electrical Engineer - $ 4,665

Electronics Engineer - $4615

Shipping:

Career in shipping sector is well paid.

Ship-master - $8,671

Shipping Manager - $5,721

Naval Architect - $5,480

Ship rigger - $4,933

Others:

Producer/ Director of Commercials - $5,150

Market Research Analyst - $5,174

Sales Representative (Medical and pharmaceutical products) - $4,801

Flight Operations Officer - $4,801

The list above is prepared as per data provided by MoM (Ministry of Manpower) Government of Singapore in 2008. To generate the indicative monthly salary, the third-quartile monthly gross wages has been taken into account. Performance bonuses, profit sharing and stock options are not included in the indicative average monthly salary.

Top executives in MNC, accountants, lawyers, bankers took home more than $4 million (Iras year of Assessment 2007). Median income for top 8 earners in MNCs was $4.86 million per annum, for lawyers (mainly advocates and solicitors) it was $4.65m followed by bankers ($4.40m) and accountants ($4.40m).

While top doctors and architects make a lot of money, engineers continue to be underpaid with a mere $0.75/annum. As per survey by Singapore Medical Association, median monthly income for a doctor is $13,758. Average of top 4th and 5th earners is taken to calculate meridian income.