August 30, 2008

A*STAR pays its scholars to refer others to them

indentured said

Starting 1 Aug 2008, AGS and NSS scholars who refer their colleagues/friends/peers/relatives to A*STAR’s graduate scholarship programmes will receive a one time referral fee of S$500, if the referred candidate successfully secures an A*STAR scholarship

Are scholarships sacred contracts with the Nation?

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Submitted by Anonymous Coward on August 28//9:41pm and published by tinkertailor, Agagooga :: add new comment | 1341 reads | trackback
Comments 7

500 dollars?

Refer someone to barclays capital and you get 5000.

Credit Suisse i think 1000 to 2000.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 31 August, 2008 - 9:31pm

Incentives for referrals are common practice. And yes, the referral incentive itself seems low compared to market practice, but one must remember that this is not referring an actual job candidate who will contribute immediately, but a scholarship recipient who won't be contributing to the organisation for many years to come. So I can see why the referral fee would be lower.

However, what I don't understand is why the referral scheme is only open to present A*STAR Scholars. So if the clerk in A*STAR were to refer his relative/friend/etc who then successfully gets a scholarship, there is no referral incentive?

Don't you think a staff member who recommends a relative / friend / etc. is in a position of conflict ?

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 1 September, 2008 - 12:04pm

my dear...this is a common trend in the financial services sector

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 2 September, 2008 - 9:07am

Haha now A*STAR also runs like a MLM.

Having such a referal scheme shows that they have a huge demand for A*STAR scholars not met. What happened man? Is it because students here don't refer research as a career anymore? I think that's the question we should be asking - what motivated them to introduce such a scheme?

Referral fees are a common practice in the corporate world to attract talents, cos word of mouth is supposed to be the best marketing channel. However, scholarships are supposed to be a natural magnet and it has its distinct "halo" on it, that it should naturally attract people (with good academic and CCA's) So I wonder why they need this extra push??

Because no one is interested.

Posted by Anonymous Coward 2.0* on 3 September, 2008 - 9:03pm

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