Hi guys.

I'm currently doing my master in full research mode and probably in my final semester. Now I'm writing and correcting my thesis only, and if everything goes smoothly, my viva will be on Jun or July. I'm curious as to when is the suitable time to start applying for jobs. Some of my seniors said that for research master student, don't get your hopes high if you are still not done with your viva yet. I wonder how true is this?

If possible, I want to secure a job months before my viva, just like final semester undergraduate student. Will companies accept master student in my situation?

Thanks! It really help a lots!

Do well in what you are assigned is probably the best way.

Do ask your manager/ supervisor/ head of department if there is any chance you can come back just to express your interest in working for them after graduation so that whenever there is vacancy/ opportunities, it will remind them of your interest

I have two job offers from companies in different industries. Both of the offers seem pretty good, so how do I make an informed decision? I have asked around the jobs and careers forum about the companies which I will be working at or even the post that I will be given but I did not get any feedback.

What if after you have worked for a few weeks/months and then better offer knocks your door from other companies? Is it good to switch or to stay? This is dilemma speaking. Thanks for the reply, guys.

I'd jump companies, no joke.

Most likely the title of the thread is the name of the company. People who start a thread using company's name does not attract interest because people who had no info to give on that company will just skip your thread as they had nothing to offer.

If it is not too late you can post the comparisons here.

I just searched for the topics that were already there and posted in them, but you are right.

I am currently going through another offer process so once I have all the facts, then I'll update you on that.

For now, I'd just like to know of how you think the different industries will perform in 10 years time and the responsibility and skill set developed by the position listed in the parentheses. They are semi conductor (design & testing), telco (management trainee) and oil and gas (engineering trainee).

You think I have a crystal ball to see the future or something? Fortunately I do have one. I had a glimpse into the future and this is what I saw.

Semiconductor is not likely to change in the years to come. It is all about getting double capacity for a given size or cutting size to half while maintaining capacity. Skill set for design and testing this remains the same.

Telco was faced with a saturated market. Even now everyone owns a mobile phone already. The competition pushed some smaller players out of the playing field. My crystal ball did not show clearly which telco die or survived. Good Management Trainees at telcos managed to find jobs elsewhere as management jobs fit all industries. The pay is not fantastic as this is a very general skill.

Oil & Gas industry started to face their sunset as the oil wells dried up. O&G players foresaw this day and had long diverted their business into other areas. Those high paying technical experts starts to switch profession as the demand for their services fades gradually.

Unfortunately, I must warn you that my crystal ball is not always accurate

This post has been edited by faceless: Apr 30 2012, 08:59 AM

Can you ask your crystal ball the following questions?

1. It says that the smaller players were forced out, but now we have three more companies (Yes, U-mobile, Tune Talk) to complement the three that were dominating before (Celcom, Maxis, Digi). Any comment on this?

2. Why would OnG companies hire engineers if their wells are drying up? I made a topic about a future in the oil and gas industry as I was admittedly ignorant on the quantity of oil left in the earth and the general consensus was that the supply would not run out in our lifetime.

I noted that you claimed the crystal ball wasnt always accurate but it is spot on on the comment regarding the semiconductor industry where the challenge is to make something smaller and lightweight but maintain a sensible sense of performance.

The more you look at crystal balls the more inaccurate it becomes. So, you need to apply your own analysis.

1) No comments. Perhaps you should look at history now. It is all a question of how well connected a company is and its political interest.

2) The amount of equipment and R&D invested in O&G is nothing compared to the wages of engineers. Until a better source of energy is found why lay the existing facilities to waste? Would it not make better to sense to continue with it and make a switch when the alternative becomes available? By the way did you know when and why petrol station started integrating a convenience store into this operation?

3) Look into history again. The time of diodes and transistors was short live due to its inefficiencies. When the super efficient chips came it stayed much longer. It seems to me that instead of thinking out a better solution people are more inclined to develop and improve the existing.

Not a clue, was the purpose to gain side income?

It was develop in the mid 90s. At that moment they calculated that oil will run dry by 2050. One company tried to look at supermarket business as an alternative to diversified their business into. So they figured they can start off as convenience store in their own kiosk. Others just followed.

Youre talking on a global scale right, not only the companies here in Malaysia?

I dont know how generous they were in assuming that the oil would run out by 2050, but I'll be probably be retired by then so I gather that this works out nicely for me. Too bad I wouldnt be getting any post employment support though.

Sorry just saw the guide, really comprehensive. Kudos to thread master. However, when given chance to ask question, you can generously ask the human resource exec that the range or ideal figure for the job so you can see things much clear.
Expected salary is has a huge weight into job offers where lower range salary indicates you have poor self confidence, and over max salary range will make you look over confidence. But be assured, when you ask the salary question, don't ask them when they inquire about your expected salary.
Rather than watching fully saturated industry, I think you should look at the job as well.

In my opinion, oil and gas industry still have quite long to go. If I recall accurately, I read early this year that Australia coast has been found for quite massive amount of oil. Onto calculation, assuming are 20 years old by now(which I sure you're not). Even if 2050 where oil depleted, you're already at the age of 50. Which in few years, if no harm, you should be retiring. Of course, in the long run you have to take count of financial saving and how well you manage your extras into investment.

Management trainees can be successful but requires you to stay for more than 3 years. Telcos competition might be tense but rest assured your personal technical skills more important. Example: as a HR manager of xx telco, you can switch to non telco companies. Most telco companies are linked with IT so its still a very broad field

will an university's reputation will affect employment?

Hi guys, I just got an offer to work in a company back in malaysia.

However this company's offer letter lack some information.. Like working hours. I only did internship before in hsbc and all these simple details are provided.

Just wondering, is it normal to not have working hours details provided in the offer letter?

nice sharing thanks

It's been 2 years since my convocation, recently my interviewers request for my transcript and asked each for detail of the IT subjects in my transcript ... the last programming that I've done using JAVA is in year 2008, and they asked me a detail about JAVA programming

wai la ... this is too cruel ..

This post has been edited by Irzani: May 29 2012, 07:44 PM

Is it possible to only read the contract first and delay the process of signing the contract? The reason is you need the time to reconsider the clauses ... perhaps a few days?

Years ago I only skim through the contract pages and just signed .. but after read a lot of topics about the contracts abuses here, I'm quite scared

Or what is the best practices to deal with a contract?

This post has been edited by Irzani: Jun 8 2012, 02:42 PM