Hope to get some assistance and advice from the senior engineer. i had been offered as the project engineer in
1) main con M&E company contract based
2) sub contractor M&E company
1) FIREFIGHTING COMPANY
2) air cond company
3)lorry tanker fabrication factory such as the esso & shell lorry tanker

As i m quite dilemma which job to choose as the M&E future prospect seem like brighter than others. futhermore is the project engineer for main contractor tougher or dangerous than sub contractor.

Btw, what is the best job for a mechanical fellow as the path is too wide ?
thanks for the advice

This post has been edited by Lyagami: Jun 11 2011, 09:39 AM

i have a friend that working as a main contractor.. he said, main is more easy/relax than sub..

no, its not. my advice is better give a try at sub con first as the the first step before getting indulge with main con job

Main con if ur project managememt is good

my advice is if u wanna learn hw to mamage projects, go main con

thanks for the advice ! is it the sub con will do more hands-on job unlike main con just to supervise n test the progress only ? But the main con offered the contract based job for 2300 only is it sound good ?

When you say contract job, are you engaged as a private contractor for the main contractor? This is in malaysia right?

Im currently working as a private independent contractor for an Oil and gas firm so my job is within the mechanical engineering field, currently based in singapore but my job requires me to go overseas on projects for months at a time. Accommodations is provided for and i get paid in USD.

Before this, i was working for a sub-con whose client is now my main employer.

This post has been edited by crapp0: Jun 11 2011, 09:27 AM

yup is in malaysia but it is a japanese company kajima ! they build the jusso and most of the japanese factory in malaysia ! but i m not sure is it the private contractor as i m a fresh graduate !The contract worker doesn t enjoy any benefit from the company such as the bonus ?
As a conclusion is it worth to join them ?
otherwise join the sub con to specialize my skill ?

It depends on your contract but some contractors do get a bonus payout if they complete their project either within a certain allocated time or ahead of schedule.

I dont know about your industry but if your working as a independent private contractor, you can make alot more then a measly RM2300. I know guys who make that amount in one day.

as sub-con, u will learn lot of laws & regulations, design, drawings, tender doc, testing & commissioning, pikc up lot tech specs knowledge, handling people at site, coordination, A-Z, etc.

as main-con, just manage and taichi.

u will feel more umph after u learn all the tricks as sub-con then only join as main-con.

if the sub-con company is small, u may ask for more $ but more workloads. but as fresh grad, u learn more.

thanks for the information ! is it 2300 without yearly bonus sound like ridiculous ?

Why no bonus?

As they said that contract worker didnt qualified for the bonus

1) main con M&E company contract based (no technical background go work for main can u'll get ur ass kicked)
2) sub contractor M&E company (u'll hav better training but being a subcon its a tough life if u can endure it it'll b good)
1) FIREFIGHTING COMPANY (selling fire fighting equipment? or a contractor?)
2) air cond company (sales?design?r&D? contractor?manufacturer? wat department u joing? or u joing the cleaners to help air con company sweep floor?)
3)lorry tanker fabrication factory such as the esso & shell lorry tanker(imho too specialized next time susah cari makan)

not really, its niche. susah if u r into some deepshit n everyone in d insustry knows u. dat is deepshit

yup I also agreed with u ! As those sub contractor will focus more on the technical job! The job scope for the fire fighting n air cond are project engineer ! If work for the air cond company, I think it will involve some design job ! But I m wondering is there any design for the project engineer of the fire fighting company ?

I also think that the tanker fabrication Susah Cari makan as it is quite a niche market ! Sometime hard to define which is the best choice

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Added on June 13, 2011, 11:12 pmHaha is truth also

This post has been edited by Lyagami: Jun 13 2011, 11:12 PM

anyone here can give some advice or some guiding on "NETWORK DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER" ? the scope is
1)Work closely with M & E Consultants & Developers/Contractors on technical specs requirements
2)Closely monitor, review, analyse customers feedback and pro-actively extend appropriate pre & post technical sales solution actions

thx

This post has been edited by markie88: Jun 14 2011, 12:16 AM

to me working in construction line is tough and be prepared for long working hours..it can be working everyday without a rest day!

Btw is it worth to work for the long hour ?

It's very subjective,depend on the jobscope n also package they offer u.

how about the project engineer ?

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Added on June 18, 2011, 8:27 pmjust signed the offer letter with the firefighting company ! ==


This post has been edited by Lyagami: Jun 18 2011, 08:27 PM

u took the offer ?

In mechanical line , Airconditioning , Plumbing and fire fighting .... But when u join Airconditioning - u will learn plumbing and fire fighting since its the principle line.



If u join fire fighting u wont learn shit except the firefighting side. For a newbie like you, u should go into airconditioning and learn things. LEARN AND LEARN .


Later after u learn everything - then u start looking for job at better companies like hicom-construction , sime darby construction and other mechanical side.


Or better u can jump into consultant firm after a year / 2

Thanks for ur information, haiz I also agreed with u ! As the air cond company still pending for the job , I plan to take the firefighting
job 1st ! Please advice me is it the right way to accept the job

din apply for M&E consultant?

my result is a bit suck to apply for the consultant ^^
btw i heard that the consultant job is quite stress

do u like their scope??what the package they offering? i believe tis job aso require long working hour...jus my 2cent

will start the job by Monday ! They onli work 5 days compare to other company 5 n half days!

erm last time my ex-co aso work 5 days...but in fact i hv to work frm mon to sun...they give replacment hol n only can tk one day at a time..the rest replacement leave tat still remain will be reimburse 50% of the value! in short i work for them FOC a day a week!

Wa wat field u working for ? I just found out that I work for the Product distributor's project engineer instead of the sub contractor ! Omg

I work wit the main contractor!IMHO I think it's good to reli choose a job that u like else u will end up changing job!frankly speaking I change few job aledi n my opinion is dun go to civil line..vy long working hour n low benefit!i myself vy regret for changing job,hopefully i cab hang on in my new job!willing to learn n patient is da key!

wat is job scope b field u looking for ? So wat field u think have the future prospect ? actually I planning to look for air cond line ! Wat do u think please advice me

I'm solely frm aircond line previously!HVAC!butit reli depend on individual!sm ppl like civil too!to me HVAC is ok!but I'm no longer in HVAC..divert to gas line soon..nt sure whether I like it notBUt I hv to try toluv my job n hang on for few year!

Aircond wa no bad 1? I plan to switch there == I think got a lot of things to learn ! Where is the location u work subang ? How long have u work for air cond? Y dun u switch to consultant or main con as their they pay good salary for experienced ppl ! Wat is the job scope for ur next job gas pipe ?

hi TS, i would suggest you to work as air-cond contractor. You will be much more exposed to contract work, site work and technical stuff compare with working as main-con. However, you got to deal with high pressure and have long working hour. Usually, sub-con is the first who get the blame when problem occurs. There are pros and cons, give and take. The work nature of main-con is more on monitoring the work progress. Working as main-con is more relax and suitable for those with experience. When you gain experience, then only you join main-con. At the time, it is your turn to pressure the sub-con For your situation, the first few years down the road, you will gain less knowledge working as main-con. Anyway, my advice is just apply to M & E in construction. Civil might have different story. Hope my opinion will help.

Well, from da replies here, I would say most of these forumers r in da construction line. I'm da same as nicvoo, a mechanical based M&E consultant engineer. My advice, dun step foot into da field. Betta opt for oil and gas, shipping, or other higher paying fields.

What about girls? I am female, doing mechanical engineering degree.

Other than construction (I do have an interest in it unfortunately), O&G, shipping, palm oil plantation, manufacturing factories, automobile.. what other fields or options do I have?

Please roughly give me the idea then i will do researches on it on my own.

This post has been edited by Mooi: Aug 9 2011, 11:16 PM

wow this thread is still ongoing...erm I jus join hydraulic line..kinda like it...

yeah. This field is sucks. It pays the least among all the engineering fields. I has been a few years in this field. I am now wondering can I change to other field.

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Added on August 10, 2011, 11:30 amI am a mechanical guy. I always compare different mechanical fields. After a few years of working in construction line, I just can comment on three fields as below:

Construction - Unless your dad is the director of company, this will safeguards your prospect. Otherwise be prepared to get exploited to the maximum in most chinaman companies. Consultant engineer will do design in office with damn low pay(around RM2000, rarely get increment). Contractor will deal with high pressure and long working hour at site(need to work on weekend).

O & G - Working in MNC will have a very good prospect, high income and bonus. Unless you work with local supplier. They are mostly chinaman companies also.

Manufacturing Factory - The job scope is usually very specific yet routine. Mechanical people are usually assigned to handle the production line or maintenance of machine and facilities. Most of the factory is in niche market. Sometimes, you may find hard to find similar job in same field. This kind of work requires least traveling, thus might be boring. Normally, MNC in electronic field will have better prospect compare to other factories.

To anyone, please correct me if i am wrong. Thank you.

This post has been edited by josephlau7966: Aug 10 2011, 11:32 AM

I agree O&G has higher pay n prospect but that does not come easy...the pressure mayb more than in construction line...unless u got a good cable in that co...

I believe both fields have the same level of stress. How is the life working in Hydraulic field? Are you working with Hydraulic equipment supplier for manufacturing field? I guess it is a niche market.

yes niche market and less competition..so far i still love my job and still hv urge to go work every morning with smiling face.can learn a lot of technical here and project management lor...

Sorry guys.. being in a niche market is supposedly good or bad?

The pro and con I can only think of now -
Pro: focus on the specific knowledge and master better??
Con: harder to find jobs???

This post has been edited by Mooi: Aug 10 2011, 12:34 PM

I believe there are cons more than pros. When the boss knows that you got no other company can work for, they might take advantage on you. For example, give you minimum increment or even none at all. I witnessed this before.

Hmmm I see..

not necessarily..doesn't mean u work in niche industry you can't find other industry job...i seen many ppl change industry and i believe decision making & leadership is more important than technical skill!

anyway there always two perspective..and it depends on the individual..

beside job i think the company future prospect and the relationship among the colleague is quite important ! For me i m working in the M&E trading company although it doesn't stress as those contractor but the job isn't that easy

Ok, u wanna noe wat I think bout engineering, I'll explain.

Construction, be it developer, consultants or contractor, if u r not da boss, u'll Neva be comfortable with da pay. Contractor, u'll think of all those unscrupulous ways to save money. Developer will think of all ways to squeeze da contractors. Consultant, well u r in da middle. Consultancy is onli good when u work in overseas where u get respected da way they respect doctors, lawyers.

Manufacturing, starting pay is good, but after dat growth is slow.

Oil and gas, once in a while need to go offshore and smell petroleum lo.

Other fields are shipping, engineers can too enter da finance line actually.

Construction is so saturated mainly because of the klcc boom which tempted everyone to enter this industry. After da 97 recession, most ppl r kinda stuck in da field till now.

IF you are damn good, then you will never loose jobs, I have a friend who is doing great in a niche market. on saving energy in Chiller system.. think about it....

Yeah, i think the same bro...I am going to change my job soon, from project engineer (contractor for TNB, mainly in automation), to field service engineer (doing filtration and purification) doing filter for water, gas etc2. Even in niche market, the basic of engineering still apply. I ve asked my soon to be boss about the job, and he said that what i know now (mainly control & automation) is just a piece of their whole system that comprise of instruments, and also mechanical. Even if you want to jump to new job, the knowledge that you learn in the current company, even the market is small,still applies to other engineering field. I think its no harm in entering a job with niche market, as long as u want to learn.

By the way, being PE has given me a lot of knowledge in project handling and boast up my CV a lot..haha...i've been to 2 interview lately, and got both of the job. Had to reject 1, as the other offers much more competitive package, and last month also theres this 2 company calling me for an interview, and i had to decline as i have accepted another job. Btw, so far i had jump to 3 main diffrent industry, telco,aviation, and power..and its all related to other..

Regards,

the starting pay is high for manufacturing especially semi-con. but if every 10-year the econ downturn cycle comes, then the salary will be cut or VSS. very difficult to secure job when econ downturn. unless one is very specialize and high demand his/her skills (R&D an example, mostly the last dept to ask to leave).

u still can change from construction. i am an example after 3 years plus sinking myself into it.
the construction experience & knowledge is very useful when switch to certain fields.

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Added on August 12, 2011, 8:28 amfor ladies can try QA/QC job & become internal auditor and progressively into lead auditor in ISO.

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Added on August 12, 2011, 8:33 ammain-con if one is their bond graduate and work for them no issues most of the time. they will provide you a mentor and give certain period of time for you to learn and rotate based in their site project locations. be humble & nice to sub-con/vendors so can learn from them too to create win-win situation for both parties.

tanker fabrication better learn their welding & inspection tech spec & work scope. there is a possibility to explore into welding & inspection in fabrication line.



This post has been edited by ch_teo: Aug 12 2011, 08:33 AM

Auditor? The first thing that comes to my mind is accountancy. Is that possible?

Anyway, thanks for the heads up! I will do homework - looking up infos etc on it

start from ISO 9001 as internal quality auditor (IQA) the most basic ISO system for manufacturing company. they may be certified or may not. but most MNCs will have this certification.

this technical engineering auditing is not related to finance. got clause 1 to 8. most of the time just audit or being audited clause 4-8 of a manufacturing flow process. lot of ladies involve in ISO auditing line, QA/QC. can try also Six Sigma.
CQE (certified quality engineer) is not as high demand as IRCA.

if possible, you may also sideline to NDT & welding.

you may also sideline to HSE (health, safety & environment)/ DOSH.

most of the ladies will just Q only as what i understand at oil & gas industry/manufacturing.

best combination is QHSE.
combination of ISO 9001 + ISO 14000/OHSAS 18000 as lead assessor (IRCA), then one's value is very high demand.

there is also API auditor/3rd party inspector.

hope the above helps. start from the most basic ISO 9001: 2008, current revision. or start as QA/QC role function.
there are certain links embedded at the above certain nomenclature.

This post has been edited by ch_teo: Aug 12 2011, 01:17 PM

ch_teo, you have just made my life easier. *gives you a big wet e-kiss*

If there's anything I don't understand, I will further ask about it.

At the mean time, thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!

I find Q&A boring..lots of documentation..

To me, its worth to give it a thought anyway.

Wanting to figure out what I want then plan ahead before I graduate.

One the side note: I am good at report writing etc (maybe that will be a plus point hmm)

This post has been edited by Mooi: Aug 12 2011, 01:37 PM

then u can try QA lor....