Being in a technical line like engineering (most of them are in manufacturing line), you will be put in a department, learn all what you need in the department, be skillful in that, be expertise, be professional. But then you will not be able to learn about other departments' operation well, since those manufacturers are usually big companies. Yeah, you are an expert in your field then, but if you want to move on, you can only move to another company with about similar job function. For example, if you are in semiconductor field, no matter where you jump, you will still end up in semiconductor field. From Intel to Agilent, from Agilent, etc. And always will be in the same job as you did in your previous company. You will not be able (or very hard to) to bring your knowledge with you to start your own company. It's hard. What you get is very good pay as years go by, that's the best part of all. Starting pay is also high.

Being a management trainee, starting pay is little. But you will be put into departments for you to learn, so then you learn the operation and how a business works. Then, you will be able to catch up with better exposure, know more people, meet more people, build better network, better connection. Then you will be able to start your own business sooner when you see opportunities, and since you have good network and connection, that's better!

Lots of graduates, always follow the same route as others do. Graduate, get employed, get paid, that's it! I'm an EE student, most of my friends, they will only think of, working in Intel, working in Motorola, working in Agilent, Alterra, and all these after graduating.

What are your thoughts? Will I be wasting my professionalism if I take up management trainee?

there's no guarantee that you'll climb up the corporate ladder under management trainee. It might have a higher chance compared with engineering but still, no guarantee.

to climb up the ladder, u need to be outstanding. u need to play some political strategies, know ur upper management well. when i say upper, i mean the person higher than your immediate superior.

the reason you have problem working up in a factory engineering dept is there are too many engineers. especially comp such as intel. hence, you have less chances.

Own a company requires risk and connection, saying working as engineer dont give u any chances is not true. The same can be said as management trainee.

Go for what you feel comfortable with, play to your strength.

you must be careful when accepting the job as management trainee, many company use this title just as an excuse to pay you peanut, and you may end up doing exactly the same thing as an engineer.

With management trainees, you can have a few paths. Firstly yes you do get exposure when moving through the various departments but what you might fail to see is that they are moving you through these departments to find where you are most suited. So if you are stuck in some department, what is the difference if you are an engineer in another department as well?

Secondly with management trainees, you might not have the necessary qualifications to even make manager for certain departments. For example, if you are placed in the accounting department, they might not promote you due to your lack of qualification in the accounting field.

Of course not simply choose a Management Trainee job. For example, IBM's Graduate Trainee programme is a good one.

The main purpose for taking up Management Trainee is to allow myself to venture into my own business in the future.

again, that doesn't mean you can get into business easier than being an engineer is. to venture, u need observe, built up connection.

to me, i rather start as a engineer, take few years to make urself specialist in something, then later only try other sector.

How sure are you that this is good? Have you actually been in that position? I know for a fact that it is totally not a management trainee progression whereby you would be moved from one department to another. They will streamline your abilities via a series of tests and interviews before putting you in a department. And from there on you will start building your career there rather than going through the various departments.

Again becoming a management trainee does not teach you to be a businessman. You may learn one or two things but that depends again on which department you might end up in.

Just grab anything that appear infront of you.
if the 1st opportunity is engineer, then grab it and vice versa
unless both opportunity come together2
then u need to think
personal opinion. better go for engineer
cos u will facing real problem much quickly compare to management trainee
if u cant tahan the work pressure, then choosee mangement trainee