I graduated with a degree in engineering (a line with less frequent jobs rather than the more popular engineering lines) with a really poor CGPA (less than 2.2). The university I graduated from wasn't a good one (one of the non-research government unis) and the lecturers were sub-standard, but I managed to pass all subjects eventually. My question now is are there any chances for me to make it to a reputable company with that degree alone? I have been called for a single interview so far (in 9 months of applying) by a Chinaman factory with a really poor working environment and I'm not willing to work in such a place. Would you recommend I do a master's degree instead and put in the effort to cover the CGPA blunder? Will that land me a better job at better companies?

YOu have two choices.
a) tough it ut at that Chinaman company, gain experience that will 'cover' your poor CGPA and then cabut to another company
b) do a master's degree to again, 'cover' your poor CGPA.

With sub standard result u still being choosy about work place? So yeah, you can work with best MNC in the world with your current cgpa

I expected as much. But the Chinaman factory will make me a general worker in all but name. I will be expected to do jobs that foreign workers in the factory do in dirty conditions while getting barked at by the management. I don't believe that place is going to do me any good. So I guess the best option is doing the master's.

Can't tell if you're obtuse or naive. I never said I wanted to work in some MNC. I wanted a work place with the decency to treat engineers as engineers, not general workers. Otherwise I don't have to do any degree to do the kind of job the Chinaman factory expects me to do. Any school dropout can probably become a labourer at these factories.

Well just stay in your world that engineers treated as engineers and wear nice clothing with shiny shoes and crunching numbers all day long. lol..

Are you confident enough to call yourself an engineer?

If yes, continue trying to find a great workplace who treats engineers as engineers, there may be companies which don't look at cgpa but quality skills.

If no, companies would not hire you as an engineer since you yourself aren't confident with your own abilities.

You can also spend time and money to get a master's degree, just be very sure it will end up better than your bachelors for it to be worth it.

TS,

You'll face technical difficulty (due to your low CGPA) when you start to work as engineer.
Very low chance to be called for interview too as the typical min CGPA is 3.00 for MNC.

Even if you're hired, you may be offered the lower scale of salary.

You can probably get into process/manufacturing but not R&D/design.

Honestly, I would advise you to try other job option, eg. Sales, insurance, etc.

Reason is I've seen low CGPA engineers struggling in their work, even for those with CGPA of 3.2 and above.
Unless you're really determine to correct/change that, but it'll be an uphill task, including competing with your peers for promotion.

Engineers are expected to be independent, skilled, resourceful and thoughtful in order to assess the risk to ensure no Quality & Safety issues to the product/production (depending on your field).

Yeah sure dude, I'll stay in the logical world where engineers are required to use their brains and you can stay in that world where engineers are equivalent to labourers who clean floors and machines. Topkek Why are you even here for? Are you offended that someone put down your beloved Chinamen, which explaisn your worthless advice? Wait, are you one of them who work there or run such a factory? Might I suggest Wuhan as a better option for the kind of engineering you're looking for instead of Malaysia? Roflmao....

If you are Electrical/Electronics related, just go for Huawei.
They don't technically discriminate CGPA, but look at your job attitude.

Have high chance you will be working on site installing and checking 2G/3G/4G/5G networks around the globe.
Salary RM 4k but Chinaman Company, and kinda hard become perm. Huawei Staff.

If you don't mind that. Huawei is actually quite a decent place to work.
Pantry got free unchilled drinks, snacks and cup noodles.

This post has been edited by iSean: Aug 1 2022, 11:16 PM

Thank you for the advice. Yes I'm pretty confident in my ability to manage engineering operations. The reason I didn't do well was because of the lousy university I was sent to by the government, despite passing their matriculation exam with flying colours. I couldn't afford private education at that time. I don't believe the CGPA reflects my actual value to the company at all. Also I intend to do a Master's degree in the same line but in a different university just so that I can prove my real performance in this line of engineering. I'm 99% sure I can pull through with a much better CGPA this time.

Engineer is a very loose term nowadays. Without your line/specialty, its hard to suggest anything.

And what kind of engineer are you targeting; sales engineer, project engineer, field engineer, operation engineer, design/rnd engineer, it engineer/programmer/developer?

Each role has different route that you can take depending on your aim.

I have been field engineer for almost 10 years, and many good field engineers that i met, often is not the brightest student in the class nor comes from a good uni.

What’s important for field engineer is being practical in applying the theory. And its very different with those guys in design team. They prefer brainy guys as part of the team.

So again, whats your line and whats your aim.

This post has been edited by viole: Aug 1 2022, 11:28 PM

Thank you for the advice. I'm pretty much aiming for process / manufacturing as a stepping stone (but with the job scope of an engineer of course). It doesn't matter if it's an MNC or not, so long as I can gain the relevant experience to push me higher on the ladder. I don't mind competing and proving myself if need be. In fact I'm certain I can do much better had I gone to a different, more reputable university than the one the government sent me to. I can't say I have much interest in sales or insurance right now. Also I feel like it would be a waste of my degree if I end up doing something that's not related to what I studied for all these years. However your tips and advice is duly noted.

Ah I see. That sounds like a great place to work at, though I'm not in the electrical/electronics line. Surprised to hear that they don't prioritize CGPA. Huawei is a huge company with operations in other countries. Good info, thanks.

you mean field team or design team that prefer brainy guys 🤔

Design team.

Just graduate attitude already like shit.

Most master programmes minimum requirement CGPA 2.5 and above. Instead of having a master title, I would suggest u to take some professional certificate course.
btw, am interested which uni u r from? hehe

What's wrong with engineers doing machine cleaning & floor cleaning once in a while? don't you think you can learn a thing or two in it since you are still fresh? Can't you see your tidak sedar diri attitude? dah la CGPA rendah, demand mahu kerja environment bagus la, wanted place where engineers treated better la..hello sir, your CV won't even be looked at when they see your CGPA first, you'll be lucky if they even flip to second page ffs.
What choice do you have? You either need to gain experience elsewhere, the harder route, in small to medium chinaman, melayuman, indiaman companies, perhaps you can boast in your future CV that you multi task and learn things by yourself in the process, by things i mean here looking at the bright side from the cleaning works, you learn about machine components, parts, how it works, you learn about what kind of chemical used, you takut kena bark by management, you learn abit about how to manage workers better, you OBSERVE how the factory is run. This is called learning.

but hey, your attitude already so obvious here kan..

If you still fail to upperstand, then go do masters la..be lecturer. that's where you can shine the most i guess, you won't get your hands dirty by doing so, you teach all day from the book.

This post has been edited by feekle: Aug 2 2022, 07:15 AM

as long you are Engineering background and domt mind career change. Huawei will still hire you.

i have many chemical/mechanical/mechatronics engineering classmates entered to Huawei and learn from scratch.

Hello there. Nice to meet you. Good tips. I don't actually have a particular job I'm aiming for currently. I have my eye on operations if I had to choose, though I'm not opposed to doing any of the other suitable roles. My original degree was in chemical eng. to be honest, but if the role requires me to specialize in something different I don't mind doing it either way. What would you say is the biggest challenge you face as a field engineer? Would you recommend the role to others?