Leaving the University

I wrote my last paper on Thursday. It effectively marks the end of the 4 years of my university life, the end of my formal education. There was no feelings of elation or being lost after the paper, which I had expected.

I cannot say with certainty that I will never go back to any path of formal education in my life. It's part of the requirement by the society sometimes.

But learning never stops. I will be continuing with my own informal learning. To date, I have already finished 7 books on various topics since the start of the year. I expect to be able to complete another 2 books by the end of next week. Yes, I do have a bit of time before I start the next phase of life.

As a commitment to learning, I will be starting a book fund for myself. A portion of my monthly pay will be filtered into this fund. It will be used to acquire useful books of interest over time.

Meanwhile, I foresee that my favourite haunt in the near future will be the library.

Some Oberservations

Since I embarked on the task of finding a meaningful career, I've been sending out resumes. As luck would have it, I am quite pleased with the hit rate, although I am sure other more qualified graduates would have companies hunting for them.

By the way, I applied to 2 companies which were related to my field of study in Chemical Engineering. Just in case things did not work out. I eventually chose one which was outside the field. Contract position nonetheless, some uncertainties to be dealt with here...as always. I'll deal with that in a later post.

I attribute the success to the state of the economy at the moment. Graduates just a few years ago would have tales of how hard it was to find a job, much less one which a person likes. I consider myself lucky to have done 2.5 years of compulsory military service which "delayed" my graduation.

Despite such optimistic outlook for new graduates, my observations seems to imply that it might be considerably more difficult for a graduate who has average results to find a job related to his field of study.

My argument is this. A good student (let's just define that based on the most traditional, but maybe inaccurate measure of Cummulative Average Point), by virtue of his stellar results, would have secured an internship with a well known oil major through the University's internship program. Based on their performance during the internship, they would most likely be offered a starting position in the industry.

Even if they aren't, it's ok. A lot of companies (not just the related ones) are wowed by their good results and will consider attracting them.

Let us now consider the case of the bad student. For the past 3 years, he knows that even though he has an interest in the subject, it is of little use since others seem to have a grasp of the topic much faster and can perform much better than him. Consequently, it led him to think that maybe it was pointless to chase after the grades. Instead, he focused on brushing up other capabilities. In the process, he decided that another field is more suitable for him. It goes without saying that he applied for jobs which are outside his degree. Hence, we assume that they are absorbed by other industries if they continue working at it.

Now, there's also an average student who decides that they still love the thing they are doing. These are the people with the perseverance and determination. They work hard and make sure that they get the grade they want. However, it's unfortunate that the good students always seem to shift them down the Bell Curve, making them...average.

In the end, the bigger companies will tend to choose the more competent people (i.e good students) and leave very few places for the average ones. So in that sense, it is more difficult for the average student to find a related job!

Of course, this is only my observation. By no means do I insist that they are correct. There are other cases which I have failed to consider. Internship experiences, C0-Curricular Activities and other assorted parameters such as personality traits all come into play. Maybe you have a different point of view? Share it!

Yes, I made a mistake

I admit that I made a mistake.

The last post suggest that I will not take up the offer. However, I did. Apparently, I am not an idiot.

All these thanks to a friend of mine. He reminded me that I should look at the offer as an entire package. Yes, I can be short-sighted at times. There's no reason why I should reject it besides the issue of remuneration (and that the HR personnel in charge made things considerably worse). But I take stand in my case that it is really below what is minimal for decent survival. That has since changed when I re-evaluated the components which I took into account.

I like the organisation. It gives me a good feel as compared to its "richer and more popular cousin" where I did an internship. My interaction with its people gave me some confidence about the working environment that I'll be in. They make me want to be part of them.

This is unlike one of the oil majors which came down to my university for a career talk last year. The moment I saw them and heard them speak, I vehemently objected to applying to it. I just didn't want to be part of them, unlike many other hopefuls. To be fair, I probably wouldn't qualify anyway.

Never mind that I won't be doing what I have learnt. I am confident that I can handle it when I start.

So, you are a graduate?

So, you are a fresh graduate?
And you expect the World to bow to you.
You think your certificate is worth more than its weight in gold?

Yes I will be graduating.
But never have I thought of making the World bow at my feet
Not even once did I believe that a certificate was a passport to a better life.

What do you mean you've studied Chemical Engineering?
We're looking for an equivalent in Real Estate or Economics!
What chance do you stand here among other candidates? What makes you so special?

It means just that - I underwent training for Chemical Engineers
Which is vaguely if at all related to land and houses, supply and demand.
I'm not sure about my chances - I never bother. Which is exactly why I'm unique.

Are you up to it?
What are you expecting?
Your degree classification and pay?

Of course I am.
I expect sweat and toil and nothing less.
I'm a 2nd lower, if you want to put a price on me.

What are your expectations?
Just say something to keep us entertained!
Don't you have a figure plucked out from the sky?

Based on my calculations.
And I am dead serious about the figure.
It should reach XX00 without a hitch!

A bargain, we must say!
Of course it is reasonable!
A suitable price for a suitable man!

Apparently, I've just become a statistic unknowingly. I am one of the graduates who are "unhappy" with their pay package. It never struck me that I'll ever belong to this group of people.