Firstly, thanks dear Let, for the iPhone, love it!
Thanks to my parents, for upgrading my phone plan (dad) and celebrating with a good meal at Zi Char (mum and dad). Also thanks to my brother for being precisely on time to call me and wish me on 25th April 0000 hours haha...thanks to sis for her present.
Thanks Ron and ZR, for the nice Goldlion wallet
Thanks too, to all who wished me, via word of mouth, phonecalls, SMSes and Facebook.
Had a great birthday, thanks all!
Now to graduate >.>
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
NTU Maritime Studies...DUMPING GROUND?!
Just got a major gripe here...
I was looking through this site that I usually visit, and I saw that it had a new article, titled Graduate Employment Survey 2009.
Looking through it, I noticed that my course, Maritime Studies, was in the list, as a 'dumping grounds' course! Wow...I'm speechless. For one, the term 'dumping grounds' is just is a little too harsh, no? For another, I didn't realise how lowly Maritime Studies graduates have descended on the pay ladder...
Judging from my friends in the course who have gotten job offers, the number sounds alright, roughly 2.5 to highest 2.8-2.9. That's of course before I saw this article. After reading through, I have to say that we Maritime students have been living under a rock...Thriving in our own world, happy with our own salary prospects, completely oblivious to the outside situation...
I even heard an offer of 2.2k from a friend, and I was cringing at the figure...What's more, alot of shipping positions, though they do prefer maritime students, are actually open to ALL faculties. So someone from, say, chemical engineering can just compete with us for our jobs. All he/she will need is just a learning period of a few months on the job training. That sucks!
So...
1) Maritime degree is so general, that it offers very little value over other more specialised degrees
2) Maritime positions are so lowly paid...
Yet we still contend with it...why?
And the reason why I took this course was the good prospects, or so I thought. It is looking more and more dreary as time goes on...and quite a few of my classmates have yet to find jobs. We are headed for hell it seems. Future ain't too bright, prospects ain't too great, industry looks stagnant(hell, its so volatile that every financial crisis will bring the sector to its knees, and it is also the last to recover!!)
Only redeeming factor might be chartering/brokering fields, where there is good money to be made, if you're interested in those fields. Take note though, charterers/broker are usually worked into the ground for the 1st few years-totally no work life balance at all.
Now that I've gotten it off, I can go sleep...All the best, dumping grounds graduates!
I was looking through this site that I usually visit, and I saw that it had a new article, titled Graduate Employment Survey 2009.
Looking through it, I noticed that my course, Maritime Studies, was in the list, as a 'dumping grounds' course! Wow...I'm speechless. For one, the term 'dumping grounds' is just is a little too harsh, no? For another, I didn't realise how lowly Maritime Studies graduates have descended on the pay ladder...
Judging from my friends in the course who have gotten job offers, the number sounds alright, roughly 2.5 to highest 2.8-2.9. That's of course before I saw this article. After reading through, I have to say that we Maritime students have been living under a rock...Thriving in our own world, happy with our own salary prospects, completely oblivious to the outside situation...
I even heard an offer of 2.2k from a friend, and I was cringing at the figure...What's more, alot of shipping positions, though they do prefer maritime students, are actually open to ALL faculties. So someone from, say, chemical engineering can just compete with us for our jobs. All he/she will need is just a learning period of a few months on the job training. That sucks!
So...
1) Maritime degree is so general, that it offers very little value over other more specialised degrees
2) Maritime positions are so lowly paid...
Yet we still contend with it...why?
And the reason why I took this course was the good prospects, or so I thought. It is looking more and more dreary as time goes on...and quite a few of my classmates have yet to find jobs. We are headed for hell it seems. Future ain't too bright, prospects ain't too great, industry looks stagnant(hell, its so volatile that every financial crisis will bring the sector to its knees, and it is also the last to recover!!)
Only redeeming factor might be chartering/brokering fields, where there is good money to be made, if you're interested in those fields. Take note though, charterers/broker are usually worked into the ground for the 1st few years-totally no work life balance at all.
Now that I've gotten it off, I can go sleep...All the best, dumping grounds graduates!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
It's all about jobs and FYP these days...
Wow, time really flies..I'm sure we can all attest to that.
Its already our last sem in NTU, the 4 years just flew past. What happened to the inbetween? Well...poofed in the blink of an eye of course. So...cherish whatever time you have!
Graduating soon, and these days, all the conversations go as follows...
"Hey...so have u found a job?" "Nah, kena rejected by that company..." "Aww too bad, I'm going interview later heh"
"Hey, how's FYP coming along?" "Nah, not too well, got alot of corrections, and content not strong" "Aww too bad, mine is crap too, gotta do it up, but so lazy!"
Sounds familiar? Of course it does, that is really all we can talk about these days. Given the flurry in job hunting and resume bombardment, coupled with the ever looming threat of FYP over our shoulders, it will be hard pressed to find something else to talk about.
It's all gonna end soon, thats a consolation, except for unlucky people who still can't secure a job by graduation. For them, I can only guess their pains and anxiety...Being left out of the job hunting rat race, I sometimes wonder how well I would have fared, and which companies would have given me a chance. How would I perform at the interviews? How many resumes would I have to send out? The trepidation of checking my email and spotting an email from a company I tried some time ago...The elations of securing a good job. All these feelings I can only imagine.
That is why I have to work even harder to break even in my career as compared to a fresh grad. And boy I would! However, all these is before I even step inside, so its very hard to say now. However, the biggest lure would be the autonomy to work, and rewards being linked to effort makes it sweeter. No work, no pay. More effort conversely translates to more reward heh (usually, not always) .
Good luck to the graduating maritime studies class of 2010. Find a good job soon, do well in FYP, get the final FINAL exams over and done with, and all the best in life!
Its already our last sem in NTU, the 4 years just flew past. What happened to the inbetween? Well...poofed in the blink of an eye of course. So...cherish whatever time you have!
Graduating soon, and these days, all the conversations go as follows...
"Hey...so have u found a job?" "Nah, kena rejected by that company..." "Aww too bad, I'm going interview later heh"
"Hey, how's FYP coming along?" "Nah, not too well, got alot of corrections, and content not strong" "Aww too bad, mine is crap too, gotta do it up, but so lazy!"
Sounds familiar? Of course it does, that is really all we can talk about these days. Given the flurry in job hunting and resume bombardment, coupled with the ever looming threat of FYP over our shoulders, it will be hard pressed to find something else to talk about.
It's all gonna end soon, thats a consolation, except for unlucky people who still can't secure a job by graduation. For them, I can only guess their pains and anxiety...Being left out of the job hunting rat race, I sometimes wonder how well I would have fared, and which companies would have given me a chance. How would I perform at the interviews? How many resumes would I have to send out? The trepidation of checking my email and spotting an email from a company I tried some time ago...The elations of securing a good job. All these feelings I can only imagine.
That is why I have to work even harder to break even in my career as compared to a fresh grad. And boy I would! However, all these is before I even step inside, so its very hard to say now. However, the biggest lure would be the autonomy to work, and rewards being linked to effort makes it sweeter. No work, no pay. More effort conversely translates to more reward heh (usually, not always) .
Good luck to the graduating maritime studies class of 2010. Find a good job soon, do well in FYP, get the final FINAL exams over and done with, and all the best in life!
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