Advice needed for Ivy-L Grad down on his luck.

Originally Posted by Flyinghome

Btw I just got an email from my professor that I have passed my Six Sigma Black Belt Certification. Am pretty happy about this.

Is that some kind of ninja warrior award?

Its a corporate Ninja Warrior certificate made by motorola.
Six Sigma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Its like a CFA for engineers.

Originally Posted by Flyinghome

What should I be doing now? If I enter and finish a Management Trainee program, with the intention of leaving for a different company/role when I'm done is it a good idea? Does just having a Management Trainee program without further experience look ok on your resume? Is accepting a pay grade of 3300 going to dictate my further earnings forever?

Please advise.

I think no one really answered your questions. So i am going to try.

Qns : If I enter and finish a Management Trainee program, with the intention of leaving for a different company/role when I'm done is it a good idea? Does just having a Management Trainee program without further experience look ok on your resume?

Ans : You seem rather clear that you want to leave the job even before accepting it. From what you said, i sense the reason is due to pay (because it cant be other things like job prospect, working condition etc since you havent started work yet)

If this is so,it means you do have an acceptable pay figure in your mind. Ask yourself honestly if you believe that you can get a company to pay you that salary in this job market. If yes, then go for it with the idea that you are pursing a dream.. You never know unless you try and try again.

The otherside of the coin is, give yourself a clear deadline, with clear goals on how you plan to execute this dream. Like any other business venture you will encounter in the future, you need to know when things are going off track. If the conditions and signs are all pointing the otherway, you must move on from your dream and accept the situtation. It is not about giving up, it is about knowing how to recognise the situation and making the best of it.

Qns : Is accepting a pay grade of 3300 going to dictate my further earnings forever?

Ans : Of course not. But to double it in 2 years will also be unrealistic in terms of expectations. In good years, most companies only give 6-9% pay increment. Promotions are double digits. You do the maths and see if this is something you can live with.

Beyond pay, there are many things you may want to consider in your job. I am going to list a few
1. Time out to do other things : eg grow your non employment money , spend time wih love ones , sports, interest
2. Working conditions - learning opportunities, colleagues , culture,
boss expectations
3. Family support and personal needs - Do you need to support anyone in the near future in terms of $, time, emotional support ?

These are things that make a person work for a living. Not only a pay check.


Qns : What should I be doing now?

Ans : Finally, i sense you are young. On my part, i understand that as well and often wish i can be like some of my peers who are earning out of the world salaries and seeming to have to it all. But i now ask myself why should i be comparing myself to them. Why not compare myself to the others in the world that are worse than me ? Isnt it really just pride/ego that is driving me to want to be on the top of the world.

Having an IL education means you are already separated from the vast majority and are achieving dreams that others cannot imagine.

You asked what you should be doing now.

I challenge you to use your education and dreams to decide the path you want your life to be. No one is ever going to answer you this question better than yourself.

To come and think of it, of my so many friends, only 1 i know earns out of the world salary. I won't want to state anything here as I will be accused of lying, exaggerating, etc..

But he did bought a prime location condo within 2 years of working. The rest of us looking at HDBs...zzz.

wow.. did your friend go to an ivy league school and what is he working as?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

wow.. did your friend go to an ivy league school and what is he working as?

Ivy league university - masters there as well. investment banking.

Lots of bitter pple here will say astronomical salaries are unrealistic. But reality of fact - they exist.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ivy league university - masters there as well. investment banking.

Lots of bitter pple here will say astronomical salaries are unrealistic. But reality of fact - they exist.

If your friend is an employee(excludes all business owner) and is earning over 1 million (USD) per annum, then his salary is astronomical, other than that, hes just above average. I do not know if they are bitter, but I think they are probably more logical than you, given the percentage of people(employees) anywhere in the world earning astronomical salaries.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think no one really answered your questions. So i am going to try.

Qns : If I enter and finish a Management Trainee program, with the intention of leaving for a different company/role when I'm done is it a good idea? Does just having a Management Trainee program without further experience look ok on your resume?

Ans : You seem rather clear that you want to leave the job even before accepting it. From what you said, i sense the reason is due to pay (because it cant be other things like job prospect, working condition etc since you havent started work yet)

If this is so,it means you do have an acceptable pay figure in your mind. Ask yourself honestly if you believe that you can get a company to pay you that salary in this job market. If yes, then go for it with the idea that you are pursing a dream.. You never know unless you try and try again.

The otherside of the coin is, give yourself a clear deadline, with clear goals on how you plan to execute this dream. Like any other business venture you will encounter in the future, you need to know when things are going off track. If the conditions and signs are all pointing the otherway, you must move on from your dream and accept the situtation. It is not about giving up, it is about knowing how to recognise the situation and making the best of it.

Qns : Is accepting a pay grade of 3300 going to dictate my further earnings forever?

Ans : Of course not. But to double it in 2 years will also be unrealistic in terms of expectations. In good years, most companies only give 6-9% pay increment. Promotions are double digits. You do the maths and see if this is something you can live with.

Beyond pay, there are many things you may want to consider in your job. I am going to list a few
1. Time out to do other things : eg grow your non employment money , spend time wih love ones , sports, interest
2. Working conditions - learning opportunities, colleagues , culture,
boss expectations
3. Family support and personal needs - Do you need to support anyone in the near future in terms of $, time, emotional support ?

These are things that make a person work for a living. Not only a pay check.


Qns : What should I be doing now?

Ans : Finally, i sense you are young. On my part, i understand that as well and often wish i can be like some of my peers who are earning out of the world salaries and seeming to have to it all. But i now ask myself why should i be comparing myself to them. Why not compare myself to the others in the world that are worse than me ? Isnt it really just pride/ego that is driving me to want to be on the top of the world.

Having an IL education means you are already separated from the vast majority and are achieving dreams that others cannot imagine.

You asked what you should be doing now.

I challenge you to use your education and dreams to decide the path you want your life to be. No one is ever going to answer you this question better than yourself.

Well said. This is one of the most balanced posts in the forum.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If your friend is an employee(excludes all business owner) and is earning over 1 million (USD) per annum, then his salary is astronomical, other than that, hes just above average. I do not know if they are bitter, but I think they are probably more logical than you, given the percentage of people(employees) anywhere in the world earning astronomical salaries.

This is the kind of bitter people on this website that I was talking about. So fast one of
"them" has spoken..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If your friend is an employee(excludes all business owner) and is earning over 1 million (USD) per annum, then his salary is astronomical, other than that, hes just above average. I do not know if they are bitter, but I think they are probably more logical than you, given the percentage of people(employees) anywhere in the world earning astronomical salaries.

Why not raise the bar to USD 10m! haha!