Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingpanman
Hi all,
I am a fresh graduate from NUS Mechanical Engineering this year May/July. The reason why I studied Mechanical Engineering in the first place was because I was not sure what I wanted to do in the future and people said that Engineering was the broadest discipline, and Mechanical Engineering was the broadest engineering discipline also.
But after graduating, I found that this is not really the case. I have not had much luck in getting interviews in non-mechanical engineering fields, even fields like mechatronics and industrial automation seem to prefer EEE grads over Mech.
Personally, I feel myself more interested in IT-related stuff like desktop support/servers/IP/LAN (not programming) and have tried to apply to this kind of entry jobs where the job description states it is open to all degrees. But as most of them are diploma/nitec level, some of them told me that I am overqualified for the position and they don't want to consider me at all even when I said that I do not mind the pay at all.
So, I am not sure what I should do if I still really want to do IT. Do I really need to take up any further diplomas/degrees/certs to get into the IT line? Or maybe I should just stay in the engineering field? I don't really have much interest in M&E stuff like thermodynamics/fluid mechanics, my interests are more towards mechatronics and automation stuff which is covered by EEE grads.
Lastly, I haven't got an offer at all after 4-5 months. (I've been applying to both engineering fields and IT diploma entry level jobs) Is this normal ? Some people say it's normal but when you see everyone around you getting jobs one by one, it is a bit demoralizing. I've been to 7-8 interviews already, mostly SMEs and know where is my weakness and trying to improve on it (some interviewers are very frank and say that I am too soft-spoken and don't show enough confidence). Also, my grades are not good either, I was in a direct honors program but my GPA was not good enough, my GPA is only less than 3.
My dilemma is that when I apply for degree level jobs, I lose out to my peers based on my grades and interview skills, and when I do not mind the pay and apply for diploma level jobs, they think that I am over-qualified (most of them would rather prefer diploma holders with experience), or am I thinking too much ? |
I think you've got to strike a good balance between what you like as kind of general hobby interest and what the actual labour market realities are. I am a recruiter in the IT industry and I can tell you with confidence you continue like that almost guarantee you will still not have a IT job even if given 1 more year.
First let's start off with your actual interest:
IT-related stuff like desktop support/servers/IP/LAN (not programming) - Quite honestly this kind of stuff is considered in the market as super low skilled even by offshore BPO standards. What this means is most of such jobs have either been offshored to BPO vendors in India/Philippines and are generally entry level even for them.
Of the few such roles still remaining in Singapore, most are also taken by expereinced Indians and Pinoys S-Pass holders with degrees from third tier university where standards are about par with our higher NITEC. The market is so depressed with supply far outstripping demand that even our local dploma and higher NITEC folks are avoiding this space as it's hard to compete with the foreigners on these low wages.
My advice for you is if you are interested in this kind of general IT hardware stuff, pursue it as a hobby and not as a job.
Secondly, on the matter of should you study more certs to pursue IT jobs:
You gotta be more specific what sort of IT jobs you are really interested in. Most are now in the doldrums and with only specific pockets still commanding marketability. A lot of the higher value add jobs would be out of your reach even if you go about studying/buying some IT cert now.
If those general hardware jobs is the extent of your interest, then I suggest you better not waste time & money getting a cert, it won't help. All you will end up is some old diploma guy who is fighting for freshie jobs with the Indians and young locals, won't get anywhere.
So what's next?
To be real candid about it, a GPA < 3 the chances of joining a technical role in large companies is almost zero. Even SMEs would not consider unless they are really desperate or you were real impressive during interview.
The only realistic option I can think of for you is to look for corporate function jobs like administration, customer service, sales & marketing analysis, hr etc in SMEs. You might still have a decent chance in this kind of jobs and they being less technical, most employers will not put so much emphasis on your poor academics.
No doubt you will say these jobs are not your interest, but I think it's also a good wake up call for you. A job is not a hobby, being able to work in what you like is akin to striking a lottery. If your acadmic and presentation skills are not there, you find jobs that you have a realistic chance of getting, not what you feel like doing.