Semicon in Singapore

[awesome]

Is is true that the semiconductor industry is declining in SGP with little prospects, and if i am a fresh grad with 2:2 honours joining coys such as Micron or globalfoundries, what kind of salary and increments will i be looking at?

Semicon industry in singapore is in fact expanding, contrary to what people think. Many semicon companies like Micron n GF are establishing more plants in SG. I only know the salary of fresh uni grad engineers and their working environment in Micron. Hence my comments will be based on those info and might not represent the whole industry.

A fresh grad with 2:1 will be getting 3.4k basic excluding bonuses. First class can expect 3.6k basic. For 2:2 I'm not sure but I am quite certain its above 3k and in the 3.2k range. Increments I do not have the info.

Many people are saying about the decline of this industry and there is some truth to it. The only thing tt is declining is the work life balance. As a semicon engineer in micron you will be expected to work long hours and on both weekends.

However, long hours of work also mean more $. A fresh grad engineer can easily hit mid 4k to 5k plus with all the OT n burnt weekends. If u pia like a dog ur pay can even go up to 6k as fresh grad. If u don't mind such lifestyle, semicon jobs really pays well. Many engineers just work 3-4 years to get the good money n quit.

Salary like this alone attracts many fresh grads, hence getting into micron is not easy. Usually its a 4-round interview. You will be tested on ur knowledge on the manufacturing processes, general IQ, etc.

I can try to answer if u have more questions. Btw i heard Micron hiring period for this year already over, but i might be wrong.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Semicon industry in singapore is in fact expanding, contrary to what people think. Many semicon companies like Micron n GF are establishing more plants in SG. I only know the salary of fresh uni grad engineers and their working environment in Micron. Hence my comments will be based on those info and might not represent the whole industry.

A fresh grad with 2:1 will be getting 3.4k basic excluding bonuses. First class can expect 3.6k basic. For 2:2 I'm not sure but I am quite certain its above 3k and in the 3.2k range. Increments I do not have the info.

Many people are saying about the decline of this industry and there is some truth to it. The only thing tt is declining is the work life balance. As a semicon engineer in micron you will be expected to work long hours and on both weekends.

However, long hours of work also mean more $. A fresh grad engineer can easily hit mid 4k to 5k plus with all the OT n burnt weekends. If u pia like a dog ur pay can even go up to 6k as fresh grad. If u don't mind such lifestyle, semicon jobs really pays well. Many engineers just work 3-4 years to get the good money n quit.

Salary like this alone attracts many fresh grads, hence getting into micron is not easy. Usually its a 4-round interview. You will be tested on ur knowledge on the manufacturing processes, general IQ, etc.

I can try to answer if u have more questions. Btw i heard Micron hiring period for this year already over, but i might be wrong.

Is it like factory operations and not much creative thinking is needed? In other words, is it more "ops" than "projects"?

[poor and stupid]

yup, micron pay is damn good, not just for degree, dip also....

But too bad the hiring period finished, last year dec -> march they spam a tons of jobs now all taken up

But again, engineering is going to the dogs, do sexy sales can bring in more money!!!

Originally Posted by awesome

Is is true that the semiconductor industry is declining in SGP with little prospects, and if i am a fresh grad with 2:2 honours joining coys such as Micron or globalfoundries, what kind of salary and increments will i be looking at?

in 2007 july, with 2nd lower NTU, I am offer 2.8-2.9k in then-charter semi con, now is globalfoundries. I reject the offer

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is it like factory operations and not much creative thinking is needed? In other words, is it more "ops" than "projects"?

I went for the Micron interview few months ago this year. I applied the position of process engineer (in charge of one of many manufacturing processes). From what the interviewer told me, the job is more like perfecting the skills in the process. You will face many unforeseen problems in that particular process and over the years you will acquire knowledge on how to solve the problems quickly n efficiently. "ops" or "project" really depends on how you view it. You will be doing the same process but the problems you face will defer due to the different products manufactured.

The bad is that they are not keen to let u transfer to other processes. The reason they give is that one process takes few years to become good at it hence they want engineers to stay put.

The good is that once you are good at what you do, maybe after 2-3 years, your job will be a breeze as you already know the solution when problem arises.

Sounds very ops to me. It's like a prata man perfecting the art of flipping pratas. Pardon my lousy example.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sounds very ops to me. It's like a prata man perfecting the art of flipping pratas. Pardon my lousy example.

I agree it is perfecting "prata flipping" but on a higher lvl. Actually technicians are the ones handling the manufacturing machines. Engineers are sitting in aircon office deciding whether to vary the temperature, pressure, flow rate, concentrate of chemicals, etc. After deciding they pass info to technicians to execute. They keep varying these attributes till they get the optimum product.

Micron already suffered from 3 consecutive quarter of losses and the amount of loss increases every quarter. The coming quarter result is expecting a bigger loss. Those who want to join , beware ! Starting pay is high compared to others, but increment is not garanteed every year. Semicon industry is highly volatile and operating cost is high in Sg, it may not be long before this co shifts out of Sg.

[awesome]

Thanks for all the feedback, they were useful. keep them coming!