Really that bad for engineers?

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

From the above information it sounds like Shell is offering better salary benefit on general terms. This is interesting. Would anyone who knows about ExxonMobil Singapore Chemical Plant give me an idea about the work culture at there? Also, what are the future opportunity assuming if one works there for say 10 years, will the person be able to look for a better opportunity elsewhere - to be specific I am concern about project engineering/management role. Would the person working as a project engineer be limited to working in the downstream sector of O&G specifically chemical plant sector after that number of years of work experience in ExxonMobil? If not, what are other available options that you can suggest? I appreciate your comments and thoughts. Thank you.

EM likes to rotate the new hires to different roles every 3 or 4 yrs... U can be a sales engineer now few yrs later u will be contact engineer at plant. Supply chain coordinator becoming contact engineer or even sales manager becoming HR manager is common.

Some roles in EM can be:

Contact engineer, process design engineer, project engineer, product coordinator, optimizer, business planner, logistics planner, sales engineer, marketing engineer.

The rotation is more common for chem. eng. grads as they r more versatile.

The working hours seems to be more in EM than Shell, but less pay.
It's more common to see EM ppl hopping to Shell.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

From the above information it sounds like Shell is offering better salary benefit on general terms. This is interesting. Would anyone who knows about ExxonMobil Singapore Chemical Plant give me an idea about the work culture at there? Also, what are the future opportunity assuming if one works there for say 10 years, will the person be able to look for a better opportunity elsewhere - to be specific I am concern about project engineering/management role. Would the person working as a project engineer be limited to working in the downstream sector of O&G specifically chemical plant sector after that number of years of work experience in ExxonMobil? If not, what are other available options that you can suggest? I appreciate your comments and thoughts. Thank you.

I guess with regards to plants, it's very diverse from pharma to petrochemical to chemical. If you look at the requirement on job ads, these sector always get lumped together. But I was thinking whether downstream oil and gas project engineering experience will be applicable to upstream oil and gas industry. If that's the case, that will give more diversity to the jobs one is looking for.

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I guess with regards to plants, it's very diverse from pharma to petrochemical to chemical. If you look at the requirement on job ads, these sector always get lumped together. But I was thinking whether downstream oil and gas project engineering experience will be applicable to upstream oil and gas industry. If that's the case, that will give more diversity to the jobs one is looking for.

upstream oil/gas is more for mechanical/civil engineers ... the actual drilling of oil/gas from ground/undersea

downstream is the refining and petrochemical plants... more for chemical engineers

specialty chemicals and pharmas are also chemial engineers ....

Basically they teach unit operations (separation processes) in chem. eng. syllabus . The basics can be applied to almost all chemical plants whether oil refinery, petrochem , specialty chem, or pharma as all plants consist of a series of separation processing units , sometimes with chemical reactor units.

I have some questions to ask.

i currently still serving NS and will be studying EEE in NTU

still thinking what i will be working as in the future.

which is better? shell or exxon ? hows the working life?

and as compared to other industry, will the above be better choice?

Originally Posted by blackswan

EM likes to rotate the new hires to different roles every 3 or 4 yrs... U can be a sales engineer now few yrs later u will be contact engineer at plant. Supply chain coordinator becoming contact engineer or even sales manager becoming HR manager is common.

Some roles in EM can be:

Contact engineer, process design engineer, project engineer, product coordinator, optimizer, business planner, logistics planner, sales engineer, marketing engineer.

The rotation is more common for chem. eng. grads as they r more versatile.

The working hours seems to be more in EM than Shell, but less pay.
It's more common to see EM ppl hopping to Shell.

Anybody knows if there is any difficulty for a Malaysian working with EM in Singapore to obtain an Employment Pass? Would it be a straight forward application or should I expect a possible rejection?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

u r one lucky kid to be able to practice engineering in the very right place.

(Money Market, FX, SWAP, DERIVATIVE) Trader, Treasury Sales, Structurer are not entirely impossible to enter, you need to start progressively, because the entrance is located elsewhere. You may start off as a assistant dealer, sales associate, or simply doing ur own trades as portfolio. Afterall, trading is about buying and selling currencies. you need to have to be able to market currencies to your customer at your desired rate.

financial consultant is a word that is greatly misused these days, it can cover products selling insurance, selling cards, etc. if u r interested, see ur strengths and weakness and ask yourself wad u wan to do n where u wan to be?

do u like entertaining customers? - front office
do u like calculating risks and managing/marketing products? - middle office
do u like operations? - back office
do u like IT - tech support

let ur passion work money for u - not let money work ur passion.

Hi

as i dun really like to entertain customers, are middle office position highly remunerated as well?

i would like a position where there is a sales-driven target. but i am not so good with people

thanks in advance

Originally Posted by NTU alumni

Dude.. PFC = private financial consultant. Getting a place in banks (especially bulge-bracket) is BLOODY HARD, and certainly, at the moment, you have not researched well enough. 'Financial Industry' isn't limited to insurance, WAKE UP bro!

Roles in any banks include: Product control, Operations Analyst, IT, Front Office Support, Middle Office Support, Back Office Support, and the most DIFFICULT path which is like a holy grail, hours are long but you're well-rewarded depending on performance (keywords: MAKE PROFITS) that's the Front Office (Relationship Manager <RM> or a.k.a. Private Banker <PB>, Investment Banker, Salesperson, Trader, Structurer)

As a senior NTU engineering graduate who's in a bulge-bracket bank, I wish to encourage you to research more before asking 'unconstructive' question(s) such as one quoted above.

Good Luck.

Hi

May I know what role are you doing in your bank now? I am also from NTU engineering and wanted to know what type of bank jobs are suitable for me.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi

May I know what role are you doing in your bank now? I am also from NTU engineering and wanted to know what type of bank jobs are suitable for me.

Thanks in advance.

Good with IT? Analytical? Quick and calm under pressure?
Support and app dev.

Hi, This is my 2 cts worth after being an engr in a defunct japanese company ( a OEM HDD media manufacturing firm & recently bought over by Western Digital).

It doesn't matter if you are in a jap or US manufacturing firm. The annual package is almost the same.

So long as Singapore do not have enuf local MNC companies, we can forget about having high pay. Other than japs, I have met engrs from US, German, Italy & France . Their pay is comparable or slightly lower compared to accountants & doctors in their countries.

In Singapore, unless you worked in certain engrg fields (oil & gases and stat boards with engrg positions) , that's what you can expect.

I had switch field 2 yrs back after 10 yrs as a group leader to civil service. All I can say is it's much better in terms of pay & working hours. Man who left that company found better jobs that are not related to engrg. The one thing I missed is the engrg stuff. But I do have to say that my engrg training & exposure actually help me secured a few opening in banking & civil service.

Originally Posted by freshjunior

Hi all, I'm a 20 year old currently in NS and going to study mechanical engineering next year(NUS). I read through many of the posts and found many people talking about how engineering is a dead-end career, the low pay in singapore etc...

I'm quite worried that this is true but I really have a interest in this area and the sciences. (I did quite well for my A levels (5As) and so had the option to choose other courses.) Having said that, I don't intend to be an engineer all my life but just for a few years to gain some experience in the field, then move on to higher managing roles.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I just got an offer from Exxon for Project Engineer role in their chemical plant in Jurong. I have 2 years of experience. Can anyone give me an idea of the job environment in the chemical plant and also an estimated pay ? I have not received the package - just a call saying i passed the interview and the need to go for a medical check up.

Project engineer in petrochemical... Better get experience and goes elsewhere. everywhere is toxic gas.. every plant leaks...(matter of big or small). You will expect to check your plant design with process engineer and issue specification to stupid contractor to build new plant. Tons of standards and codes for you to follow as you construct them.... Risk your life to ensure MOM vessels are properly constructed and registered.....Risk your life going into confine space to check your equipment... Heavy responsibility for the "so call" high paid and not worth..Stress you out as you construct you plant.

For pay wise...expected to get S$7k~8k in early thirties. Estimated EM will give you around 5k...