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

Hi all. I hope you can help me analyze my situation.
I have finished a masters engineering degree in an Ivy school in the US.
Previously I was a 2nd lower student in NTU mech-eng. I've been working in the states part time for the last Six months and haven't found a reasonable job. I'm giving up on staying in the states now and have one option of employment back home.

I've found a position as a management trainee in a Government-related company( Along the lines of Keppel/SMRT). I'm being offered 3300 a month and have to sign a 18 month contract. I don't feel this is a good deal, but this is the only Singaporean company who have been willing to interview and offer me a job while I'm in the states.

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?

I've been out of work for 6 months and am concerned that remaining unemployed for so long looks very bad on my resume, but yet I unsure if taking on a Management Trainee program for the next 18 months will help me get a good career.

Please advise.

I do not know the merit or demerit of MT program. But you seem to think that an Ivy League education, particularly, a Masters program
where getting admission is not so difficult [usually without any financial aid] is a big deal. I guess its time to be more practical and forget about the big things people told u about ivy league colleges.

In normal times, you would have received multiple offers from the big names, be they in technology or banking. I was an MEng grad student in an IL university where "getting admission is not so difficult", and all of us got very reasonable offers even before we graduated.

However, this is not normal times.

How many in your batch are still unemployed / underemployed?

Generally, engineering is a more respected job in Singapore than the U.S. I think $3,300 is a reasonable offer for a MSc with zero experience. As a previous poster mentioned, a Masters degree from an Ivy is not the same as getting in at the bachelors level, where they are much more selective, unless, of course, the graduate school is really famous, like say MIT.

Wow, OP tio ram. Reply poster is an old man with an ax to grind with IL grads? Ho Ho!

Dont be a cynical moron.

I am just 31. I am not old. And I have a PhD. I am not bashing Ivy Leagues. Top students go there. But some so-so students also go there who are willing to pay for themselves. The OP mentioned he was an average student in NUS/NTU where ever he went to. So u think an IL univ will suddenly make him a genius that he is not. He is also a victim of timing. But do u really think that economy is US is so bad that a really really bright student cannot get even a job. Why does he not join a PhD program ?

Some people simply dont get it. That individuals are more important than the school they attend. People attend IVY league univs for many reasons -- money, merit, join programs which primary take money to give u Master [even at top univs].

The OP clearly stressed an IL education but what else. Other than a bought IL education with money, there is nothing to boast about. But when people have not much to show for themselves, they sell the ranking and reputation of the univs they went to.

And people who never went to top schools think going to top schools transforms average people into whizkids. Which it does not. The reason why whizkids come from top schools is bcus they belong to the meritorious candidates who study alongside so-so candidates in ur so called IvyLeague schools.

Perhaps, IL education can land him a hot girl in singapore :)

I agree with previous posts that we are now at unusual times. U.S. Unemployment figures out yesterday gave 9.7% unemployment and depending which state you are at, it can be in mid 10s!

So to look for a job in U.S. is definitely no easy feat.

Have you tried applying for banks here or U.S. for their management trainee program for Masters graduate? I know they can pay easily double to triple of what you will be getting from this GLC.

I believe staying in U.S. has its benefits, have you tried contract work in US?

At undergraduate level, students beg for Ivy League schools;

At postgraduate level, Ivy League schools beg for students.

I used to be shocked by the calibre of students rejected by Ivy League undergraduate programmes, and equally shocked by the calibre of students accepted by Ivy League graduate schools.

Nowadays I'm numb.

That's absolutely true. Refer to the following article by Dr. Lee Wei Ling.

Schooled for success, on my own terms

Tue, Nov 17, 2009
The Straits Times

By Lee Wei Ling

Did the cream automatically float to the schools that repeatedly churned out good examination results or did these schools transform academically mediocre students into academic stars? I rather believe it was the former.

Hi All,

Thanks for your input. About the value of my degree, I'm just going to say that I didn't throw money at my Uni to get in. My place was offered due to my past ECAs, leadership activities and GRE score despite my in-the-toilet grades all through my academic life. I was very happy that they saw beyond my paper qualifications.

About my program, almost everyone has been placed. There is a big discrepancy between internationals and citizens. Almost all internationals are under-employed in small companies. I had a similar offer awhile ago, but I didn't have the stomach and foresight to take it. The citizens are all employed by fortune 100 companies and top 10 management/tech consulting firms, though nobody made it into a front desk financial position this year.

What I'm trying to get out of this forum, is more knowledge to decide whether should I take this job or not?

If I finish the 2 year MT program and at that point decide to move into another industry or a role in banking is the transitition easy or impossible?

A classmate of mine returned to india and after interviewing for 2 months got an Ibanking job in a japanese bank.

I haven't tried banking yet as a industry, as I am mainly an engineer type person, but what are my chances coming back to Singapore right now, at this time? And being only an average student with some interesting life experience?

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