Keeping Fingers and Toes Crossed
Spending 3 hours straight on your feet, 90% of the time waiting in line is no joke man. It really takes the juice out of you. But it was a great experience. Haha. I even had the audacity to speak to a rep from Shell. He didn’t mind that I was affiliated with Petronas at all. In fact he didn’t even consider Petronas a competitor. Lol.
Most of the people I met told me to go to their website and submit my resume there. I guess it’s another way of saying “we cant help you here”. That’s kind of the sad thing about being an international student without the proper paperwork. It’s just too cumbersome for companies to get through all the red tape to hire you that they just prefer to look for locals.
Another thing I noticed is just how difficult it is to stand out of the crowd. Of the hundreds of potentials out there, sticking out is a pretty hard. I feel a lot of my qualities don’t relate to my career at all. Things like my passion for photography, my musical ability or my penchant for soccer. How do traits like these translate into desirables for prospective employers?
I admit that I do not have a burning passion for my field. I don’t take the trouble to read up on the latest innovations in optics or laser technology. I don’t seek out sources for research opportunities. I don’t dog my professors for an opportunity to work with them. Which brings me back to the question I posed a few months ago when I first started this blog……Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path?
Oh well, the Internship Fair was a wake up call for me. It’s time to market myself, or get thrown into the pile like every other regular fresh graduate. The world out there is harsh and competitive. That’s why we have awesome parents with awesome connections, just in case things don’t work out the way we want them to.
Most of the people I met told me to go to their website and submit my resume there. I guess it’s another way of saying “we cant help you here”. That’s kind of the sad thing about being an international student without the proper paperwork. It’s just too cumbersome for companies to get through all the red tape to hire you that they just prefer to look for locals.
Another thing I noticed is just how difficult it is to stand out of the crowd. Of the hundreds of potentials out there, sticking out is a pretty hard. I feel a lot of my qualities don’t relate to my career at all. Things like my passion for photography, my musical ability or my penchant for soccer. How do traits like these translate into desirables for prospective employers?
I admit that I do not have a burning passion for my field. I don’t take the trouble to read up on the latest innovations in optics or laser technology. I don’t seek out sources for research opportunities. I don’t dog my professors for an opportunity to work with them. Which brings me back to the question I posed a few months ago when I first started this blog……Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path?
Oh well, the Internship Fair was a wake up call for me. It’s time to market myself, or get thrown into the pile like every other regular fresh graduate. The world out there is harsh and competitive. That’s why we have awesome parents with awesome connections, just in case things don’t work out the way we want them to.
posted by Mike Ng at 1:05 PM
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