career...

Go see Chu Kwang's Xanga site...
http://www.xanga.com/chukwang

Kwang here had a recent post about his interviews 'cause he is job hunting. He had a good qeustion on what you want out of your career. I gave it some thought and posted the (thoughts) in a comment. Here is the full text of the whole comment.

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Chu Kwang's What you're looking for in a career? Survey...

b) Experience and e) Growth (personal) - I rank these as the top priority because my main goal of working in the first few years is for the experience. I want to develop myself personally and gain the maximum ammount of exposure in the business world. It is a suggested goal to open your own business in the future and be your own boss... the great chinaman dream. I'm keeping my options open...

a) Net Income - Survival and maintenence of your lifestyle, not No 1 for me cause I'm blessed with GREAT parents. I know I should grow up and be independant. But, I intend to take it slow and enjoy myself for the first few years out of uni. I want to go and club and see what the KL nights have to offer. The house, the car and the white picket fences with the labrador (read as dog) can come later... in a few years.

d) Great Management - If your boss hates you, would you want to go to work? And, even though you may be paid 6k a month, if management witholds your salary, you don't get anything. Then, they'd go ahead and conveniently forget to pay your EPF. Damn those chinaman companies.

j) Exposure - not really relevant to IT guys, 'cause we are usually kept in the back room programming. But, I'd like to meet a few greats like the tengkus and the tan sris so that I'd have contacts in the business world.

i) Structured Increments

f) Company provided Training and Development - This very important for IT people 'cause we simply have to keep ourselves up to date. It's known as upskilling and to pay for the courses and certification exams yourself will kill. And the exchange rate to the USD doesn't help either.

h) Structured Promotion - Final goal of ending up as a IT Systems Architect. It justs sounds sexy to the nerd populace... heh!

c) Working Environment - aquariums, gyms, fancy desks, ergonomics, latest PCs, foosball, ps2, free coke and deli lunches... This must be Redmond, USA. (read as Microsoft HQ)

g) Great Benefits - I'd prefer to choose my own car and go on trips with my own friends and family. No way the company will provide you with a BMW or a mercBenz and LET YOU KEEP IT. Besides... I don't think they'd sponsor me my dream car of a Nissan Silvia anyway. And, company events aren't that crash hot. I did do a corporate lunch (WOW... big words...) with the guys at my internship and it was not great fun. There ever was the political office backstabbing and gossips. You had to be on your best behaviour and Max (a colleague) got reprimanded 'cause he got drunk and was bright red all over the hotel foyer. You just can't do certain stuff with company guys.

k) others - Can't think of any right now... wait... Other things to consider is the working enviroment. Can you fit in with the team? Can you speak the guys language? If they all are cina-cina type people, it's going to be very hard 'cause I don't speak mandarin.What about the workload? Some companies' suck the life out of you. You work long hours and the tasks are hard and draining. I believe I lost my gf when I did my internship because I had no quality time left to spend with her. It's always a trade off between showing the company that you are committed and balancing your personal life (social, gf, friends and FAMILY). Financial remuneration is often the biggest draw card when you are younger but time becomes more important when you go up the ladder, have more responsibilities and grow older. Is your company going to support you when the time comes?

I'm actually afraid of coming out of uni now. After my horror experience of being exploited (sort of...) by a chinaman company, I'm definately VERY wary of these style of companies. They are not necessarily fly-by-night but often they are close enough. Take care when you accept your job offer. Don't start and then quit your job 'cause the pressure is amounted to you going crazy. I have a friend who had gone through 3 chinaman companies here in Melb. His resume looks SUSPECT , 'cause he has moved so often in the past 2 years. Now that he is going for interviews again, it is a hassle to explain himself.

Keah.

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