The 10th, 11th and 12th of February 2012. A weekend with a few big names. A weekend in a grand venue. A weekend for future aspirations. Truly a weekend to remember.
It was the Careers in Asia Summit 2012 event which took place at the London Canary Wharf Hilton Hotel. I've never been there before this but the Canary Wharf Hilton seemed to me to be one of the smaller hotels I've come across before.
DAY 1: So it was meant to be an EXCLUSIVE networking event on the 10th which fell on a Friday. It was a networking event to meet the potential recruiters and maybe land a promising first impression with hopes it would bring me a notch above the rest of the applicants. That day, I skipped one of my lectures just to give me some extra 'preparation time' before this grand event. Networking event you say? Well that wasn't the case..........
It turned out that the networking event was just like any other careers fair. It was just the regular booth setups with a couple of recruiting associates. Sigh...... I was a little disappointed but hey it's a careers fair! Might as well get the most out of it since I was there.
My first stop was MSD (Merck). Thinking that I could put some of my FYP knowledge to good use, I approached one of the personnel and told them about my insulin calculator used in insulin pumps. The lady whom I was speaking to was of Chinese decent and she had a little difficulty deciphering what I had install for her. So she got assistance from one of her colleagues. It appears that BOTH of them knew nothing about what I was talking about. In their defense, they mentioned that such technical issues would be handled by their specialized personnel who were not present at the fair. At best, they told me to check online for any possible career opportunities. What a bummer.......
So next off, I went over to JTI. It appears that JTI is looking to recruit 5 people........... FOR THE WHOLE OF ASIA. Apparently that means 1 candidate for Malaysia and Singapore respectively. The dude representing the Malaysian office didn't seem like a cheerful guy emitting a slight gesture of annoyance probably due to the number of people he had to talk to throughout the event. So I kept my questions short and handed him my CV. The end.
Next was Petronas. We were greeted by a chubby malay fellow who seemed quite friendly but not the most articulate in terms of speech. Basically he didn't know much about the energy business coz he wasn't able to comply to one of my questions saying that I would need to consult with the engineers who will be present the next day. He was a HR personnel btw. In an attempt to shove us away he directed us to his superior who was this HR lady. So I offered to shake her hand and............
Well yea its in her religion but its just a very awkward feeling to be rejected a handshake. lolz. She told us that Petronas was looking for well rounded talents which will be put through a fixed programme nevertheless but other opportunities present themselves along the way and we are not obliged to only follow one path. Sound promising. Oh and she says that she's met me before. I was like WTF? Like when? She mentions that she's seen me in the careers fair at Imperial College last autumn 2011. Really? Like really really? Can't remember. LOL
Onto the main event. SCHLUMBERGER. Schlumberger Business Consulting (SBC) to be precise. They are a privately owned consulting arm of Schlumberger which specializes in service based operations within the oil & gas and energy industry. Management/Strategy consultancy in the oil & gas field at its best. I tried preparing some info regarding renewable energy which I eventually presented to the attending consultant at the fair. Acting like a total douche...... he replies saying that SBC doesn't do anything like that and that's probably in 20-30 years down the road. So MX questions him about some trading of oil and stuff and he starts opening up..... opening up his 'douche'ness if I may. And it struct me.... I've met him before!!!! It was that same fellow back in the Singapore Careers fair in September 2011! Back then I inquired about fresh graduate experience and how an EE engineer could contribute (I thought it was Schlumberger instead of SBC). All he did at the time was hand me a company brochure and to apply online. THAT WAS IT. What a B@stard. And here I am looking like a total fool in front of him. MX tells me that its an art of the trade. To look good on the outside but having bad intentions to win the game. Dirty dirty
Before heading home, MX decided to pay Maybank a visit. So I slipped in a couple of questions about their management programme and my CV while we were there. So that was it. End of the so called networking event which appeared to be just one of those normal careers fairs. Made my way home through the cold and tried to get a good nights sleep.
DAY 2: Woke up earlier coz I was supposed to meet up with aiwoon and mx at the fair. There seems to be less participants at the fair today. Probably because most people had already attended the event on the first day. Met a couple of friends at the entrance of the fair and suddenly I received a call from an unknown number. It was Maybank! They called up to schedule me an interview on Sunday morning. I tried getting an interview that day since I was already there but they didn't have enough interview slots on the day. So again...... feeling quite reluctant to stay any longer since there was already an interview scheduled, but I decided to once again make the most out of the event. I stayed in for a talk by Maybank. The company presentation was conducted by Pn. Nora who was the vice president of Human capital management. She spoke with a very charismatic tone. She exuded an 'strong lady' aura which served as an integrator of the company. Very much like mom! One of those presentations which really made an impact on me. She explains the modern Maybank being a multinational enterprise which is undergoing rapid development with no plans of stopping just yet! So it struct me. True I had no interest and intentions to work in the financial industry. But looking over finance, it was a enlarging multi national company! There were opportunities for project management and corporate governance which really compelled me further to look into Maybank.
DAY 3: I was really looking forward to the interview today hoping that it would be Pn. Nora sitting right across the desk. The interview was scheduled at 10.30 am so I took my time getting prepared in the morning. At 9am I received a call from the careers fair asking me if I was on my way. It was 9am and i replied saying I am still home. Well..... they told me I have been rescheduled for an earlier interview at 9.50am and that I should try to get there ASAP. WTF!!!!! So I rushed my way there and thankfully I arrived there at the venue just on time. I was sent to conference room 409 down the hall. So I made my way there and politely knocked on the door. I was greeted by a cheerful malay fellow of about 40 years of age. En. Mizal is the vice president of IT who also has a cross departmental role as Pn. Nora's 2nd in command. Yea I was a little disappointed that it wasn't Pn. Nora but it was good in a way! En. Mizal was a very down to earth kind of guy. He spoke to me very casually stating that he is on the lookout of potential individuals who would one day rise up and be a great asset of the Maybank's future management team. Mentioning that banking itself is fundamental but not of an essence in terms of corporate guidance and expansion. 'Sponges' I presume. Someone capable of being developed and lead. He understood that I do not posses much of a financial background. So we just continued talking about our backgrounds and I tried bringing up topics on corporate governance to show some of my managerial concerns in terms of a career. He paused saying that he finds it very comfortable talking to me and that he sees potential which would be complete with a little guidance at the start. Oh boy what an honor to hear that. He points to a pile of resumes on his desk with yellow and green labels. He tells me:
"You see this pile of CV's. There are green and yellow labels on them. Green labels represent candidates who will be forwarded to the next round. And to make you day a little more cheerful, I am sticking a green label on your CV"
OMG
I mean... I was utterly flattered! Well its probably one of those HR techniques to make a candidate feel good but I will just hope for the best.
Mr. Mizal has earned a spot as one of those very influential people in my life. He tells me:
"Work to seek that career of yours. NOT work just to get a job"
YES sir!
I was never really interested in the interview with Maybank in the first place; thinking that I would just treat it as a form of experience. Guess I was wrong. It was truly one of those experiences which change my views on the future. Thank you Careers in Asia. Thank you Maybank and thank you En. Mizal.
Until next time ;)
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