1 paper down, 8 more to go.
Before that, I have to head down to London on Monday to pick up my Moroccan visa, assuming that my application hasn't been rejected. Can't wait for my exams to be over so I can fly to Morocco. Kinda excited to spend 2 nights in the desert. I can almost imagine the unpolluted night sky filled with stars ...
Can't wait to go back to Malaysia too! So many things to
But not for long, because I'll be flying back to the UK 2 months before everyone else as I'll be working as an intern! Nothing coveted like internships in banks or other firms in the financial sector, but nevertheless it's still an opportunity to work overseas! Kinda excited for that too. What if I end up working in this field after graduating? Will the higher education sector be my calling?
So many things to be excited for, but 8 papers more. Gah.
There's also that considerably significant probability that I might fail my second year and have to redo it ... i.e. going through hell again. I might go crazy. Or become clinically depressed. Or both. Tell me why did I choose this course again?
Anyway, the midnight caffeine boost should be kicking in soon. Better get some studying done I guess :/
-Kritz
8 comments:
Morocco?? So exciting and exotic! :O I shall live vicariously through your photos (as and when I see them on Facebook since you almost never post any here...)
What are you interning as and for how long?
Do you get notified when I reply comments? Yeah, but the visa application was a pain. Idk why I agreed to go with my senior lol. I'll try my best to make sure the pictures I take are representative of Morocco, haha.
I'm interning in the IT department of my university ... has something to do with doing research on what can be improved in terms of the provision of online material. Doing it for 2 months and it's 3rd year of my degree right after that.
I've had to type my comment for the third time now! Gah! Is it blogspot or my phone messing with me?!
Ok, it's the shitty internet messing with me. Maxis is going to the dogs I tell you.
No, I don't get notified. I have to check back every once in a while to see if you've replied. (Yay! More blog hits! Hahaha)
It's near Spain isn't it? I think the closest I've been to (culture wise) is probably Bahrain. I heard it's beautiful though. It's great to travel especially when you're still a student, no need to worry about taking leave and all that crap. How do you save enough for all your travels anyway? When I was a student I was dead broke. T.T
IT stuff? I thought you're studying math stuff? Interesting that your university has in-house internship opportunities. :o Is this something you opted to do or is it a course prerequisite?
Wee, blog hits! I think my nuffnang has like RM20.
My dad gives me a set amount of expenses for my studies overseas, and I guess he factored in some additional money for travelling. I guess cooking my own meals help? My university isn't in a huge city like London, so ... pretty much minimal expenditure on eating out. Doesn't make it anywhere near being affordable like local studies ... I don't know where am I going with this. Basically dad-funded, and I'm extremely grateful, lol.
I'm studying maths-stats-econs stuff, which is geared towards coveted job positions in the financial sector. I guess it isn't IT stuff like programming, a more accurate description would be one of the administrative departments in the university, just that I chose to apply for the one that is IT-related.
Eh, more like peer-pressure, lol. It's not mandatory. Overachievers will be doing their internships in London where they wear suits to work. Those are super super super competitive. You would have to go through online tests, interviews, assessments ...
Most Malaysians that don't get anything here will do some/any internship in Malaysia. It's pretty much crucial to not leave your CV blank because then they will have nothing to show for when they start applying for graduate jobs (which is done in the beginning of your final year of undergraduate studies!).
I think the internship programme started only a few years ago in my university. It's not as crazy as the ones in London, but the department I applied for only had one spot and I was interviewed by 3 panelists. Apparently it leads to a graduate job too, like any other internships.
It's weird though, because everyone else is answering questions like 'why do you want to be a trader/work in investment banking' where as I get asked 'why do you want to work in the higher education sector'.
Did I mention covering letters? I just wanted to mention covering letters. We have to write something like an essay to tell them why you want to work with them (which involves doing research on that firm and describing what sets them apart from the other firms), what skills do you have, what contributions can you make, yadda yadda yadda. Not fun. Not sure how does job hunting in Malaysia works though.
I thought internships were just supplying cheap labour so that I could know what it's like to work in that field, but apparently you have show that you're passionate and worth it. :/
Wow, that was long.
I think... your reply might even be longer than the post itself...
My nuffnang has been in hibernation since I shifted to WordPress. So that's 6-7 years ago. Hahaha. T.T
Ah! Dad funded! Perks of being an only child too I guess?
Hmm, you said it only started a few years back and now when you graduate it's hard to get a job without it. My university (and other local U) has a compulsory internship programme in place which was part of the course curriculum and yet I don't feel like it's a key factor in us getting a job (at least locally) after graduation though. Maybe that's the culture difference. But I have friends who studied in the UK and still couldn't get a job there purely because they were foreigners and the jobs are reserved for the locals. :/ Is that graduate job pretty much a sure thing? The whole applying one year in advance thing sure is crazy though. And I thought Asians were kiasu...
Cover letter is not really a thing here. I've written them before but most companies don't really ask for it. Then again my cover letter is this really simple one page thing which basically reiterates what I have stated in my resume and then adding on the stuff about how the company is the one for me bla bla bla. Bureaucracy bore me.
In my experience, internship here IS in fact cheap labour that lets you have a taste of what it's like in the real world. Hahaha. But it seems to be different there, which is sure to be good news because you have the opportunity to learn so much more if you're not just treated like a cheap labour. Can you tell that I'm bitter wtf.
I meant the internship opportunity offered by my university didn't start too long ago. A large part of the internship application is describing your past work experience, because you would have to show that you possess the relevant skills they want. A lot of situational questions too. I not compulsory ... you just need some sort of a solid work experience to make yourself more employable I guess.
I don't know to what extent are jobs reserved for locals, because I know people who get jobs in the financial sector really know their stuff. With the large amount of applicants, I guess they have the privilege of choosing the crème de la crème. Then again, I know 0 Malaysians that are looking for job opportunities other than those high-income ones ...
I did one in Malaysia last year and it was the main reason why I didn't apply for one in Malaysia this year when almost every other person I knew who didn't get an internship here did. I did gain some valuable work experience and it did help me with my application but I hated it so much. It's stated on our contract that our work ends at 5.30pm but we usually leave around 7pm because otherwise our supervisor would not be happy. There are days where I reach home at 9.30pm wtf. I mean, it's fine when there's something to do, but sometimes I'm just sitting there waiting for the green light to go home >_>
Worst case scenario of this internship is just knowing that the work environment in the UK isn't suited for me and I'll start looking at other options I guess.I wanna go to US D:
So... let me get this straight, you need job experience to get job experience to hopefully get a future permanent job. -_- I thought internships are precisely for people who don't have experience but want to gain some.
True, I guess they'd only want you if you are someone really special as otherwise they can just hire their own Tom, Dick or Harry to do the job. Doesn't justify the hassle of hiring a foreigner and handling all the extra paper work that'd incur.
Eh? That was quite a bad experience. But then again, it's that particular company's culture. The kiasu culture whereby they'd rather you sit there and pretend to work and not let you go home. Never understood that. Not all companies are like that though. I make it a point to ask about companies' culture when I go for interviews and see if they bring up it up so I can run at the first sign of that kind of culture existing in the company.
I'd wager US has a more liberal working environment since the UK is known for their stiff upper lip culture. Where to start though?
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