I’m sorry, does this mean that other universities don’t have courses that beneficial to the oil & gas industry?
Dateline 2011-03-22:
The Higher Education Ministry is mulling over setting up a public university in Labuan specialising in the field of oil and gas and marine engineering, its deputy minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said.
However, he said various factors need to be taken into consideration before the proposal can be implemented.
“There are five public universities offering programmes in oil and gas which are Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Kuching Polytechnic in Sarawak.
“The ministry feels that the number of public universities in the country will be able to sufficiently cover the needs for skilled labour,” he said in reply to Datuk Yusoff Mahal (BN-Labuan) at the Dewan Rakyat here Tuesday.
Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 
Dear Wata,
Who are they? What’s da benefit of us knowing them?
Rgds
Hans
hans: I meant that I don’t agree that having courses ‘specializing in the field of oil & gas …’ is a good thing. All good courses (and students) are beneficial to the industry.
The more the merrier. What we lack in quality, we cover it up with quantity.
bamboozled: 10 lousy engineers don’t equate to 2 good ones. It probably equates to 10 warm seats.
I guess I can only take a stab on this issue…
Universities and colleges only provide the ‘entrance slip’ to the oil and gas industry or any other industries. When you’re in there, the big companies especially will train you to the exact specification of your job.
With this plan, definitely it will be beneficial to the oil & gas industry because they don’t have to waste time and money for training anymore.
What worries me is all this is nothing new. We have not embark in creative development, entrepreneurship, renewable energy and IT development seriously. We thought oil & gas in Malaysia last forever.
It is not me, you, Wata, Jabbat and average ‘Mat’ that will feel the heat. It is our future generations.
The problem is not training. I have graduates that come for interview. My standard interview sequence is like that:
Jabba: Tell me your favourite subject in Uni, and make sure you remember the basics. Don’t tell me you forget.
Graduate : Fluid Mechanics.
Jabba: Good. What is reynolds number?
Graduate : I forgot.
Jabba : But you said it is your best subject, u got “A”, and …..
Graduate : that was one year ago in uni, how to remember?
I ain’t leaving anything for this kind of future generation. It’ll make me turn in the grave.
I wish I got an interview like this (questions on technical knowledge). I remember going to an interview for a very technical position and the company have us the candidates in the group and presenting some solutions on running a restaurant.
I could appreciate the intentions of the interviewer to asses us on our capabilities in working as a team but the reality is the candidates basically just trying to badmouth each other, and monopoly the whole things so that they look good in front of the HR people. Not a single technical question was uttered throughout the interview.
What fear me the most is the candidate who gets by is the one who do the most talking (albeit without any relevant points) and the most backstabbing with badmouthing other candidates. I guess that is the way to survive in current environment and hopefully these kind of people will not become the majority who populate the industry and continuing to cultivate this ‘kiasu’ environment.
Aliff: I remember my interview with Shell (it was held in Shell House, UK). One group exercise was to decide on the most likely way of being rescued after a crash landing. Killing the other survivors and starting cannibalism was not the correct answer (silly me). However, one other interviewee (who I keep in touch with still) remembers me snapping my fingers when making an important point during my presentation, as it was unexpected and different. So, you can stand out from the herd, and be seen without badmooing the other members. Being offered a job is another matter.
Agreed with Wata. I was interviewed with Shell (UK) too several years ago. Serious scenario case study.
Wata: Thanks for the input. I was in for a shock actually as from my observations, all the candidates came from good university and surely got good CGPA as the interview was held by SLB but their behaviour certainly did not reflect that. Like you pointed out, there are other ways to stand out from the pack
On the main topic I would say the most important part of preparing a graduate into the workforce is actually an efficient practical training. Most of the times students are just being told to do some clerical works when they do their practical training and only few tasks given that are actually related to their studies. Probably they don’t see the incentives of being socially responsible and investing in the student’s training.
Furthermore, I would say most of the graduates go into oil & gas industry because of the money (which I do not deny is good) but have no real passion which may contribute to lack of quality in the current graduates. They probably will do decently on their jobs but they most likely wont invest more to contribute something to the advancement of the industry.
Aliff: I would agree on the practical training part of your comment. If I do take in a trainee, I would do my best that they have a decent job to do, document it correctly, and understand what they did via an in-house presentation session. Believe me, we don’t hold back on those questions. Note to others: being a trainee in a company doesn’t mean that you will be hired by them.
Don’t care how they bad mouth each other.
Get the job done, and be loyal to Jabba. You can stab yourself all you want in your free time.
Gossip is for fun, I look at performance.
Jabba: But sometimes the dark force is too strong, blinded with it you’ll be.
aliff: as long as you aren’t blinded by other activities during office hours, fine with me.
Aliff, welcome to the real world. You sound like someone who just graduated.
Everything is about money. I mean every damn thing. Oil and Gas Industry is probably the ultimatum, no doubt about that. It come with a huge risk to your health. With that handsome amount of money, you are required to give in a whole lot of your life.
Only a typical malay in malaysia will say kiasu a bad thing. We only say it a bad thing because Singaporean are known for this attitude, and we are not able to compete with them.
You don’t pass the interview because you don’t have what it takes. In a competition where everybody is equal, you can’t win by acting moderately. Global company like SLB requires willful and dedicated, almost to an extent prostitute-like attitude, willing to do anything for money. You can’t expect them to read your mind and automatically determine that you are suitable for the job, you must show them, but better than the rest. Whining about kiasu definitely not cool and not gonna get you anywhere.
Practical training as preparation for the workforce? This is a standard practice here man in case you didn’t notice. Americans with little or no education at all can dismantle and assemble cars in their garage alone or little help. Can our engineers do that? It is never really about practical training. Our graduates don’t know what they really want to do. That is the main problem.
Well i did just graduate. On the kiasu thing, i am just suprised that it becomes quite a big culture here.
I basically compete with kiasu people all my uni life. There are quite a number of Singaporean students in my course plus the Australian Born Chinese.
The thing is I always tought kiasu is not a big thing here hence the suprised i get during the interview.
Maybe i am young and a bit naive, but i definitely not going into oil & gas just for the money. While kiasu is the ‘in’ thing now, I do believe I can succeed without resorting myself to be like that. It is just like watching Sehwag and Tendulkar bat for India. Both can get centuries easily, but Tendulkar bat with grace while Sehwag just whacked the ball all day long.
Its not about kiasu. If I can hire only one, I will hire the one that is willing to please me….
If you don’t want to talk/show what you can do in an interview, then its better for you to continue whinning at home.
Again, Jabba needs slave…… someone that knows their fundamentals.
Greetings master Jabba haha
This questions is for the both of you (Wata and Jabba). I need some advice here. I have received 3 job offers from Technip, RanhillWP and MECIP as a Graduate Mechanical Eng. In terms of pay and benefits, Technip so far offers the best.
But i would like to know which is the best company for me to venture in if i would like to really learn and build my career in the industry. But on the other hand i really hate to face the morning traffic to work, maybe Kertih is a good place to stay?hehe.
Which one should i go for?
jar jar: pls update on which option you took as I got offer from the same companies you list there with an exception of MECIP.
just wud like to knw the wrking condition, benefits etc.
Technip.
Ketot Mani from Technip Jkt stole our staff!
Hi Mr.Wata,
I got offer from an Oil and Gas service company which is will be send to offshore. Main task is servicing mechanical equipment. Just want to share what should is focus in order to gain and enhance my experience. Thanks
amchels: depends what you want to do. If you want to go to engineering, move out as soon as possible to an engineering company, or do eng work. If you want to be a specialist in servicing eqt, read up as much as you can, so you are up to date. Implement new methods to improve your efficiency and your teams. Write proper English (or Malay or other languages) so that your reports stand out, and are coherent. And at some point sell your soul to Jabba, good career move, though I would worry about your chances in the hereafter.
better start somewhere, and see what is your forte…
thanks for the advise.i will try my best
Am looking for a good school in Malaysia that offers masters in Oil and Gas Engineering
Am looking for a good university in Malaysia that offers masters in Oil and Gas Engineering
if you cant use an internet to find it, then not much hope to complete your course.
You names sounds african… Nigerian perhaps?