This was my previous workplace. I completed a 12-week internship at the (then famous) Keppel Fels in May-Aug 2008.
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I remembered vividly on the first day we were introduced to Max, a high flyer himself and who mentored us during our stint, he described very proudly, "Anyone who has worked at Keppel Fels means your CV is gold-plated." On top of this quote, Max left a deep impression in me and he was a fantastic mentor for any young graduate - despite his busy schedule he really invested time and energy to coach us, walk us on site, and impart valuable guidance such as:
1. One fine evening he texted me and asked for a project update. I texted my reply. Max replied, "Imagine now I am your customer. You need to make your customer feel assured (that his project is progressing well). Try again."
This was like WOAH!!!! Impactful.
2. Max was very engaging in the way he spoke. He stood firm, body squared to us, wore a bright smile, made lasting eye contact, tapped our arms when he referenced us. Despite us being only interns/undergraduates, he was a very effective teacher and very successful at making us feel valued.
3. As part of the requirement of our internship programme, we were supposed to prepare a monthly report to our supervisor and he needed to provide his written feedback. And Max penned down impressive feedback for all of us. He described me as "excellent at following up". This phrase struck me the most. For some reason, it really stuck to me till now. I guess it is because I innately disliked leaving issues unresolved and that was the first time someone of authority identified this trait and praised me for it. Max's scribble helped me alot in my career. Almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, I prided myself for it and in all my jobs I did my best at closing loops and following up with issues until I received a satisfactory reply.
On top of his written feedback, Max explained that his intention of giving positive appraisal is to
help us in our future job search and interviews. He added, "I can only do this much for you. The rest, whether you are make it in your job or not, is totally up to you."
WOAH!! Impactful +1.
"Anyone who has worked at Keppel Fels means your CV is gold-plated." - Ok so anyway what Max described of K Fels was that it was such an esteemed employer and workplace that anyone who has worked there would be highly valued and sought after. Indeed, he was right - in 2008-2009, crude oil price was hitting US$75-$120 a barrel and the O&G industry was booming! That was the primary reason why my uni clique and I opted to specialise in O&G in our Mech Engineering Degree. Not many citizens know this but Singapore (in Keppel and Sembcorp) was the world's biggest producer of oil rigs for many years.
Sadly, for the O&G industry as well as the global economy, oil prices plummeted in 2014 and never recovered anywhere near it's peak since. Due to a combination of a few factors such as (i) the emergence of alternative energy, (ii) the pressure for corporations to be green from investors and public and (iii) oversupply from Middle East, it has been widely mentioned (and predicted) that O&G will not perform well again.
Hence, this piece of recent news did not come as a surprise to most:
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/shipbuilding/keppel-exit-rigbuilding-focus-energy-transition
This post brings me back to my previous post dated Nov 2008. My 12-week stint at K. Fels was a real eye-opener. To the real working world out there. To the real construction industry. To the real world where social divide, biasness and inequality exists in unspoken and unfair ways. In short, the experience was the consideration factor which led to my decision to turn down a $20,000 scholarship from K. Fels and then a $10,000 from Sembcorp Marine. They weren't easy decisions for an undergraduate in his last year! Firstly it's not a small sum and secondly it left me to search for a job in a then unstable economy.
Looking back, and saying this very thankfully, I haven't regretted this decision any teeny bit!
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