Run Of The Mill (Part 9)
With the Taiwan trip blowing a huge hole in his pocket, Niv set out to land a new job as soon as possible. While sending out applications, he went back to the shipping firm to temp for a short period. Better to have some income than no income.
Like his earlier forays in to the employment market, he still faced many honors-conscious companies and had little luck in landing a job. However, this time round, he got a bit more lucky. A local firm dealing with designs of handphone panels offered him a position as a design engineer based in China. If he took up the offer, he would be based in China for two years and had to sign a bond during that period. Niv was in two minds as he was not certain if he should take up the job. After all, he will be allowed to do what he liked best, Project Design Management. He will be involved in the latter stage process and not in the initial phases. Also, it will look really good on his resume. On the other hand, he did not want to leave Heng. Granted they are not a couple but he wanted to stay and be with her.
While Niv was contemplating the offer, a semi-conductor company came along and offered him a position as an Equipment Engineer. The pay was only $50 lower but he would be based locally and it allowed him to still have time to spend with Heng. Also, it is a much safer working environment than in China, even with the presence of hydrofluoric acid in the processes. In the end, he opted to take up the position with the semi-conductor company.
Niv was looking forward to finally being a part of the semi-conductor / wafer-fabrication industry. He had some adjustment issues initially as this job entails being on standby for 24 hours everyday and he had to learn all the basics. Also, he is taking over from another engineer who was leaving for another job. Little did he know that he had the most machines under his charge. 22 machines in fact!
It took some time for Niv to get into the flow of things and he soon was adapting well with the work life. However, he was taking a slightly longer time to figure out the many problems faced in the plant and it did not make a good impression of him to the boss. Coupled with the fact that his machines are one of the oldest in the plant, spares were a problems for repairs. The only thing good out of his machines were that the processes were stable and he did not have to worry about process-related issues. Niv worked hard to learn and was very willing to try all methods to help optimise the production capabilities of his machines. His fellow Process Engineers commented that even though Niv had not grasped the concepts fully, he was willing to try, which is better than stonewalling on all issues. This though resulted in some cases where his section manager and principal engineer questioned his capabilities. However, Niv had his better moments too. He had did some investigations which resulted in wide-spread modifications done to prevent similar problems from occurring. This was widely commended by the department manager and the other principal engineers as it was a potentially highly damaging situation if it was not discovered and rectified immediately.
Some time during his time at the wafer-fab, a letter came from the education sector to invite him for an interview. Months earlier he had applied to be an educator but had heard no response from them. He was offered an opportunity now to be an educator but he had some reluctance in teaching one of the subjects that is offered to him. During the interviews, he had raised the issue but was convinced to give the subject a try and if he still faced problems, he could make a request to change it later. He was asked to give some thought about the offer.
Maybe it was a case of timing but Niv had always wanted to be an educator but not this early in his career. He had planned to experience a couple of industries prior to being an educator. Aerospace, Oil-Gas, Shipping, Wafer-Fab. These were the various industries that he had wanted to expose himself to and prior to being an educator. He has experienced all of them and only had not went into Aerospace yet. Not that he never tried but was never given the opportunity. Another result of the honors-conscious society of Singapore. In fact, only the Aerospace industry could have prevented him from being an educator if ever he was in it.
In the months as an Equipment Engineer, he had built up a very strong rapport with his subordinates and the vendors. However, he never got the vote of confidence from his bosses. Maybe it was his air of nonchalance, maybe it was his happy-go-lucky attitude. Even though he was achieving the KPIs, bringing down the budget spending and having the machines mostly fully operational, he was never given any acknowledgement. Another Process Engineer, who also happends to be his senior at the university, told him matter of factly, "Don't you know Enquipment Engineers are only here to bear the responsibiliies for any failures. Credit for any good work done will go to the line or management but never to the equipment owner." Coupled with the long hours he had been putting in, working from 8am till 4am, he soon grew very tired physically and mentally. He liked the camaraderie he had with his colleagues and his job scope but it was taking a toll on his health. When the offer came from the education sector, he decided that his health was more important than money, and decide to leave. As it was still some time before he assumed his role as an educator, he kept it silent and continued working at the plant. His yearly military training came at an opportune time and it allowed him to take a breather from work. Sadly, his manager knowing that his camp was just round the corner from the wafer-fab, asked if Niv could come back on days when he booked out. Crazy, Niv thought. He informed his manager that he is not allowed to return to the wafer-fab during his period away as he is now under the jurisdiction of the military and should he get injured due to fab issues, the company will be in very deep trouble. This resulted in an uneasy stand-off between the both of them when Niv left for his military training.
When he returned from the military training, Niv was feeling refreshed and actually looked forward to the day that he will tender his resignation. His subordinates felt that Niv was complaining less and seemed to have found himself another avenue. Also, Niv was cutting back on his overtime by alot. To Niv, his overtime pay made up almost 40% of his pay and cutting back on it just did not fit in with Niv's character who wanted to earn as much money as possible to pay off his educational loans. They were not far from the truth. One day, his assistant engineer then asked Niv if he was planning to leave. Niv asked him why he thought so and the AE claimed that it seemed as if Niv was too happy and not too interested in overtime work anymore. Niv was noncommittal but told his AE, "Maybe."
When Niv finally tendered, it was actually done ahead of schedule. His AEs while doing their yearly appraisal had brought up the matter to their SM and asked if Niv indeed was leaving. They had wanted the SM to convince Niv to stay. Niv was taken aback when his SM brought up the issue and Niv then said that he had not planned on making it official till the following week. Since it has been brought up, Niv told his SM that he will be tendering with 5 weeks notice instead of the required 1 month. The SM never made any overtures to keep Niv and it was clear then that the SM never wanted him there. Niv was employed by their Senior Manager and placed under the SM and they never had a good working relationship.
To Niv surprise, barely had he tendered his resignation, the following week, he was put in charge of a 2 million dollar decommissioning and refurbishment of machine project. His partner had just been employed the month before to work along side him and he never expected Niv to leave either. Working together, they worked out all the parts issue, the facilities requirements, the specifications and presented the report up to management. Green light was then given to proceed with the decommissioning portion first with the refurbishment to be considered later on. By the time all the paperwork was completed for the decommissioning, Niv's time was about to be up and he informed the other department personnel whom he had been working with that he will be leaving and that his partner will be heading up the project. There were some groans but he assured them that they are in safe hands. Months later, he heard from one of the other engineer that after he left, the refurbishment project was shelved. Ah well, not his issue by then anymore.
On his last day, there was a BBQ-cum-chalet thrown as a farewell to Niv. Most of the engineers attended while the team on shift sent at least a representative while the teams that were having their off time were present. Wow! Of course, he did not invite any management as he wanted everybody present to be happy. Niv had done this as a was of showing his gratitude to the people he had been working with and he was really happy with the turn-out. Later on the AEs and Technicians who were there told him that no other Engineer ever had such a good turn out for a send off. Niv guessed it was a privilege that everybody came.
Like his earlier forays in to the employment market, he still faced many honors-conscious companies and had little luck in landing a job. However, this time round, he got a bit more lucky. A local firm dealing with designs of handphone panels offered him a position as a design engineer based in China. If he took up the offer, he would be based in China for two years and had to sign a bond during that period. Niv was in two minds as he was not certain if he should take up the job. After all, he will be allowed to do what he liked best, Project Design Management. He will be involved in the latter stage process and not in the initial phases. Also, it will look really good on his resume. On the other hand, he did not want to leave Heng. Granted they are not a couple but he wanted to stay and be with her.
While Niv was contemplating the offer, a semi-conductor company came along and offered him a position as an Equipment Engineer. The pay was only $50 lower but he would be based locally and it allowed him to still have time to spend with Heng. Also, it is a much safer working environment than in China, even with the presence of hydrofluoric acid in the processes. In the end, he opted to take up the position with the semi-conductor company.
Niv was looking forward to finally being a part of the semi-conductor / wafer-fabrication industry. He had some adjustment issues initially as this job entails being on standby for 24 hours everyday and he had to learn all the basics. Also, he is taking over from another engineer who was leaving for another job. Little did he know that he had the most machines under his charge. 22 machines in fact!
It took some time for Niv to get into the flow of things and he soon was adapting well with the work life. However, he was taking a slightly longer time to figure out the many problems faced in the plant and it did not make a good impression of him to the boss. Coupled with the fact that his machines are one of the oldest in the plant, spares were a problems for repairs. The only thing good out of his machines were that the processes were stable and he did not have to worry about process-related issues. Niv worked hard to learn and was very willing to try all methods to help optimise the production capabilities of his machines. His fellow Process Engineers commented that even though Niv had not grasped the concepts fully, he was willing to try, which is better than stonewalling on all issues. This though resulted in some cases where his section manager and principal engineer questioned his capabilities. However, Niv had his better moments too. He had did some investigations which resulted in wide-spread modifications done to prevent similar problems from occurring. This was widely commended by the department manager and the other principal engineers as it was a potentially highly damaging situation if it was not discovered and rectified immediately.
Some time during his time at the wafer-fab, a letter came from the education sector to invite him for an interview. Months earlier he had applied to be an educator but had heard no response from them. He was offered an opportunity now to be an educator but he had some reluctance in teaching one of the subjects that is offered to him. During the interviews, he had raised the issue but was convinced to give the subject a try and if he still faced problems, he could make a request to change it later. He was asked to give some thought about the offer.
Maybe it was a case of timing but Niv had always wanted to be an educator but not this early in his career. He had planned to experience a couple of industries prior to being an educator. Aerospace, Oil-Gas, Shipping, Wafer-Fab. These were the various industries that he had wanted to expose himself to and prior to being an educator. He has experienced all of them and only had not went into Aerospace yet. Not that he never tried but was never given the opportunity. Another result of the honors-conscious society of Singapore. In fact, only the Aerospace industry could have prevented him from being an educator if ever he was in it.
In the months as an Equipment Engineer, he had built up a very strong rapport with his subordinates and the vendors. However, he never got the vote of confidence from his bosses. Maybe it was his air of nonchalance, maybe it was his happy-go-lucky attitude. Even though he was achieving the KPIs, bringing down the budget spending and having the machines mostly fully operational, he was never given any acknowledgement. Another Process Engineer, who also happends to be his senior at the university, told him matter of factly, "Don't you know Enquipment Engineers are only here to bear the responsibiliies for any failures. Credit for any good work done will go to the line or management but never to the equipment owner." Coupled with the long hours he had been putting in, working from 8am till 4am, he soon grew very tired physically and mentally. He liked the camaraderie he had with his colleagues and his job scope but it was taking a toll on his health. When the offer came from the education sector, he decided that his health was more important than money, and decide to leave. As it was still some time before he assumed his role as an educator, he kept it silent and continued working at the plant. His yearly military training came at an opportune time and it allowed him to take a breather from work. Sadly, his manager knowing that his camp was just round the corner from the wafer-fab, asked if Niv could come back on days when he booked out. Crazy, Niv thought. He informed his manager that he is not allowed to return to the wafer-fab during his period away as he is now under the jurisdiction of the military and should he get injured due to fab issues, the company will be in very deep trouble. This resulted in an uneasy stand-off between the both of them when Niv left for his military training.
When he returned from the military training, Niv was feeling refreshed and actually looked forward to the day that he will tender his resignation. His subordinates felt that Niv was complaining less and seemed to have found himself another avenue. Also, Niv was cutting back on his overtime by alot. To Niv, his overtime pay made up almost 40% of his pay and cutting back on it just did not fit in with Niv's character who wanted to earn as much money as possible to pay off his educational loans. They were not far from the truth. One day, his assistant engineer then asked Niv if he was planning to leave. Niv asked him why he thought so and the AE claimed that it seemed as if Niv was too happy and not too interested in overtime work anymore. Niv was noncommittal but told his AE, "Maybe."
When Niv finally tendered, it was actually done ahead of schedule. His AEs while doing their yearly appraisal had brought up the matter to their SM and asked if Niv indeed was leaving. They had wanted the SM to convince Niv to stay. Niv was taken aback when his SM brought up the issue and Niv then said that he had not planned on making it official till the following week. Since it has been brought up, Niv told his SM that he will be tendering with 5 weeks notice instead of the required 1 month. The SM never made any overtures to keep Niv and it was clear then that the SM never wanted him there. Niv was employed by their Senior Manager and placed under the SM and they never had a good working relationship.
To Niv surprise, barely had he tendered his resignation, the following week, he was put in charge of a 2 million dollar decommissioning and refurbishment of machine project. His partner had just been employed the month before to work along side him and he never expected Niv to leave either. Working together, they worked out all the parts issue, the facilities requirements, the specifications and presented the report up to management. Green light was then given to proceed with the decommissioning portion first with the refurbishment to be considered later on. By the time all the paperwork was completed for the decommissioning, Niv's time was about to be up and he informed the other department personnel whom he had been working with that he will be leaving and that his partner will be heading up the project. There were some groans but he assured them that they are in safe hands. Months later, he heard from one of the other engineer that after he left, the refurbishment project was shelved. Ah well, not his issue by then anymore.
On his last day, there was a BBQ-cum-chalet thrown as a farewell to Niv. Most of the engineers attended while the team on shift sent at least a representative while the teams that were having their off time were present. Wow! Of course, he did not invite any management as he wanted everybody present to be happy. Niv had done this as a was of showing his gratitude to the people he had been working with and he was really happy with the turn-out. Later on the AEs and Technicians who were there told him that no other Engineer ever had such a good turn out for a send off. Niv guessed it was a privilege that everybody came.
posted by Prosage at 7:52 pm
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