UTAR FICT Industrial Exposure Day

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By: Tan Weng Han



To most, yesterday was only another ordinary day where we woke up, got ourselves scrubbed, proceeded with usual daily Wednesday routine. ‘Less you are a student from Faculty of Information Communication and Technology (FICT) Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), yesterday (2/7/2014) would be a very special day for you because UTAR FICT held its 7th Industrial Exposure Day at Block N, starting 9.30am in the morning.

“It is indeed a special day for me and for the rest of the FICT students as no class shall be conducted on this day. FICT students who are in their year 2 or year 3 bachelor degree studies shall get the opportunity to be interviewed by the companies from the market for an internship or job post,” said Jia Jun, a year one Business Information System (IB) student.

“Although for the year 1 students like me are unlikely to seek for job opportunities, we get to learn about all these companies’ profiles instead, which will come in handy in future.” He continued.


A quick count reveals that there were at least 20 companies at the Block N corridor, each looking for their prospective employees or interns. Some of the companies that attended to FICT Industrial Exposure Day were: Fushionex, Opensys, MSC, LF Logistics, Enovade, One-Strategy Solution, LifeTech, Murata, ManagePay, Sherwin-William, Lintramax, Canaplus, Flyn, Silverlake, Datamicron, ComputerXpress, Accenture, Brunsfield, Pannage, ComputerXpress, Lifetech, Alcatel-Lucent, Atos Worldline and so on. Even the mogul companies like Huawei, Hilti, Hitachi-eBworx were there to seek for IT expertise among the FICT students.


It is only 10am in the morning but the Block N corridor had already been
occupied by students as well as companies’ employees.
(From the left) Students are asking for the mogul company Hilti’s information. 
Next to Hilti is TMS, which is another reputable company itself.


(From the left) Hitachi-eBworx, Lifetech and Huawei
have set up their companies’ booth
waiting for the interaction time with the students.
 


“Because we care”
FICT Industrial Exposure Day was not as successful as it is today if judged from the companies that were being invited to present.

“Initially, there were only 13 companies being successfully invited, and then it went up gradually. Last year we managed to get 19 companies and this year we get 30 companies instead. What’s more? – they come to Kampar on voluntary basis,” said Dr. Choo, the organizing chairperson who is also the UTAR FICT’s deputy dean that manages the students’ development and industrial training affairs.

“Because we care for the students you see, which is why this Day was being held at the first place,” he continued.

“It is a win-win situation to both the companies and the students, the companies get to choose their future employees from the large pool of students; while students themselves could acquire the knowledge and experience or even get hired prior hand before venture into the market which is highly competitive.” He ended. 


(From the left) Dr. Choo, the organizing chairperson and his colleagues:
Mr. Tou, Mr. Soong (sitting), Mr. Koon, and Mr. Sun.
Each poses happily for the camera.


“It secures my future”
Wen Bin, a student from FICT Communications and Networking (CN) who has completed his studies last semester now waits for the UTAR convocation in August. Currently, he has been employed by Hilti as an IT System Engineer.

“I get to know Hilti last year (6th Industrial Exposure Day), although I did not apply for a job position immediately, the prior knowledge about the company by even knowing their existence in the market, has helped me to secure a job, hence secured my future I would say.” Said Wen Bin.

Michael Cheng, also a student from CN was there on the Industrial Exposure Day as well. He applied for an internship position in Murata. “Murata is one of the IT backbones of PDRM Malaysia, I hope that the odds are in my favour.” He said in an optimistic tone.

Similarly, Ronny Wong and Richard Wong, a student from CN and Computer Science (CS) respectively, had applied for a position in Alcatel-Lucent, Hitachi, Carsem, and Pentax.


(From the left) Ronny Wong and Richard Wong pose for the camera 
after being interviewed by the companies. 


“Passion must come first, all else second”
We understand that the CGPA of a student is one of the important prospects that shape the student’s future in the market. The good news is, it is not the most powerful indicator.
“It is true that we are seeking for fast-learner and student with exuberance of confidence. At the same time we are also looking for the other positive traits in a student for example traits like integrity, courage, teamwork, commitment and so on. Above all, passion must come first, all else second.” Said Dr. Nithia, the Hilti’s developer who was there yesterday on Industrial Exposure Day.

Amanda Eng, the account manager of Hitachi-eBworx said something similar as well. “Companies nowadays acknowledge the Generation Y as a very unique generation. Not only we monitor them differently, they themselves also actively monitor the company. Therefore, we must constantly provide adequate guidance and training for them to flourish. Nevertheless, it is the effort invested by the generation Y that will help them to flourish ultimately.


Dr. Nithia, the developer of Hilti who is in charge of employee recruitment


Amanda Eng, the account manager from Hitachi values 
the uniqueness of Generation Y


The FICT students’ attendance to Industrial Exposure Day is compulsory. However it is not as burdening and stressful as the word “compulsory” may mean. The students that attended are rewarded as well, by the companies. For instance, Hitachi-eBworx awarded every student with free movie ticket if they submitted their CV; the same goes to OpenSys who awarded each of the student a powerbank after the company interviewed them. The most luxurious reward was from Fushionex who awarded two students with iPad mini, one from lucky draw and another one for answering a quiz correctly. 


Various company talks were prepared for the students. 
iPad mini was rewarded to students during Fushionex’s company talk. 


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