Engineering your career path
June 26, 2021
“Being a trainee in LF is like an adventure. It urges you to approach problems with an open mindset and explore different possibilities.”
I have always been questioned on my decision to work in China as my graduate job. The truth is I have always been intrigued by things I haven’t yet explored, and curiosity has pushed me to do things that go beyond conventional frameworks – this time it happened to be jumping at the chance of working as a trainee in LF.
I would describe my experience in LF as non-traditional, because it has been far from what I expected. There were no mundane training routines to follow, chucks of materials to process and numerous talks to sit through. As a matter of fact, I have never felt like being treated as a trainee to begin with. I was given the opportunity to engage in big projects right off the bat, and currently I am taking part in three projects. It’s not an everyday experience for trainees to be given the responsibility to work with leading technology companies. My role includes liaising between these companies and our team, solving issues related to quality, manufacturing capacity and other technical concerns. Juggling three projects could be hectic, but I managed to implement a tracker to monitor the progress of each project and this has remained a valuable time management skill for me.
Some might argue LF is running high risks letting freshmen involve in projects. I would say this statement is only half-true. I believe what I learnt in school laid a solid foundation for my career in manufacturing. Knowledge on things like CNC, lathe, milling, sand blasting, 2D & 3D drawing, geometric dimension is all relevant and applicable in LF. However, utilising knowledge is a whole other subject. The first couple of months proved to be a steep learning curve. Not to worry though, there are co-workers here to guide you through the process and make sure your transition is smooth and rewarding.
