In this blog post, we will introduce how to effectively incorporate your job suitability and versatility into your cover letter based on your practical experience in plant engineering, including drawing design, commissioning, and sales support.
Growth
“Carrying out projects at Meister High School.”
I was a very enterprising student growing up. My mother passed away when I was young, so I grew up with my father. My father would leave early in the morning to work on urban planning projects at construction sites, and I would take care of the housework to help him. I respected my father for his sincerity and strength. Raising a child alone could have led him to drink heavily or smoke, or become frustrated, but he never did any of those things and always set a good example for me. He didn’t drink or smoke, and he always tried to be a good role model for me by observing the anniversary of my mother’s death every year. That’s why I respected my father, and I wanted to be like him, so I decided to become a construction site manager.
To keep my promise, I enrolled in a technical high school. There, I majored in industrial plants and completed a variety of courses, including hands-on training. I was impressed by the experience of participating in the learning process with several friends at the same time while carrying out practical projects. In particular, it was beneficial to participate in extracurricular activities through industry-academia collaboration projects and gain practical experience at other companies. During this process, I became very close with my friends who participated in the internship program with me, and we decided to apply to the same field. So, instead of finding a job right after graduating from high school, I applied to a social education center to further my studies in my major, and after completing the program, we all studied together to find jobs. In this way, I gained a lot from Meister High School and grew up as a child who always worked hard and helped my father.
Strengths and weaknesses
“Once I start something, I see it through to the end.”
When I was in college, I planned a fun activity with my friends during spring break. We decided to gather our handmade products and run a booth. Usually, booth activities are limited to school festivals, but we went beyond that and went to Myeong-dong Street. We bought a food cart in Myeong-dong, paid the rent, and started our business. Since we were selling handmade products, each of us contributed our own ideas and skills. For example, I made fruit jams, and another friend brought knitted items she had made herself. Another friend brought bracelets made from raw stones, and another brought traditional food products.
We laid out these products and started selling them. We decided to do this during the school break, so we worked hard to increase sales for a total of three months. The customer response was better than we expected, and we were able to generate high sales because there were many people passing by on Myeong-dong Street. We needed to make a lot of products, so we worked every day to make them, and we also learned each other’s techniques for making handmade products and collaborated to create products together. Later, we applied sales strategies and held promotional events, and after 10 p.m., we sold the remaining products at a discount. Through these efforts, we demonstrated our perseverance in not giving up on something we started. We could have easily given up or quit halfway through, but we followed through with our plan. I am a persistent and patient person, and I am determined to complete what I start.
School days
“Studying industrial plants at a social education center.”
While majoring in industrial plants, I needed to deepen my knowledge in the field, so I decided to study at a social education center. I chose a training center over a university because, first, the tuition was cheaper, and second, the program was short, so I could start preparing for employment right away. In addition, my seniors recommended the program to me, and it was helpful because it offered employment support after graduation. Of course, I only had a high school diploma, but I wanted to develop my skills rather than my academic background. At the education center, I acquired basic knowledge related to plants and learned the basics of operating design programs. I participated in the design process in teams using design programs and drew my own blueprints. Based on the blueprints, I participated in the welding process and experienced the entire process of construction and manufacturing.
Most of the classes during the construction process involved making models, and when making large models, we used materials used in actual construction to conduct practical training. Since industrial plants are not limited to the design and construction processes, I also took classes related to sales. My department offered classes to cultivate management and sales management skills that engineering students may lack. Therefore, I worked hard to develop my skills in preparing estimates and responding to customers. When I took classes on overseas sales, I studied English conversation and listening skills so that I could follow the English lectures. I also learned the safety management procedures that are essential at plant sites and prepared for the industrial engineer certification by practicing safety-related status reports. By the time I graduated from university, I had obtained engineer certifications in construction safety and industrial safety.
Work experience
“Case study of gaining practical experience in a research laboratory”
During my time at the training center, my major was chemical engineering, but I chose industrial plants as my minor. There were both online and offline lectures, but I was also able to participate in research at an industrial plant research laboratory. So, I started working as a high school graduate employee at a nearby university with a research laboratory, working alongside research students. At first, it was difficult to adapt to the atmosphere of the laboratory. Even though it was a graduate school laboratory, the focus was often on business rather than research and learning. During that time, the other undergraduate students and I had to perform very basic tasks with the mindset of new employees. For example, we had to perform the roles of general office workers or professional secretaries, including office management, equipment management, document creation, and schedule management. Sometimes, I was even asked to do accounting work and receipt processing, which I was not familiar with, and I began to feel uncertain about working in the laboratory.
I was at a crossroads. It wasn’t a bad idea to continue working at the lab while taking classes at the training center. However, since the work at the lab was almost the same as working at a regular company, I wondered if I really needed to adapt to the lab. But since I didn’t go to college, I decided to think positively about working at the lab through the training center and not give up. After making my decision, I tried to get closer to the other research students in the laboratory and help them with whatever they needed, and eventually I was able to participate in the business process. I also had the opportunity to go to a plant construction site to experience practical work, and I was able to gain work experience by accompanying colleagues on overseas business trips. As a result, even though I was in a graduate school laboratory, I learned a lot more than I would have from my studies alone, as I was able to experience what it is like to work at a general construction company.
Motivation for applying/future aspirations
“I applied for a new position in your company’s plant division.”
I majored in chemical engineering in college and studied the details of my major in an industrial plant laboratory. Therefore, I believe that I have everything I need to grow as a professional in the plant field at your company. Specifically, I applied for the plant design team, which is known for its step-by-step talent development program. First, I will participate in the design process and learn about basic design and quotation preparation. Then, I will perform basic engineering tasks, participate in the design and construction process, and gradually be assigned to detailed design tasks. Once I become familiar with the design process, I will take on quality control and construction management tasks as a plant PM, and later participate in plant sales. Therefore, joining the plant team as a new employee requires not only design skills for the job, but also management and sales skills. I am prepared in those areas. I have already learned a series of processes through my research, and I am determined to work steadily toward my goal of being promoted to section manager or higher in the plant team in the future.
