How to Request for Sponsorship from Private Companies?

[johnconnor]

I'm a chemical engineer-wannabe and I've gotten offers from top UK universities in the world. Alas, as I have been unsuccessful in scholarship applications thus far. I am really keen on approaching some private chemical/engineering-related firms to request for sponsorship. I have no knowledge of this sorts at all, so whatever I have been doing is just a list of things that I think should be done in order to get the ball rolling. Allow me to list them down:

1. Downloaded the T.H.E. Graduate Employers' Rankings, and googled for chemical/engineering-related companies in Malaysia (one of which was schlumberger).

2. Prepare a formal letter addressed to their Manager of HR Dept., and prepare a proposal for them.

3. Keep asking for friends' parents or acquaintances to keep an eye on possible "benefactors" (i.e. companies who are willing to sponsor students abroad, etc).

So far my progress on the first two have been rather slow. Mainly because I myself am not sure of how the format of the proposal should be -- I based my proposal with the proposal of the academics club in my college -- and I don't exactly know what am I supposed to do with the rankings I have obtained.

I would appreciate if anyone could shed a light on this. I am not going to let go of my UK dreams without returning a couple of swings. Thank you!

[tisisme]

What offers you got so far? (mind telling us every single one, outside UK if possible =) ) well, good luck dude =)

[acgerlok7]

dude, i suggest this before too to another friend of mine before, u might wanna try emailing Singapore Companies if possible, i can give you an example of GIC, good luck.

[quest_5692]

from top UK universities in the world. <---contradicting.

anyway, just focus on finding your parent's friend who are in related critical field. relationship+backdoor > all. if you are a mr. nobody, it is very unlikely they are going to risk half a million on you. just being a realist.

if you still want to try, most important aspect of your proposal
1) address why they need you. And how to justify their cost on you instead of spending the money else where.
2) suggest a proposal on how are you going to pay them back in return. a 10 years bond? and then justify how by being bonded 10 years is going to be worth it for them to spend this sum of money now.

[johnconnor]

Originally Posted by acgerlok7

dude, i suggest this before too to another friend of mine before, u might wanna try emailing Singapore Companies if possible, i can give you an example of GIC, good luck.

Thanks dude. But how do I even start searching for potential S'pore companies? I can't be randomly choosing one without knowing what I'm getting into right?

Which reminds me: I did download Brightsparks' ranking of scholarship bodies according to its popularity. Do you think I should start from there? Where can I find a good list of engineering/chemical companies in S'pore?

[acgerlok7]

yeah bro...brightsparks would be a very good place to begin with, but in your letter, if you are wrtting, you should try your best to reiterate on your strong points and convince them why they shud sponsor you as a Malaysian...because those top ranked scholarship aforementioned in the brightsparks are already very competitive among singaporeans themselves, so unless your application appears strongly(academics & koko).. if not, unfortunately, chances are slim...companies are like Sembcorp, ST Engineering, SIA, GIC global scholarship...around these few, the rest are mostly restricted to singaporeans or PRs only.

[johnconnor]

Originally Posted by acgerlok7

yeah bro...brightsparks would be a very good place to begin with

I had a chat with my friend's dad and he mentioned contacting engineering companies in Australia for sponsorships. Honestly this never occurred to me -- asking an Australian to sponsor a Malaysian for a degree in UK? Hmm. -- but it's a shot nonetheless.

If only I have acquaintances who are CEOs of top engineering firms... *sigh*

[podrunner]

Originally Posted by johnconnor

I had a chat with my friend's dad and he mentioned contacting engineering companies in Australia for sponsorships. Honestly this never occurred to me -- asking an Australian to sponsor a Malaysian for a degree in UK? Hmm. -- but it's a shot nonetheless.

If only I have acquaintances who are CEOs of top engineering firms... *sigh*

Did you apply to Khazanah?

[Glassylicious]

You have yet to mention any Malaysian firms you might want to approach. Do you at least have a rough idea of the Malaysian firms you're eyeing?

[johnconnor]

Originally Posted by Glassylicious

You have yet to mention any Malaysian firms you might want to approach. Do you at least have a rough idea of the Malaysian firms you're eyeing?

Laugh at me if you would, but no. I do not have an idea of who to look for. I've googled a few engineering companies in Malaysia and went through their website but I'm not sure how to get started with it.

Any advice you'd like to offer me? Perhaps a few guidelines for me to get started with the search for a Malaysian engineering firm? Thank you.