Not all gloom: Approximately 250,00 Malaysians completed their studies at higher learninginstitutions locally and overseas in recent months. Although it is not panning out as planned forthese fresh graduates, many remain positive about their future prospects.

>They (employers)are looking for peoplewho can hit theground runningv

SUNDAY STAR, 5 July 2009

The jobs are out thereThey have slogged over their final exams but the graduating class of 2009 is aboutto face the real test - getting a job in a tight market. However, the situation may notbe as bleak as expected.

By HARIATI AZIZANsunday@thestar.com.my

EVEN while he was sittingfor his Penilaian MenengahRendah (PMR) examina-

tions, Robert Ng, 22, had plannedhis career path to a T.

"I knew that I wanted to workin the financial market and makelots of money. To do that I had toget into the right stream for FormFour, choose the right subjects,join in the right co-curricularactivities, etc," he says.

He worked towards his goalthrough internships and gainingwork experience during hisundergraduate years. "Then theeconomic meltdown happened.I've had to rethink my strategies,"says the fresh graduate who hasjust returned from Britain.

He admits that he, unlike mostof his peers who still do notknow what they want to do inlife, is a go-getter. But they haveone thing in common - they areall feeling the pinch of the cur-rent economic uncertainties.

"I had wanted to stay back inLondon and try to get a job in theCity (financial district) but somany people have been laid offthere, so my chances of gettinghired are close to zilch. Evenplaces for unpaid internships arebecoming competitive," he says.

The good news is that there arevarious opportunities availableFor him in Malaysia from trainingto internship and postgraduatestudies. There are even variousjob openings in related and non-related fields.

"I might have to take a detourbut it is not all hopeless. If I stayfocused, I will still achieve mydreams," he shares.

Ng is not alone as approxi-mately 250,000 Malaysians com-plete their studies at higher edu-cation institutions locally andoverseas in these few months.

Graduation should be the bigmoment when they get to reapthe rewards of two decades oftuition classes and examinations.In fact, it's the day that most havebeen living for - or drilled to livefor - to get their degrees andstart their careers. Although it isnot panning out as planned forthese fresh graduates, manyremain positive about theirfuture prospects.

Tough marketStatistics show a massive chal-

lenge for the class of 2009 tobreak into the job market.According to the HigherEducation Ministry's GraduateTracer Study, 55.1% of graduateswere employed six months afterthey graduated last year whileabout 80% secured jobs withinthe same period in 2007.

The 2009 job market, however,

has shrunk, as companies closeor downsize to minimise opera-tion costs in the world's econom-ic uncertainties which began lastyear. Even those that are weath-ering the troubled times areadopting a more cautiousapproach in hiring new staff.Many are not even filling upvacancies in their companiesunless they are crucial positions.

As the Labour Department dis-closed recently, about 30,111Malaysians have lost their jobssince last October.

In addition, thousands ofMalaysians who were working

overseas have also returnedhome, says Malaysian EmployersFederation executive directorShamsuddin Bardan.

"During the good days, morethan 720,000 Malaysians wereworking overseas in the MiddleEast, Africa, the United States andEurope. Many were working inconstruction projects and petro-chemical industries but now,many have returned home afterlosing their jobs due to aban-doned projects and productioncuts brought on by the globalrecession," he points out.

Worse, the global employment

market reached another low lastweek with the Euro zone record-ing a 9.5% jobless rate. US joblessfigures also hit 9.5%, their highestlevel in 26 years. Malaysia'sunemployment rate, which hasbeen stable at 3.5% for the pastfew years, is expected to hit 4.5%by the end of the year.

Hence, although there hasalways been stiff competitionamong fresh graduates in the jobmarket, this year is tougher asthey have to contend with jobseekers who have more workexperience. "If more of our work-ers return home from overseas,we will have an oversupply ofskilled workers and a highernumber of unemployed,"Shamsuddin notes.

The good news is that althoughthe outlook for the local employ-ment market remains subdued,companies are still hiring, espe-cially to fill key positions.

On Friday, it was reported thatthe electronics and electrical sec-tor is hiring again with a reboundin demand for its products.

According to The Star's job por-

tal Star-Jobs senior executiveJoyce Lee, other sectors are alsohiring.

Based on the job advertise-ments that Star-Jobs is receiving,the sector that is growing andhiring is the service sector.

"There are various job open-ings in the call-centre and hospi-tality sectors. Other industriesstill hiring are accounting, salesand marketing, and administra-tion. As for InformationTechnology, there is high demandfor web developer, designing andadministration," she highlights.

"If the fresh graduates have apositive attitude and are notchoosy, they can catch a break,"says Lee.

Opportunities aboundCareers and employment

resource portal Graduan concurs.Its managing counsellor anddirector Elia Talib says companieshave started to recruit again,especially in areas like financial,services, education and healthbut it will still be an employers'market.

"There will be openings forentry-level positions. This meansthat fresh graduates still have agood chance of getting a solidcareer but they have to competefor fewer places with more peo-ple," she says.

This is supported by the find-ings of the latest MalaysiaEmployment Outlook and SalaryGuide issued by Kelly Services(M) Sdn Bhd which was releasedlast month.

According to the report,employment opportunitiesremain in information technolo-gy, engineering, digital and tele-communications, call centres,healthcare, Islamic banking andfinance.

Despite the global slowdown,there is also a continued demandfor people with specialised skillsin areas such as marketing, busi-ness development, healthcareand mechanical engineering.

Although the employment out-look for some industries contin-ues to improve, fresh graduateswith no work experience as wellas non-skilled candidates face achallenge in securing positions asmany organisations, looking forimmediate results, prefer to hirepeople with skills and experi-ence.

Shamsuddin laments this pere-nial problem.

"They are looking for peoplewho can hit the ground running

> SEE NEXT PAGE

SUNDAY STAR, 5 July 2009

Grads need to upskilland be ready for upswing> FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

and this would generally be the people withmore experience.

"There have been many unemployed gradu-ates in the market today, even during thegood times, because they lack communicationskills - they can't interact and can't engagewell with other people," he opines, addingthat graduates need to upskill themselves bytaking opportunities provided by the privatesector and Government.

"For instance, the train-and-place pro-gramme introduced by the Government givesthem an opportunity to upskill themselves inthe soft skill areas, and be ready for anupswing in the job market."

Many organisations are deferring on hiringpermanent staff and opting for contractual ortemporary jobs.

A spokesperson for recruitment agencySelect Appointments (M) Sdn Bhd, whodeclines to be named, points out that the hir-ing trend for fresh graduates is for contractpositions (three to six months) as many com-panies do not want to risk hiring the wrongpeople.

"Companies are also still very cautious andunsure of what the economic situation wouldbe in the near future. Graduates should takeadvantage of these opportunities anyway.They need to be proactive at a time like thisand grab whatever opportunity they can. Itwon't come knocking on their doors," he says.

Lee echoes his views. "The fresh graduatesmust first identify the skills that they want tolearn and go for jobs that they know will getthem the kind of training and experience thatthey need," she adds.

On whether the experienced workers orfresh graduates were more in demand, Leesays it depends on the job function of the par-ticular position.

"If it is a significant position in the compa-

ny or position that needs technical skills, thenexperienced workers are more in demand.But for frontliners, sales, marketing andadministrative staff, the company would pre-fer fresh graduates as they are cheaper to hireand they are full of creativity and energy," shesays.

Associate Prof Dr Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf,director of the Alumni and Career ServicesDivision, International Islamic UniversityMalaysia (HUM), observes that many arehappy to accept whatever is available beforelanding themselves their dream job.

Many, she adds, would opt for the trainingprogrammes offered by government-linkedcompanies for two months and spend a fur-ther seven months working at the GLC forRM900 a month.

"If they are good, they will be absorbed bythese companies. If not, they will have jobexperience which will strengthen their CVsand chances of getting a job later. I think thebest of the young generation are not afraid ofany situation.

"Good universities would have equippedthem with enough skills, knowledge and theright attitude to survive any crisis."

She adds that even with the economic cri-sis, IIUM graduates continue to receive offersfrom big corporations.

"Although it appears that most companiesare freezing vacancies, a few big players suchas certain oil and gas companies are stillapproaching the university for new talentsand recruits.

"In this sense, there isn't much change indemand for fresh graduates. But I think it isbecause they are happy with our graduatesdue to their English language proficiency,their knowledge of more than one language(Arabic, Malay, English and other Europeanlanguages), their ability to interact in a multi-national/multicultural environment as well astheir computer skills," says Dr Nor Faridah.