[VIDEO] 4 Reasons Why Malaysian Fresh Grads Are Unemployed
Lack of suitable jobs, poor attitude, bad English language skills, and choosy grads. Mana satu ni?
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 15 Sep 2018, 08:39 AM
It was reported earlier this year that the youth unemployment rate in Malaysia is three times higher than the national unemployment rate
This worrying piece of information was revealed by Yeo Bee Yin, current Malaysian Minister of Energy, Green Technology, Science, Climate Change, and Environment back in January.
She was commenting on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir's statement which criticised the former BN government for failing to provide enough jobs that could match graduates' expertise.
"People who send students to universities have hopes that they will graduate and land high-paying jobs. Only a crazy person would hope for a person to graduate from university and become a nasi lemak seller or an Uber driver," said Mahathir, according to a Free Malaysia Today article on 22 January.
Four months later, the research arm of Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF) released a report attributing the rising youth unemployment rate on skill mismatch in job sectors.
"For instance, out of all job vacancies last year, 76% were for elementary occupations, followed by 10.3% for plant and machinery operators and assemblers," read the report published by The Edge Markets a few months ago.
Meanwhile, JobStreet has been publishing yearly reports highlighting the problems within the fresh graduate pool in Malaysia
Guess what are the top four reasons for high rate of unemployment among Malaysian fresh grads?
UNREALISTIC SALARY EXPECTATIONS takes the first place and here are the rest:
RM6,500 for a fresh graduate seems a bit much, don't you think?
I mean, I'm all for bayaran setimpal but given the fact that the average fresh graduate salary in Malaysia is around RM3,000, asking for another RM3,500 does sound unrealistically high.
Personally, I think that if you can prove to the employer that you're the best person for the job and have the expertise and experience that will benefit the organisation, you can ask for a little bit more. Gunalah your communication skills to get what you think you deserve!
Go ahead, push the boundaries but be prepared for rejections. Bear in mind that most employers wouldn't exactly have the budget to pay so much for a fresh hire.
But lah, if you can hardly string a sentence in English and Malay (assuming you're applying to work in a local company), don't exactly have relevant experiences (internships, volunteering programmes) tapi still nak demand beribu-ribu, then sorry bro/sis, I don't think it's gonna be easy for you to get a job.
To sum it up, our fresh graduates need to buckle up and realise that landing a job requires more than having a 4.0 GPA
Use your college years to hone your soft skills, devote time to gaining relevant industry experiences, and be passionate about what you do. :)