Unemployed Graduates.
I do not know if the title of my article is correct. Or can I say unemployable Graduates?
By my standard Graduates are those who have gone to a University and have got a Degree. But I may also include those who have Diploma in any form. I stand corrected.
To me Graduates are just products. If the product is useful then there will be demand but if the product is just an everyday stuff, people only use them occasionally, then demand will decline. And of course products depends on the manufacturing process, the market and the costings which may also include maintenance (in a sense if they are to be retrained to be useful or of further use). And what about market research before the product is manufactured and then marketed. Its a complete product cycle really, and when the product is no longer useful or have no use for them or the shelf life expires then they can be discarded or even disposed of.
Malaysia used to have very few Universities and Colleges and so Malaysians were made to go overseas for further studies. And Graduates then were rare breeds but as the country progresses the demand for Graduates were on the increase and so every Graduate had jobs (I mean jobs - with a ‘s’) waiting for them. As time goes on, more Malaysian Graduates are produced by these overseas Universities and Colleges, and at the same time Malaysia started to build its own Universities and Colleges. To date I do not know how many Universities and Colleges are here in Malaysia exist, perhaps a search on the Internet will reveal the total number. And in addition there are private Institutions doing twinning Degree courses with some foreign Universities or even some students taking off-campus Degrees. So as a result Graduates flood the job market.
And Graduates come in all sorts of colour and sizes, and sex, and they studied various subjects relating to their final qualifications and interests and their expectations and perceptions of the job market. Many of them just plunged into their subjects of studies without considering even what will they be when out of the Universities or Colleges, and also not knowing what the outside job market is like. These Graduates have been studying subjects which may have no job skills other than the skills to pass their acquired knowledge to others, or skills that may find no market or that the market is already saturated with that sort of skills. I don’t want to mention what these Degrees are like, but enough to say that some of these Degrees are of no use to society at large, other than probably in very restricted job positions. Thus these Graduates are left hanging with their Degree papers with no job in sight; too high for low paying jobs, low for high paying jobs, and no position available in the open job market.
Its easy to say that there are no positions available in the job market. But bear in mind that some of these Graduates do not want some of these jobs; they get to be choosy about jobs. Maybe the job is too low below their so called ‘status’ as Graduates, maybe because these jobs are low paying according to their perceptions, low compared to their expectations or these jobs are menial, not a Lobourers job but labourious enough for them. I mean being just out of the ivory tower they expect that in the outside world they are still be treated as if they are still in the ivory owe, and the world owes them a living. And in a society like in Malaysia where Graduates used to have certain value, and now these new Graduates find themselves at almost zero value, its too much for them to take. Bear in mind also that when they enter the University of Colleges their parents, friends and relatives expect them to have high paying jobs, and now suddenly they are offered jobs as if they have not been into a University or Colleges (like in the old days); its a question of loosing face to all, worst still to other Graduates and the parents. And sometimes the parents have to bear all financial burden to educate their children up to University level and now after graduation have zero return on their investment. And also loosing face as when the children first was accepted into a University or a College, everyone would know about it and their reputation had been up. Now after graduation, the children finding no job making their reputation going to the dogs. Many will talk about why so and so who have graduated from a University or Colleges cannot get jobs. Worst still, some may even suspect that so and so have not managed to get to be called Graduate. A further loss of face.
Its really again a question of unemployed Graduates or Graduates who are not employable. I find that in the press, almost everyday there are vacant jobs being advertised, vacancies at various level. But sadly though I must admit that the employers are not being fair, in the sense that they want experienced person/s. From the point of view of the Graduate if they have not been given employment how can they have the experience but from the point of view of the employer experienced personnel are expected to have quick return. Its a chicken and egg situation.
I must go again into unemployable Graduates. Many Graduates are unemployable. They do not have the expected potential, they cannot converse in the language mainly used in the market places, which unfortunately happens to be English and these Graduates have graduated in Malay medium Universities or Colleges. Some have no personality for the job at all, they just studied their subjects without even considering what is expected in the outside world. Some thinking that a Degree is good enough, forgetting such traits as personality, potential and relationships. Some do not even have network where they can seek help in getting jobs. Networking may be difficult if the parents have no network, like those just emerging from the rural into the urban.
At least the Graduates themselves should have attempted to search for contacts in order for them to easily glide into a job on graduation. In the old days the employer goes to the University in search for good Graduate material but nowadays the Graduates themselves, or even those about to be called Graduates, would need to look outside the University environment for potential employer. Maybe they do, I do not know, but I have not seen such effort in may cases. Even the Universities themselves may have neglected this aspect of getting jobs for their Graduates. If they do then, I would say "Hurray" for them.
Looking outside the University is really a market research effort. In fact job market research should have been done by the potential Graduate itself even before going to the University. At school they have the Career Teachers who are trained to be in the know about the job market and who can advice their students accordingly. Young people being idealistic would try to choose a University course that may look glamorous without thinking about them getting jobs when they graduate. Some may even choose a course which are beyond their academic capabilities, they get filtered out even in the first year at the University, and they do not Graduate. But those who proceed on and be lucky enough to graduate may find that they are misfits, thus cannot find employment or even unemployable.
On a average, Graduates in Malaysia will try to look for secured jobs, and these are available in the Government services. But Government services are saturated. And jobs outside the Government services are ‘unsecured’ jobs, in a sense that they can be made unemployed at almost any time. In reality it is not that bad but that is the impression that Graduates used to think in those days. Now Graduates may have changed in their thinking and will accept jobs outside the Government services. In fact if the Graduate have enough intelligence and initiative they can very well make their career outside the Government services very successfully. And the pay will commiserate likewise. But outside sector is more choosy, the unemployed Graduates may be more likely to be unemployable.
Being Graduates in Malaysia today is not an easy life. We Malaysians used to say that in India even the bus conductors are Graduates. It won’t be long that situation will happen in Malaysia. Graduates are produced by the thousands every year, and the rate of production to employment opportunity do not commiserate with the production of these Graduates. And in addition thousands of other Graduates are also flooding the market, they being Malaysians who are returning to Malaysia from the Universities overseas.
What of the future? Privately I would say that employment opportunity for Graduates in Malaysia will be bleak. It is up to these Graduates to consider what they want to do with their lives. After all that piece of paper called a Degree is just a ticket, and the ticket is only a mean of opening doors into the job market, job generally speaking either being employed by others or you employ yourself. In the self employment sector the opportunities are still wide open in Malaysia.
By my standard Graduates are those who have gone to a University and have got a Degree. But I may also include those who have Diploma in any form. I stand corrected.
To me Graduates are just products. If the product is useful then there will be demand but if the product is just an everyday stuff, people only use them occasionally, then demand will decline. And of course products depends on the manufacturing process, the market and the costings which may also include maintenance (in a sense if they are to be retrained to be useful or of further use). And what about market research before the product is manufactured and then marketed. Its a complete product cycle really, and when the product is no longer useful or have no use for them or the shelf life expires then they can be discarded or even disposed of.
Malaysia used to have very few Universities and Colleges and so Malaysians were made to go overseas for further studies. And Graduates then were rare breeds but as the country progresses the demand for Graduates were on the increase and so every Graduate had jobs (I mean jobs - with a ‘s’) waiting for them. As time goes on, more Malaysian Graduates are produced by these overseas Universities and Colleges, and at the same time Malaysia started to build its own Universities and Colleges. To date I do not know how many Universities and Colleges are here in Malaysia exist, perhaps a search on the Internet will reveal the total number. And in addition there are private Institutions doing twinning Degree courses with some foreign Universities or even some students taking off-campus Degrees. So as a result Graduates flood the job market.
And Graduates come in all sorts of colour and sizes, and sex, and they studied various subjects relating to their final qualifications and interests and their expectations and perceptions of the job market. Many of them just plunged into their subjects of studies without considering even what will they be when out of the Universities or Colleges, and also not knowing what the outside job market is like. These Graduates have been studying subjects which may have no job skills other than the skills to pass their acquired knowledge to others, or skills that may find no market or that the market is already saturated with that sort of skills. I don’t want to mention what these Degrees are like, but enough to say that some of these Degrees are of no use to society at large, other than probably in very restricted job positions. Thus these Graduates are left hanging with their Degree papers with no job in sight; too high for low paying jobs, low for high paying jobs, and no position available in the open job market.
Its easy to say that there are no positions available in the job market. But bear in mind that some of these Graduates do not want some of these jobs; they get to be choosy about jobs. Maybe the job is too low below their so called ‘status’ as Graduates, maybe because these jobs are low paying according to their perceptions, low compared to their expectations or these jobs are menial, not a Lobourers job but labourious enough for them. I mean being just out of the ivory tower they expect that in the outside world they are still be treated as if they are still in the ivory owe, and the world owes them a living. And in a society like in Malaysia where Graduates used to have certain value, and now these new Graduates find themselves at almost zero value, its too much for them to take. Bear in mind also that when they enter the University of Colleges their parents, friends and relatives expect them to have high paying jobs, and now suddenly they are offered jobs as if they have not been into a University or Colleges (like in the old days); its a question of loosing face to all, worst still to other Graduates and the parents. And sometimes the parents have to bear all financial burden to educate their children up to University level and now after graduation have zero return on their investment. And also loosing face as when the children first was accepted into a University or a College, everyone would know about it and their reputation had been up. Now after graduation, the children finding no job making their reputation going to the dogs. Many will talk about why so and so who have graduated from a University or Colleges cannot get jobs. Worst still, some may even suspect that so and so have not managed to get to be called Graduate. A further loss of face.
Its really again a question of unemployed Graduates or Graduates who are not employable. I find that in the press, almost everyday there are vacant jobs being advertised, vacancies at various level. But sadly though I must admit that the employers are not being fair, in the sense that they want experienced person/s. From the point of view of the Graduate if they have not been given employment how can they have the experience but from the point of view of the employer experienced personnel are expected to have quick return. Its a chicken and egg situation.
I must go again into unemployable Graduates. Many Graduates are unemployable. They do not have the expected potential, they cannot converse in the language mainly used in the market places, which unfortunately happens to be English and these Graduates have graduated in Malay medium Universities or Colleges. Some have no personality for the job at all, they just studied their subjects without even considering what is expected in the outside world. Some thinking that a Degree is good enough, forgetting such traits as personality, potential and relationships. Some do not even have network where they can seek help in getting jobs. Networking may be difficult if the parents have no network, like those just emerging from the rural into the urban.
At least the Graduates themselves should have attempted to search for contacts in order for them to easily glide into a job on graduation. In the old days the employer goes to the University in search for good Graduate material but nowadays the Graduates themselves, or even those about to be called Graduates, would need to look outside the University environment for potential employer. Maybe they do, I do not know, but I have not seen such effort in may cases. Even the Universities themselves may have neglected this aspect of getting jobs for their Graduates. If they do then, I would say "Hurray" for them.
Looking outside the University is really a market research effort. In fact job market research should have been done by the potential Graduate itself even before going to the University. At school they have the Career Teachers who are trained to be in the know about the job market and who can advice their students accordingly. Young people being idealistic would try to choose a University course that may look glamorous without thinking about them getting jobs when they graduate. Some may even choose a course which are beyond their academic capabilities, they get filtered out even in the first year at the University, and they do not Graduate. But those who proceed on and be lucky enough to graduate may find that they are misfits, thus cannot find employment or even unemployable.
On a average, Graduates in Malaysia will try to look for secured jobs, and these are available in the Government services. But Government services are saturated. And jobs outside the Government services are ‘unsecured’ jobs, in a sense that they can be made unemployed at almost any time. In reality it is not that bad but that is the impression that Graduates used to think in those days. Now Graduates may have changed in their thinking and will accept jobs outside the Government services. In fact if the Graduate have enough intelligence and initiative they can very well make their career outside the Government services very successfully. And the pay will commiserate likewise. But outside sector is more choosy, the unemployed Graduates may be more likely to be unemployable.
Being Graduates in Malaysia today is not an easy life. We Malaysians used to say that in India even the bus conductors are Graduates. It won’t be long that situation will happen in Malaysia. Graduates are produced by the thousands every year, and the rate of production to employment opportunity do not commiserate with the production of these Graduates. And in addition thousands of other Graduates are also flooding the market, they being Malaysians who are returning to Malaysia from the Universities overseas.
What of the future? Privately I would say that employment opportunity for Graduates in Malaysia will be bleak. It is up to these Graduates to consider what they want to do with their lives. After all that piece of paper called a Degree is just a ticket, and the ticket is only a mean of opening doors into the job market, job generally speaking either being employed by others or you employ yourself. In the self employment sector the opportunities are still wide open in Malaysia.
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