Young Graduates Expectation In Career Planning

CHAPTER 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

“Today’s graduates show a lack in dynamism and edge to survive the requirements of the evolving
job industry”. “If you have a degree but remain unemployed, then it is time to change your attitude”.
That is the advice given from Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.

When making important career or education decisions, it is important to recognize a few key
characteristics about yourself so that you make choices that are well suited for you. Specifically, it is
helpful to clearly understand what you are interested in, what your strengths and abilities are, what
your personality type is, and what is valuable to you. Having self-awareness about these attributes
will help you in deciding between a careers or furthering your studies.

“Career planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing an occupation, getting a job,
growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. According to recent studies,
half of the men and women who went to work this morning feel they are in the wrong career field.
Not just that they feel they would like a different job, but they feel they are in the wrong career
altogether. Another study indicated that 52 percent of those working in the information technology
field said they would rather be doing something in the liberal arts”, said Crown Financial Ministries.
These statistics merely reflect the fact that people base their career decision making on faulty
foundations, the world's perspective of determining a career. Some of these include choosing a job
because: it pays well, it's the first/easiest you can get, it's offered to you, you have friends who work
for the company, you've done that kind of job before, the job sounds good or has a good title, your
parents do that job, or it will fulfill your parents' unfulfilled dreams.

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CHAPTER 2

2.0 OPTIONS AFTER GRADUATING

Graduating from university is an exciting time but it can also be daunting as people consider their
next steps in life after their degree. In the current economic climate it is natural that young
graduations are considering their options after graduated even more closely. After they have
graduated from the universities, several options have open to them and choosing the right path is not
always an easy thing to do. Therefore, they should explore each one to work out which is the best
route for them. The main options for students after they graduate from studying in the universities
which include finding a job, further study at postgraduate level, setting up a business or rest from
any commitment for a while, and some of them also think about getting married and settle down.
But whether they are looking for a career, taking courses or any other type of opportunity, they must
get organized as soon as possible when they are still a final year student and take the advantage from
the available opportunity even there is likely to be a lot going on in your final year such as lectures,
essays and exams.

However if you are not sure about your first step as a graduate, talking through your options can
help you come up with ideas. Even if you have decided what you want to do, getting advice is still
worthwhile. For example if you are looking to get a particular job, will a postgraduate qualification
improve your chances? Or would it be better to get some work experience? So if we are still confuse
and cannot make our own decision, we can get some help and advice from the university or college
careers services which they can advise you on options to further study and provide some tips on
where to look for career ‘leads’. But for those who are looking to go straight into a job after
graduation, it will be better if they register with the careers services as soon as possible. If you are
considering furthering your study, it is better to start thinking about your options as early as
possible, at least 18 months before we start our postgraduate course.

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Besides that, several young graduates choose to be an entrepreneur as their career option after
graduating by setting up a business. In addition, many universities offer support to students and
graduates who want to start their own business. This will give them the option to develop
entrepreneurial skills as part of their course, or running extra-curricular advice sessions on starting a
business. Some universities also provide an ‘incubator’ service to help graduates get their business
off the ground.

Even though there are many options out there, some of them prefer taking a rest after they
graduated. Whether they go abroad or stay in the oversea, a resting period can be a good opportunity
to broaden their horizons.

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CHAPTER 3

3.0 FACTOR INFLUENCING CAREER PLANNINGS

Choosing what career path to follow is similar to choosing what kind of investment savings.
Whichever ever path that young graduates choose right now will give huge impact to their future.
Once you have completed your tertiary education, an option for you could be to attend graduate
school, find a job straight away, or gain experience by enrolling into an apprenticeship program.

Graduating from university is an exciting time but it can also be daunting as people consider their
next steps in life after their acquiring their degree. In the current economic climate it’s natural that
students are considering their options even more closely so that they can choose the best path for
their future. But there are many factors that influence their career planning.

Post-graduate school can be very expensive and you have to consider if it will be a worthwhile
option for young graduates to take. Do they think that they will be able to earn enough money after
they have completed their graduate course to pay this debt off? Definitely they will have to weigh up
their options. The other option is to enter the working life and there are many factors that influence
career planning for young graduates.

Most of the young adults nowadays are so eager to enter the real life of working. Their main reason
of course is to earn a steady income because they want to pay back the accumulated debt such as
PTPTN and others loan. Besides that, they also have family responsibilities. But in the economic
downturn nowadays, competitions among graduate students are tougher than two years ago. We can
see that the statistics of unemployed graduates have increased from last year to this year. Despite
that, some of them also willing to accept jobs that are not related to their field of study because of
the industry downsizing and many companies have also freeze their manpower to hire new
graduates.

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Other reason that most young graduates looking for right now is to acquire working experiences in
their industry. The experience graduates receive during their time in university itself can also be
invaluable in the search for new jobs, even though graduates leave their courses with a well-rounded
set of skills that they have gained through clubs and societies.

The most important criteria by most employers are work experience in their respective field.
Because of the current situation where the number of job seekers exceeds greatly the number of
available position, the situation is very competitive and employers can state high demand in the
position offered. The rest of the inexperience fresh graduates will not be employed therefore not
gaining any experiences which is invaluable for them to get a foothold in their field. The action
taken by some organization such as Sime Darby Berhad and Khazanah Nasional Berhad are to be
praised for their effort to equip young graduates with skills and experiences from their
apprenticeship program.

Getting a degree remains still remains the best pathways to a long and rewarding career life. Job
preferences are another factor that a graduate must consider for long term career plan. It will be an
advantage if they can apply all these skills acquired in university and apply in their working life. But
sometimes, graduates are offered a job that is totally different from their background. They have
only two options: either decline the offer and wait for another offer that is more suitable to their
degree. Between these two options, most of the job seekers have to do a lot of deep thinking,
research and plan what is to expect in our career.

CHAPTER 4
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4.0 EXPECTATION OF YOUNG GRADUATES

Graduating from university marks end of formal education and beginning of a new chapter in one’s
life. Most of the young graduates have their own expectations on how they want to manage their
future regarding to their own career planning. Some might choose to further their study and some
will joins the job seeking market.

As for those who choose to further their study they might put an expectation that when they finish
studying at the higher level, they can get a better job than the qualification that they already had.
Other than get a better job in future, they also want to gain more knowledge than what they already
have and maybe this also is one of the ways for them to make their self being more prepare before
enter the working world.

Other than further their study, most of the young graduates choose to seek for a job. They also have
their own expectation when they join the job seeking market such as the position, salary and
environment. These three elements are the most important things when seeking for a job.

Usually young graduates have lots of expectations on what will happen after they are graduating.
Most graduates expect to get a good job which relates with their education background, they also
expect to get a good salary that follows the market rate and their qualification.

Other than seeking for a job with good salary, young graduates now days also expects to get a job at
a well known / establish companies which also provides training to develop the skills among their
employees. It is because most of the young graduates don’t have any working experience which it is
a very important key in strive for a success in any business.

But all of the expectation is not easy for one’s to achieve. As for example, most of the graduates will
get a job but most of them didn’t get their dream job which relates with their educational
background and maybe the salary also are less than what they had expected. There are many factors
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that being the cause of this situation such as economic, market demand / requirement and many
more.

Even though the young graduates didn’t get their dream job, but they still can take the opportunity
from the place that they work with to gain working experiences and try to utilize all the skills that
they have. Beside that they also can build a better networking that will help them in future.

CHAPTER 5

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5.0 LONG TERM PLANNING

Every people must have their own planning in their life. The planning can be divided into two;
which are short term planning and long term planning. After graduated from the university or in the
final year, most of the students start to plan their career and have their own goals. Basically, they
break their goals down into short term and long term goals. Short term goals are goals that you can
reach in one year or less. Long term goals are ones that are attainable in one to five years. In order to
reach their goals, you will have to get around any barriers that you may face.

Basically after they achieve their target and mission for short term planning in their life, they also
think about the long term planning. Actually, it’s very important for us to plan our career because
they can arrange their life and at the same time, it can help to motivate their selves and have their
own vision and mission in the future. In order to achieve it, they must work hard, focus, and start
plan from now.

As usual, for the young graduates, they will be looking for working experience first. It’s true that
experience is the key for someone to get better job. From the experiences, they can learn many
things and can improve their self and develop skills to be a good employee in future. Then, they will
learn and collect as many experiences as possible from the first workplace because it is very
beneficial and useful for them in the long run. Besides that, it is easier for them to get better job than
before. They must look into this from the positive perspective; it does not mean that when they are
jumping from one company to another, they are not loyal. They must take the opportunities
presented to them which give benefit to expand their career and get some new knowledge and skills
in new environments. As our former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said, they must
grab opportunities that come once in our life and always look forward in becoming a better person.

Besides that, young graduates also have their own dream as they started working, which is to be
happy and have better life in the future. Most of them will be planning to have their own assets such
as houses, cars, and at the same time, a happy family. In order to achieve it, they must set their mind
from now and plan properly on how to manage their savings when they get a job.

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Normally, young graduates, have a dream to set up their own business .Actually, it is a good long
term planning after they got some experience and knowledge during working previous jobs. For
those who have experience dealing with customers before, it is an advantage or a bonus for them
because it can help them to manage their business properly. Other than that, the advantage when
setting up their own business is that they can manage their growing lifestyle in a proper way, or a
good manner because they are not depending on others.

Last but not least for the long term planning, when they are success in their career life, they want to
have an enjoyable retirement. They will feel contented and satisfied with their services if they end
their career successful. Besides that, they also can spend more time with their family in terms of
relationship and communication because before this more time was spent on work. One more thing
that they must remember that, family always comes first.

CHAPTER 6

6.0 CONCLUSION

There are many options lying in front of fresh graduates. They can either choose to further their
studies or embark on their career. Deciding between the two requires a lot of research in the
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conditions of their respective industry. If the qualifications they have acquired are not in demand
either because their field is downsizing such as manufacturing, they might consider working in
another industry. Some analyst suggest in graduates to consider post-graduate studies and then enter
the field when the situation improves. Government are also providing re-skilling program for
retrenched workers as well as graduates who have yet to secure a job. These programs are also for
individuals who seek to gain skill and knowledge in other field to improve their jobs prospects. For
those who can’t afford to further their studies, working temporarily until they can find an opening
for the job they want is logical. During their time in university, students were optimistic about
securing a career. Reality is the situation that there are more job seekers than jobs. Thus it is an
employer’s market at the moment. Even so, companies are also limiting their budget in hiring new
workers in certain fields.

Government stimulus package around the world has stimulated the manufacturing, construction and
banking sectors. Bank has started lending money again to business. Factories are buying new
equipment and hiring workers, construction projects have resumed and new projects have also
begun. Signs of recovery can be seen and most of the Asian countries have weathered the economic
downfall and proving more resilient than expected. This is good news for everyone including job
seekers. Perseverance will pay of for graduates and they can hope for a fulfilling career.

The most important thing is coordination and cooperation between the governments, the education
industry and also the private sector to plan what is the current industry requirement and also does the
forecast for job market, locally and internationally. With a sound plan and proper coordination,
unemployment rate may decrease dramatically due to fulfillment of the job market thus increasing
productivity of the nation.

The private sector should also play an important role in providing opportunities to fresh graduates.
They should provide training to fresh graduates in order to give them experience and skills needed
by the job market. Exposure as early as secondary school level to the industry and job market can be
made available by the private sector.

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Earlier exposure will increase awareness of secondary school students about the job market and the
higher education they need to pursue in order to fulfill the requirement of the private sector. It will
also prepare them on what to expect in the environment of their desired industry.

The young graduates themselves also must find ways to thrive in the job market. They are many
options to increase the value of a person’s marketability. Developing skills, polishing talents and
gaining experiences from various fields will definitely put a candidate in the upper hand. To do this,
young graduates should explore all possible options and willingness to learn is really essential at this
point. Sacrifices, such as comfort and luxury and wealth must be made. For the sake of learning,
young graduates should put extra effort and go further to develop themselves. Young graduates also
must not be too choosy on what jobs are presented in front of them, because, being a fresh graduate,
without any experiences nowadays, does not really gives you the power to be choosy on what job
you are going to take.

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