By Azra Farzana Shuib
GOMBAK, 22 September 2016: IIUM students have been urged to grab opportunities from various industries during the IIUM Career and Postgraduate Study Fair 2016, that will take place on 23 to 24 November with 30 exhibitors taking part.
IIUM Senior Counsellor, Saiful Redza Mohamed advised IIUM students, regardless of their courses and year of studies, to attend the Career Fair at Cultural Activity Centre (CAC) to find out what they could have missed otherwise.
”Career Fair isn’t for final semester students only. It will also be a good platform for third year students looking for internships, and for first and second year students as well to discover the wide prospects of careers,” he said.
Saiful Redza, who is also the Head of Career Section in IIUM Counselling and Career Services Centre (CCSC) mentioned that students oftentimes don’t have a clue about wide and limited prospects.
“For example, IRK courses are perceived to have limited prospects career-wise. Ultimately students will only wait for the common opportunities from Islamic companies,” he added.
“Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is perceived to be a company only for engineering graduates. What most students don’t know is that they also need IRK students to be their officers, or those who are good in writing to join their Corporate Communication department,”
He also pointed out that Career Fair is not meant for certain courses only. Four big recruiters, JobStreet, Starjobs.com, JobsMalaysia, and JobHouse are also joining the Career Fair. Since these recruiters are no stranger to Malaysia’s growing industries, students should take this opportunity to get to know what certain companies really want, and how to create an impressive account.
“There might be walk-in interviews too so dress nicely,” he said.
There will be Career Guidance Assessment, organised by counsellors of IIUM, aimed at helping graduating students on job hunting strategies. Professional consultation, career talks are also available, apart from helping students to improve their resumes.
Saiful Redza also made a point that those who are planning to do their internships next year should start early. “The war of talents is very tight and challenging. Companies appreciate those who show readiness.”
“Don’t ever think that you still have a long time. Go and ask about them about their procedures and duration of internships. To them, once you are an intern, you are already a prospective talent – they need to select the best, not just filling in the gaps,” he stressed.
The first and second year students are also able to benefit from the event, as they can get the correct information first-hand from the companies. According to Saiful Redza, it’s time to get to know their standard requirements, and look for companies offering scholarships.
He addressed that unemployment issues should not happen as there are a lot of opportunities for graduates.
“You need to have two ideas to break through the industry. The first idea is to know how to market yourself, this comprises of engagement by sending your resume and CV, wearing proper attire and attending interviews successfully,”
“The second idea is to have ideas about industries. People can do cross-fields by joining the open market position. Some companies don’t only hire engineers, they need financial analysts, legal advisors, even psychologists too,” he said.
He also expressed the hope that IIUM students will be more proactive in surpassing the industry’s expectations, and for IIUM to improve in terms of graduates’ employability.
“Last year, our graduate employability rank is the third among Malaysia’s public universities. I hope we can maintain that for this year, or get a better number,” he stated.
To get more information on IIUM Career and Postgraduate Study Fair, students can go to their Facebook page: IIUM Career Services.***