By Nur Aiman Najiha Azman
Nowadays, it is not easy for fresh graduates to secure jobs right after graduating. Many faced difficulties to seek permanent employment.
In IIUM, there is a Career Team under Career Section of Counselling and Career Services Centre (CCSC) that helps students build connections and engagements with the industry before they graduate. The team is supported by IIUM Student Career Team (ISCT).
ISCT started in early 2016. Back then, the career section was under the Alumni Division. In 2015, Career Services has been merged with Counselling Section.
The objective of establishing ISCT is for it to become the support for Career Team and to act as an agent to reach out to the students. As in the tagline œSupport your future, empower your career, CCSC also helps to facilitate students in preparing them for internship or industrial attachment.
Problem faced by IIUM students
Like graduates from other universities, IIUM students also face problems to join the industry without any preparations. According to the advisor of ISCT, Mr. Saiful Redza, students always face problems during the recruitment process.
Whenever a company holds a management training programme in the recruitment process, graduates usually fail at the second or third level of the process. They can easily pass the interview, but they are not able to do simulation because many of them are shy and afraid to show their talents.
This is because they do not have confidence to speak in front of people and perform simulation or solve the problem. In other words, they are not able to meet the industry’s expectation.
Students are not good in English as expected
Furthermore, those in the industry also complain that IIUM students do not possess good command of the English language as demanded by the industry. A number of graduates lack certain qualities that the industry wants.
Saiful also mentioned that graduates do not know œthe other door to get recruited. These are the reasons why students take a long time to get a job after graduating even with first class honours’ degree.
How Career Team can benefit IIUM students
In order for IIUM graduates to overcome these problems, CCSC provides opportunities for students to build relationship with companies and develop skills before graduating. Therefore, CCSC collaborates with many companies in organising programmes to give exposure to students and facilitate them for direct engagements with companies. Among the employability related programmes are Career Fair, Fly High, Mega Interview, Career Visit and Career Booster.
For instance, there is a career talk programme called œTeh Tarik Session where companies are invited to IIUM and have a sharing session with students.
The topics covered focused mainly on the following:
- companys branding,
- services provided,
- expectations from employers,
- promoting internship or job recruitment to students.
At the end of the programme, Career Team encourages students to have the engagement and networking session with companies during lunch or tea time.
Privileges for IIUM Student Career Team (ISCT)
Besides, CCSC is also concerned with basic skills and students’ development especially ISCT members. They encourage ISCT to enhance their skills by setting up various workshops such as a series of job hunting programme, resume and interview tips, niche training videography, and emcee workshops. In these workshops, CCSC invites various experts in their respective niche areas to groom and produce qualified graduates with good grades and skills.
CCSC provides consultation and career awareness
Career section of Counseling & Career Services Centre is open for students to come and consult on their career efficacy and decision making where career counsellors are willing to assist undergraduates to understand the value of their courses for self-development, career assessment and resume-making process.
Thus, IIUM students are always welcomed to CCSC to gain information about their future career. Abraham Lincoln once said, œThe best way to predict the future is to create it. It can be said that students have to make their own effort, prepare themselves and practice before getting into the workforce.
Upcoming program: Fly High
This upcoming April, a programme named Fly High will be held in IIUM. Fly High is a finishing school programme for graduating students especially to those who are enthusiastic in finding potential core values in themselves as well as to impress the companies.
This programme aims to give students the necessary exposure on job opportunities and networking, tips during job interviews, guidance on choosing the right attire, and setting the right thoughts and exposure to starting of a career, and countless other activities handled by the companies.
Specialised date for every Kulliyyah
What makes this programme interesting is that the Fly High zoomers are segmented according to Kulliyyah. The organiser will schedule the companies based on the dates for different Kulliyyah. So, students can choose which industry or companies that are suitable for them according to their Kulliyyah.
In addition, Career Team will organise this programme every semester to make sure that students can get more exposure about the different industries. Furthermore, such programmes are also conducted in other universities but students have to pay and they are compulsory to attend or they cannot graduate. In IIUM, this programme is open to all students and it is free of charge.
Opportunities for IIUM students
CCSC provides a number of opportunities for IIUM students to build connections and engagements with the industry as a preparation before they graduate. The platform is already there, it depends now on the students to make a move and prove that IIUM produces quality graduates. ***