By Muammar Hadi
GOMBAK, 16 April 2022: Many university graduates face unemployment due to lack of awareness on importance to create a good resume and engage in job sites, and this can be overcome “if they take away the fears in them in writing a resume”.
Acting Senior Counsellor from Counselling and Career Service Centre IIUM, Nor Adilah bt Mohd Nor, shared much needed information on how to create a good resume and to jump into the world of employment using LinkedIn, in a career workshop held today.
Attended by participants consisting of IIUM students from different kulliyyah, the workshop was organised by Civil Defence Club (CDC) in collaboration with IIUM Rover scouts.
Nor Adilah mentioned how IIUM graduates have a history of giving good impressions to companies for being excellent English communicators, however, they tend to be too modest which diminishes their marketability.
“In order to overcome the issue and improve graduate marketability, IIUM sends their students to attend career workshops like the one happening today,” said Nor Adilah.
Calling on students not to be afraid when writing resume, she said, “There is no right or wrong way when writing a resume.”
According to her, there are only two types of resumes – human friendly and ATS friendly.
Human friendly resumes should be in PDF form with beautiful colours and designs to attract employers reading your physical resume, while ATS friendly resumes should be in word document with no colours or designs to make is easier for the ATS system to read and screen your resumes for employers.
Graduates should avoid using passport photo with blue or white background as it tends to make them look too stiff, Nor Adilah said.
“Sisters are encouraged to avoid using black hijab and use plain coloured ones that suits your skin tone as it attracts employers, while brothers should avoid wearing songkok and get a neat haircut instead as it makes them look more presentable,” Nor Adilah stressed.
Graduates’ career objective should be mentioned together with their specialisation for employers to identify exactly what the graduate can contribute to the company.
“Only top three academic qualifications should be included, and mention CGPA only if it’s good,” said Nor Adilah.
She further explained how graduates should include their work experience, for example, increasing a company’s sales from one month to the other.
Graduates should also mention their personal achievement, for example, being on the Dean’s list for a certain number of semesters.
Nor Adilah said graduates should indicate their English proficiency and computer skills and show academic certificate or qualification to back it up.
She stressed for graduates to provide references in the form of academic advisors and former bosses as companies are more likely to hire graduates who are recommended by other employers.
Creating LinkedIn account
Nor Adillah shared six important tips on creating a LinkedIn account.
- Customise LinkedIn URL to make it easier to be found and identified by employers.
- Upload a more professional headshot profile photo.
- Write a simple and straight to the point headline as it allows companies to know if you’re available for work or not.
- Include personal branding to make employers understand better on your goals and what you can contribute.
- Work experience should provide employers a clear evaluation of what they can expect from graduates.
- State your talents and optimisation skills to attract employers even more.
Stating that graduates should include recommendations from club advisors and former bosses, and not family members, Nor Adilah said there should not be a big problem for IIUM graduates to get employed as there are many vacancies and job offers available out there but “graduates need to know where to look and how to better prepare themselves”.
This workshop was held to expose students to what is needed for their career, to provide direct interaction with a speaker who is an expert in this field, and to expose students to issues and challenges in seeking employment.
Held online through Google Meet, the workshop was attended by some 50 participants. ***