By Syifarida Muhamad Zaki
Photo by Mohd Hasrul Hamdan
SERDANG, 15 May (UPM) – More than 50 corporations and multi-national companies are taking part in a two-day job fair here today where they seek to employ graduating students of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and other institutions of higher learning.
The Career Fair which is jointly organized by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development and Graduate Marketability (CEM) of UPM and Careertour (m) Sdn Bhd, an event management company, was launched by UPM Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Fauzi Ramlan.
More than 2,000 graduates had visited the fair on the first day while another 1,000 were expected on Thursday, said Keith Loo, a marketing executive of Careertour, at the fair.
He said there were 53 companies that had set up their booths and from their previous experience, they found the exhibitors to be generally satisfied with the response from the job-seekers.
They would do their surveys and other follow-ups after the fair to find out how many students found jobs with these companies.
The organizers had introduced four contests to enliven the fair for the job-seekers: a RM10,000 prize for getting hired contest; a IPhone 5 for the best resume; a Samsung Galaxy S4 for the Guess and Win contest and a Mini IPad for a Like Facebook page contest.
CEM director Assoc Prof. Dr Zulhamri Abdullah said from the feedbacks, they estimated that these 53 corporations had more than 300 job vacancies.
Puncak Niaga is said to have 50 vacancies; Nestle, 60 and Panasonic, 30.
He said the UPM students were informed about the fair when they attended the compulsory “finishing school” after their final exams where they were taught how to write their resume, job application.
“We teach them how to dress and conduct themselves during the interview. We even conduct mock interviews for them,” he said.
The “finishing school” which was started five years ago, is made compulsory for all graduating students, who would also be briefed by Human Resource personnel from the private sector on what to expect in the job market.
UPM, said Dr Zulhamri, would prepare their graduates for the market in three levels depending on their aptitude and interests:
1) jobs, meaning as salaried workers
2) further studies
3) go into business or be an entrepreneurs.
In the case of the ongoing career fair, the students were told to bring along their resumes, testimonials and other documents and to be prepared for on-the-spot interviews in the rooms provided.
At the same time, they have broadened their targets to 2nd and 3rd year students so that they could start thinking and planning about what they want to do with their careers or lives.
Ms Ceylinn Chan, senior HR Business Executive of OSIM (M) Sdn Bhd, said they have several vacancies in the company and they were looking to find the right candidates to fill them.
Among the vacancies are as inventory auditors, human resource executives, retail management trainees, corporate sales executives, visual mechanics, service technicians and logistics executives.
Ms S. Jayanthy, a consultant with Recruit Express, a head-hunting company, said they were encouraging the graduates to register with them so that job-seekers could be matched with the kind of personnel required by the corporations and companies listed with Recruit Express.
The corporations participating in the fair are British American Tobacco (M) Bhd, Nippon Paint (M) Sdn Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Berhad, Mistermind International (M) Sdn Bhd, Manulife Technology & Services Sdn Bhd, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Berhad, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Auric Pacific (M) Sdn Bhd, Jobstreet.Com, Nestle, Carrier Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Capital Dynamics, Great Eastern, Sony Supply Chain Solutions 9M) Sdn Bhd, Tan Chong Group, Orix Leasing Malaysia Berhad, Aeon Co. (M) Sdn Bhd, Hewlett Packard, Godzilink.com, Public Bank Berhad, Top Glove, Panasonic Group, Nol Global Services Centre Sdn Bhd, Ann Joo Group, Averis Sdn Bhd, Taylor’s Education Group, Speedwing Malaysia, The Nielsen Company (m) Sdn Bhd, Wealth blazer (Prudential).
Shimano Components (M) Sdn Bhd, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Element 14 Sdn Bhd, Esabee Biotika Sdn Bhd, Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, OSIM (M) Sdn Bhd, GroupM Sdn Bhd, Cyber Village Sdn Bhd, DiGi Telecommunication Sdn Bhd, Agrobank, Nando’s Chickenland (M) Sdn Bhd, CP Ardent Advisory Sdn Bhd, O.Y.L. Group, MystarJob Network Sdn Bhd, Konica Minolta Glass Tech (M) Sdn Bhd.
Recruit Express Sdn Bhd, GS Paper & Packaging Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, Malayan Flour Mills Berhad, MANIACORP Sdn Bhd and Maybank. – UPM
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