Friday, December 5, 2008
What's Your Dream Job?
Some people (including me in my previous company) complain a lot about their shitty jobs. We’re so sick with our jobs that the only “decent” conversation we have every day is WHINING about work. The list of complains range from:• under paid, over worked
• shitty boss, shitty colleagues
• work long hours and sometimes weekends
• no career advancement
• no bonus, overtime compensations increment and incentives
• dirty office politics
• too far from home
How to find work in Malaysia
by Edge
1) Use big cables
Well if you have contacts, you can stop reading now. Hehe.
2) The most effective method is to pass your curriculum vitae or resume to friends or family members. Your contact can deliver your resume to the appropriate person, sometimes directly to the managers or supervisors. He or she can also recommend and put you in a favorable position to be considered for employment. Furthermore, you can also follow up the status and know the results promptly.
3) StarRecruitment in The Star
By far, the leading newspaper in Malaysia has the most comprehensive advertisement for job vacancies, especially in Saturday’s edition. Most multinational companies prefer The Star over other newspapers. The Saturday’s edition is a MUST BUY for job seekers.
4) Jobstreet
Without a doubt, the most popular website for job seekers in Malaysia. Of course, there are other websites like JobsDB and others but Jobstreet has been a leader in this area for many years. Due to its huge popularity, this might be a disadvantage as well. Since there are so many users, job applicants tend to apply on any possible vacancies available, regardless of the job’s requirement and their majors. I asked some Jobstreet staffs at a Career Fair a few weeks ago, and they admitted that thousands of job applicants just click the “Click Here to Apply” button without even reading the job requirements. This create an abundance of applications that are not even related and should not even been considered in the first place. But I’m not saying Jobstreet is not effective at all. You should definitely try it out as well.
5) Job agencies
Go to some job agencies, take some simple tests (English, Math or IT) and attend face-to-face interviews with the job agency consultants themselves. They will recommend you to companies (their clients) if you’re good enough or qualified. If you’re not called, that means the vacancies have been filled or you fucked up the interview. Hehe. But the disadvantage is obvious. By having the job agency as some sort of “middle man”, you’re not gonna get full salary. The job agencies will take a huge portion of your salary as their commission; some even take unreasonable percentage up to 30%. Mostly this only applies to contract positions, but again, it depends to the job agencies of course. I know a guy who gets a job in a banking institution through a well-known job agency. His supposedly monthly salary is RM2,200 but he only gets RM1,500. RM600 goes to the job agency. So, go figure. Imagine you have to live in Kuala Lumpur (not with parents) with that salary.
List of top job agencies in Malaysia:
i) Adecco
ii) Manpower
iii) Kelly Services
iv) Match Link
v) JenJOBS
Other Useful Tips and Thoughts
1) Resumes: Based on my limited experience and observation, hard copy resumes are better and effective that soft copies. Even though soft copies can be circulated accordingly within and outside the department, most CEOs, managers and supervisors don’t really have time to check their e-mails, let alone look at them. They are so busy that the only time they can actually look at your resume is when they’re interviewing you.
2) Don’t be too choosy and picky, if possible. Looking at our economy right now, we don’t have the privilege to choose jobs. Unless you’re a high-flyer, all-rounder, Harvard or MIT or Oxford or Stanford graduate with triple degrees and 4.01 CGPA, then it’s a different story. Okay that’s an exaggeration. If you have excellent results (perhaps 3.5 CGPA and above) and active in extracurricular activities, of course you have options to choose. Hehe if your results are average like me, then we should be reasonable and grab any opportunities out there.
Currently there are 80,000 graduates unemployed or 18,000, whatever it is. Regardless of the mixed reports, 18,000 is still a huge number. Therefore the competition is fierce; you should be able to differentiate yourself from the rest. As we all know, English speaking applicants will be at better positions to be considered. For Petronas/Esso/TNB/JPA/Mara scholars, they should be thankful if they’re offered employments by their sponsors.
3) Salary is indeed important, but don’t over-negotiate with the companies. I learnt this the hard way. Hehe. Since our economy is not doing so well, we should accept the average salary in a reputable and established company in Kuala Lumpur to be around RM1,800 to RM2,300. For Petronas scholars, the starting salary for fresh graduates are RM2,250. For Esso (Exxonmobil) scholars, starting salary for engineering graduates is around RM3,000. Earning RM2,000 a month is barely enough to survive in Kuala Lumpur. Some friends I know earn RM1,600 to RM1,700 a month living by themselves in Kuala Lumpur.
4) For better prospect and bright future, you should look for possible employment in multinational companies like IBM, Dell, Shell, Exxonmobil, Accenture, Schlumberger, to name a few. The working environment will be different and more challenging. However, expect to work long hours, sometimes even on weekends. It’s basically a give and take, work long hours, earn good money. Schlumberger pays more than RM3,000. Accenture pays up to RM3,600 for fresh graduates. Some companies even pay up to RM5,000 for fresh graduates, including attractive housing allowance.
5) There is quite a popular saying, “results are not important, as long as you’re confident, presentable, have excellent communication skills and know how to do your work, you’ll be fine”. I think the ones who came up with such “statement” are excellent students who never had problems finding jobs. The saying is true at some point, but since there are too many unemployed graduates out there, companies need to find something distinctive to distinguish the applicants. Therefore, results are indeed important. By just looking at your resume, of course the company gonna be more impressed with 3.40 CGPA than 2.50 CGPA right? So if your results are average like me, expect to have some tough time finding jobs. A friend of mine with an impressive 3.49 CGPA still find it difficult to get a decent job. Isn’t that crazy? It’s a tough world out there. Be prepared.
Experience is more important than results. Experience is better than MBA or PHD. Good results are more important than bad results. (uuuuuu..)
6) The ability to communicate fluently in English is A MUST, not viewed an excellent advantage. You just have to. No matter where you work, they expect you to have flair in the international language. Fluency in 3 languages could be crucial. Chinese applicants have the advantage because they are fluent in Mandarin/Cantonese, English and Malay but most Malay applicants are only fluent in Malay and English. Some might have basic knowledge of Arabic if they’re coming from Islamic schools.
7) According to some job agencies, there is a big trend for multinational companies to set up their Call Center right here in Malaysia, mainly due to our low costs. Therefore, this will create many job opportunities for Call Center analysts and other IT positions. Since such business decisions are based solely on cost, there is a long term concern where companies are outsourcing their IT divisions/departments to India. So the future for IT graduates has been a hot debate lately. I was told in a presentation a few weeks ago that with the cost to hire ONE engineer in Malaysia, they can hire FOUR in India.
8) You can learn more in small organizations compared to the big ones. In terms of politics, you can be recognized more and have higher chance for promotion.
9) Initially I was under the impression that golf and tennis won’t be added advantage in the corporate world Malaysia, but now I do. The ability to play golf (especially) and tennis will put you in a more favorable position in the company. Because of the different cultures, some important business decisions are made on the golf course.
10) Look for a CAREER, not a JOB. there's a huge difference (other than the spelling). okay tak lawak.
i came across this quotation some time ago. i don't remember who said it.
"If everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane."
Cheers!!
just my 2cents at 10:19 PM |
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