JOBLESS GRADUATES

Panduan Mencari Kerja for Jobless Graduates

by Chief Alchemist a.k.a Wiley Chin - April 4, 2005 Posted: 3:58:04 PM EDT
Keywords: Graduan menganggur, jobless graduates, looking for a job, job vacancy, resume, how to find a job, tips to apply for a job, panduan mencari kerja, job interviews, 18,000 unemployed graduates.
8 Things You Need to Know to Land that Job!Yes dudes and babes, we have all been there and done that. I know it's tough duduk kat rumah atau menumpang kat bilik orang. Orang tua nagging siang malamlah, member tunjuk muka boring, tiba-tiba kunci biliklah...But you've got to get a hold on yourself and do yourself a great favor. You can stop being a part of the statistics. There are jobs out there, I assure you. Here are some pointers to land that 1st job. Selamat ber-interview!
NOBODY owes you a job!Yes dude, nobody owes you a job. I mean nobody. Not your teachers, not your parents, not your friends. Not even our Kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Dia orang banyaklah nak kena buat. Macam-macamlah kena risau. Globalization-lah, investor belah pergi kat Negeri China-lah, orang curi balak-lah, politikus buat projek kat hutan simpanan-lah, ramai sakit kencing manis-lah, macam-macam, you tau kan? So, you now dah belajar sampai dapat professional qualification, takkan sampai nak kena suap kot?So get real, you've got to EARN THE JOB offer. Prove to others they are making a good choice by giving you the job. Fikir sikit, why would someone give you a job for nothing? Why would a businessman or a company give you a monthly salary? Sebab you hensem? Because you nampak macam Siti Nurhaliza berkonsert kat London? Better dia simpan duit dalam bank, kan? (Oh, yang jenis nak rekrut you pasal you lawa macam Siti tu, baik you berhati-hati beb, nanti jadi kes perempuan simpanan). Nope, you have to convince your prospective employer that you can help him/her make his company or team better. In other words, you can and will add value to his company. It's all about value my friend. He/She gives you a job and a monthly salary for you to deliver value back to him. At least, you can do the work others have no time to-do. And you bukan welfare case, kan? So, tunjuk terror sikit. Tapi biar betul, dude. Kita cakap terus-terang, there's no free lunch la, dude.
STOP PITYING YOURSELF!Elaa...jangan buat drama, beb! Tension nak tengok. No matter how many hours you menangis, memaki, mencaci, you won't get yourself a job. You can bruce-lee kat your bantal sampai kekabu melayang pun, orang takkan bagi kerja kat you. Worst, if you look and behave like a loser, you will never get close even for an interview.So stop feeling sorry for yourself. Keep yourself occupied productively. Read a book, research into what line of work you would like to do. If you can, take-up a job at 7-11, a supermarket, anything to earns yourself an income and the opportunity to interact with others. Exerciselah banyak-banyak. Don't berborak kat mamak sampai 3 pagi sambil makan nasi-lemak dan teh tarik. You will look like hantu borak.So, think positive, act positive. Smile always, walaupun terasa nak nangis dalam hati.
Get the RIGHT ATTITUDE.Yes, differentiate yourself. Be a person with a positive outlook. Be hardworking, be humble, be polite. Be willing to listen and learn. Always go the distant in any thing you do. If you have a positive attitude, you will act like a magnet that draws good jobs to you. If you have bad attitude, habislah.
Do up a PROFESSIONAL RESUME.Please lah, buatlah resume betul-betul. Make it simple and clear. 1-2 pages cukuplah. You baru graduate, saya rasa kalau lebih dari 2 pages tu, kira sudah tulis yang bukan-bukan dah. Your interviewer is also bukan free sangat nak baca your novel. If you want to write about yourself in English, make sure your 'karangan' tu grammar betul-betul. Ask someone with a good command of English to help. Kalau bikin cincai saja, masuk dalam bakul sampah jawabnya. Yang cuba berbunga-bunga bahasa tu, jangan terlebih-lebih. Kalau orang nak baca poetry, dia boleh cari kat library. Write clearly and in short sentences. Check and recheck your resume, sampai perfect.
Do the homework about the field you are applying for.Now this is one thing a lot of young graduates don't do very well. Many of you would just write in for a job without knowing what it is about. For example, if you nak apply jadi designer, tunjuklah portfolio yang terror-terror. At least show something you have worked very hard on. If you want to be a programmer, show the work you can do, real examples. The worst thing to do is, to talk about your passion for the work and have nothing to show. Like this;Applicant: O, I love the web. I love web design. I am totally passionate about a career in interactive design.Interviewer: Oh good! Can you show me something you have done?Job applicant: Ah...I haven't really got anything. I was thinking about preparing some work.Interviewer: Oh, but you said you have been looking for a web design job for 6 months. If you are so passionate about this work like you say, you would have something to show...Applicant: Yes, but...Faham, kan? Jangan pandai cakap saja, biar pandai buat jugak.
WORK TO LEARN.Sure, you have a big fat degree. For 3 years, you believed you were the para cendekiawan-cendekiawan dan golongan pemimpin negara masa depan yang berwawasan. And so do thousands of others. Get real, you won't land a job because you have a degree, you graduated from so and so university or you scored good grades. And please, don't expect a pay to support your clubbing or Proton car modification habits. A typical employer often have a lot to worry about. I am sure he/she won't recruit you if you look like a 'walking problem'. Tell him/her that you are totally happy to be given a chance to learn. Ask only for a pay to survive for a start. If you show promise, I guarantee you he/she will give you a raise. If not, you would have learnt something about your line of work. You can get another job anytime with that experience. But please stay more than 1 year to get a good foundation. So start without unrealistic expectations. Be really glad to be taken in and given a chance to learn.
DAN LAIN-LAINYou can count yourself OUT if you do the stuffs below; OK, let me try to say this clearer. DON'T EVER DO THESE STUFFS!
Submit a resume full of grammatical and spelling errors
Gambar pasport 'hensem' macam Marilyn Mason. If you are not photogenic, don't include any photos, for goodness sake. If you are not sure you are photogenic or not, ask someone. Don't ask your mother. She won't give you a useful answer.
Late for interview. Always come 15 minutes early. Kalau naik motor, wash your face and comb your hair first.
Dress inappropriately. Common sense counts. Iron your shirt and pants, dudes. Baju putih yang sudah kelabu tu, tak payah pakai lagi-lah. Don't try to be sexy to get a job, beb! Dress smartly and professionally.
Don't smell bad. Kalau you merokok, make sure your mouth and clothes don't smell like an ashtray. Memang menganggur seumur hidup macam tu!
Don't ask, 'Ah, you work on Saturday ah?'
Don't ask about working hours and off-days and benefits during the first interview. You can ask when you are offered the job later. At least, jangan nampak yang belum dapat kerja sudah fikir nak kaya.
Don't look like you are afraid of hardwork. Chickens should sit on a plate in KFC.
Email your resume to all targetted companies in 1 email blast ( that's spamming, not job application!), macam Rambo. Tembak machine-gun satu row, nak harap kena satu! Apa nie...?
OMG, I don't have to say this but terpaksalah. Here goes... please, please don't use emails addresses such as sexykinky@hotmail.com, hotstud@yahoo.com, jiwa_sengsara@pc.jaring.my, suci_dalam_debu@bluehyppo.com , cuteboyboy@tm.net.my , orked_loves_jason@bluehyppo.com , mailto:smooth_gigolo@gmail.com , handsome_ahbeng@ahmoi.com , the list goes on. You are applying for a job, not flirting over cyberspace. Yes, your nicknames tell too much about you, so please use some common sense here.
SMILE ALWAYS!Employers like cheerful people. If you smile, you will have 85% chance of getting a job compared to applicant yang bermuka macam asam-boi. So, senyumlah selalu. Sampailah orang kata you macam orang kurang waras. Takpe-lah. Asalkan dapat kerja. Yang lain, lain hari kira...
So think and act like you are happy and motivated to learn. Lama-lama, you will also feel more positive. Gua gerentee!
GOOD LUCK!

19 Comment(s) Link to this blog
Jedariel said...
Heh. Great guidelines, with a dosage of humour. Was grinning madly as I read it. :)
5/4/2005
University Dropout said...
the ONLY resume I have is my LIFE.
in order to make people to help you is by showing them
that it is on their best interest to help you.
university dropout.
5/4/2005
PUTRA GUNUNG LEDANG said...
Hi Wiey,
I like your candour and frank article very much. Some of those nails hit right on the spots. However, there are pertinent issues that the common fresh graduates cannot overcome even if they stick religiously to your "ten commandments." Malaysia is endowed with rich natural resources plus the advantage of having well-educated society with plenty of universities whether public or private. The main issue here is the uneven distribution of the economic cake for the people in the country.Let's look at those GLCs that being awarded with huge Government contracts where at the very first drawdown of the payment, the owners unashamedly started with the accumulation of luxuries such as private jets, s-class mercedes, additional wives, preferred patrons at six-star hotels, etc.......when these conglomerates are supposed to help the economy to grow and create more jobs. Why can't these preferred companies or GLCs being subjected to mandatory rule to create jobs more jobless graduates before being given the huge Government contract? The unemployed graduates are just asking for opportunities to proof the worth of their degrees as trainee executives? Further, there are a lot of "hanging fruits" in the Government sector that can easily be capitalised such as phasing out just 10% of those laggards in the public sector that currently has about 800,000 employees. When the private sector such as Telekom Malaysia busy optimising their human resources, the public sector should do the same UNLESS they are saying that all the current civil servants are up to the mark.
All of us sayangkan Malaysia! We have abundance of natural resources that can be economically managed to create more jobs for the unemployed graduates such as water, natural jungles, rivers, coastal areas, mountains, fresh air and of course nice smiling people!
Let me tell you about the logic of a GLC owner that maitain two personal private jets at a cost of RM2.4 million per month when the 1,500 staff cost is only RM1.4 million per month? If he were to travel by commercial planes, he would have been able to create at least 1,000 trainee executive jobs for the unemployed graduates.
We Malaysians actualy lack the economic and political will to resolve the jobless graduates issue. As Pak Lah said "the problem is growing and it will become big soon...." and I totally agree with our beloved Prime Minister's statement BUT the people have to decide whether they should share the wealth of the nation or "TERPULANG LAH PADA TAKDIR!"
Last but not least, do not let the rakyat bangkit like the Baling Incident in Kedah in December 1974. If the current sentiments of the rakyat all over Malaysia are not contained especially the middle class and poor strata of the society, I am afraid Malaysia will become a republic soon.
WARMEST REGARDS.


17/4/2005
Chief Alchemist a.k.a Wiley Chin said...
Hi Putra Gunung Ledang,
Thanks for the feedback. I am sure there's a lot of truth in what you are saying. One of my main concern is that young kids are not helping themselves. I wrote this blog to prod those kids. I've seen a lot of them. I've been through looking for jobs and feeling unwanted as a young man. I only hope this might make a difference in their lives.
Life's like a mirror, smile and it will smile back at you. Frown and it will give you the most unfriendly reflection. Too all the young kids out there, stand up and fight for yourself. Don't blame others. There will always be corruptions. There will always be selfish, soul-less politicians and corporate types.
But what you make out of your life is in your hand.
Get that right.
18/4/2005
PUTRA GUNUNG LEDANG said...
Hi Chief,
I totally agree with you too. But, we were also young before and we werre the products of our times. The same goes with the current jobless grads where they are very much mirrors of our mindsets that were forced upon them for the last two decades by the system that we designed. My point is to clear the paradox situation that these young lads have been subjected to when they are being blamed for not fulfilling the requirements of K-worker when they are not even "workers" yet. Can anybody tell me how many of the current workforce in public and private sectors are the so-called K-sworkers? Being the the corporate sector for almost 27 years, I can bet you the number is insignificant when compared to the opportunities for "low hanging fruits" being created if we were to replace majority of these laggards with the K-graduates.
Anyway Chief, I am beginning to feel that there is a reason why Pak Lah is keeping those laggards in the Cabinet and I do not think he favours them all.
WARMEST REGARDS.



23/4/2005
Wiley Chin said...
Hi Putra GL,
I am trying to steer this coversation away from making unwarranted attacks at the government and the system.
Why?Because I know there'll be no perfect government. I like mine enough, clumsy, assorted component parties, cultic opposition figures and all. I think our leaders are trying, yes, cultic figures included. To validate what I say, simply look to our neighbors.Yes, there are corruptions and inefficiencies. From our perspective, there are many mindless fools and uninspired laggards. So I do see the validity of your big picture evaluation and system-thinking approach. But I think the issue at hand is, how many of us are willing to do our part for our kids?What can you and I do?
Criticising the government doesn't mean we can abdicate our responsibilities.
We can all be the spectators of a football game who will call the "refree kayu" and "striker pondan".
But you and I know, the players in the field are the best of the lot. Unless you want to put on the jersey and join the action.We have a complex multi-cultural, multi-religious society. All of us inherit this "Malaysian dilemma" and if we have any guts at all, we should all put our minds to solving this together.
I only want to do my part, within my circle of influence.
23/4/2005
PUTRA GUNUNG LEDANG said...
Hi Chief,
I think we have arrived at the fairway with the same level of thinking field. I totally agree with you the common exasparated statement of the majority of Malaysian folks "there is nothing much we can do about it."
I love my country too and do not get me wrong for saying that some of current leaders are not at par excellence!! They did try very hard to look impressive in public and in parliament. However, we live in a world where standards of comparison are the order of the day whether in business or in politics. We need to compare ourselves with the best models of economy, government, culture, education system and even, solutions to resolve the unemployed graduates. In Germany, for instance, currently there are about 90,000 jobless graduates and the Government over there is still searching for a model of increasing the employability of the lots and the research is on until now. We can understand the situation in Germany and many parts of industrial Europe where most of the economies are quite saturated and some are at standstill. BUT, at home in Malaysia, we are just developing and there is this abundance of opportunities to be tapped and "exploited" in ethical manner by the citizens of beloved Malaysia. The rivers, mountains, jungles, coastal lines, multicultural people and food, fantastic infrastructure, mild-mannered citizens, solid banking and financial systems, etc.....it is indeed by right an expanding economy!!How do you define a progrssive nation with good economic indicators by Bank Negara latest figures when the industries are not able to create jobs.By the way, what exactly happened to our transfer of technology (TOT) programmes involving most of the GLCs where half of these allocations are in the pretext of offsets and TOT? One completed naval patrol vessel with sophisticated assessories can be purchased in the open market for only RM500 million when PSC contracted out the job to G&G Germany, the price bloated up to almost RM1.2 billion each!!
I will accept the national challenge of resolving the jobless graduates in Malaysia, IF and ONLY IF, the moral support is there. I just need platforms to gather these graduates all over the country at selected campuses or multi-purpose halls for conducting free one-day seminars to increase their employability in the eyes of the employers.
May God bless Malaysia and the jobless graduates!!
WARMEST REGARDS.



23/4/2005
Chief Alchemist a.k.a Wiley Chin said...
Hi Putra,
One thing I know, you care about this country and its people. Let's hope we can all, in our own ways, "make a difference" to Malaysia.Perhaps we will find a better platform one day.
25/4/2005
Anu said...
Hey there,
That was a good entry...I am in the midst of looking for work in Melbourne and yeah found that post interesting and entertaining....:)
28/4/2005
adrian said...
Hi,
I work for JobStreet.com and would like to offer Putra Gunung Ledang the opportunity to speak to graduates as I have access to most colleges and universities. There's nothing more I'd love than to see unemployment rates go down, so, if we're serious about this, please contact me. I will give you audiences. e-mail : adrianmak@jobstreet.com.
29/6/2005
Chief Alchemist a.k.a Wiley Chin said...
Hi Putra, you have an offer to connect with the young ones here, from Adrian of Jobstreet. Goo luck!
29/6/2005
mas alias said...
hi chief, putra and adrian
i was browsing looking for materials for my thesis on unemployment among graduates, and so far observations from you guys have been the most and entertaining and to some extent ...witty.. maybe all of you could help me in my research? my email add masturah_alias@yahoo.com. that should please you chief, none of the kinky stuff here.
29/12/2005
tiha said...
hey chief..
I really really like your tips and it make me less takut to come to my first interview which is tomorrow.. Thanx to your humoral tips hehe. I like the part where you reminded pompuan lawa..
Anyway thanx for the useful tips and hope anybody whose have read it will ketawa cam nk giler and forget the nervousness on attending his/her first interview
24/9/2006
Chief Alchemist a.k.a Wiley Chin said...
All the best Tiha, bila dapat kerja nanti, buat betul-betul ya?

25/9/2006
joe said...
Dude, this is what i try to find out. Something that motivated me in slumber way,hehe..thanks dude..
2/11/2006
thebrilliantyuriko said...
nasihat yang bagus..actually saya pun sedang bertungkus lumus untuk mencari keje...tengah try jobstreet..tapi kebanyakan semua nak pengalaman..hermmhttp://www.thebrilliantyuriko.co.nrhttp://www.xanga.com/thebrilliantyurikohttp://www.thebrilliantyuriko.deviantart.com
6/11/2006
fieza said...
thank you bout the tip
i think it useful to the jobless graduates to aware b4 go for interview.
12/7/2007
kennhawk said...
wow!!!! nice and great tips for all those who want to attend an interview. As my opinion, many jobs are outside there awaiting, but depend on how your way to catch it!!! Im just a spm leaver with no any certificate but i have a job, so for those degree jobless, dun give up easily k, get up and prove dat you deserve to have dat " degree"
6/8/2007
a u r a said...
haha i was laughing my arse off. U r one funny person. yah im a hopeless jobless graduate..tapi tak sampai tahap maki maki jadi hantu borak dekat mamak lah.But i enjoyed your blog so much!Really really FUNNY stuff and also true to the ears :)
11/9/2008