Monday October 19, 2009
Programme on soft skills for graduates
Local graduates are still lacking in soft skills compared with overseas graduates, the main reason why they fail during job interviews. Deloitte Consulting (M) Sdn Bhd human capital services director Rahmah Ismail talks to StarBiz on what can be done to improve the situation
STARBIZ: Do you think the IMglad participants will be able to pick up the soft skills during the three-month classroom training?
Rahmah: I believe so. It took Deloitte about 40 years doing research involving over 1,000 companies in Britain before introducing GLAD five years ago.
Rahmah Ismail ... ‘We are not looking at those who are only good in paper qualification'.
Lacking in soft skills among fresh graduates is not only prevalent in Malaysia but also in other countries. The issue is common in developed economies.
If GLAD could be so successful in Britain, I don’t see why we cannot do the same and we don’t have to wait for 40 years before coming out with a similar programme.
Do you think our public universities have failed in producing graduates who are equally knowledgeable and good in soft skills?
Our public universities have done good in providing knowledge to their graduates; to teach soft skills to undergraduates is beyond the original role of universities.
Parents also have high expectations that universities are where their children go to acquire knowledge and skills and prepare them for the job market.
But when the issue of high unemployment rate among local graduates is being sensationalised and politicised by certain quarters, everyone is playing the blame game and starting to criticise the universities for failing to produce quality graduates.
What is the main objective of IMglad and how do you see the programme contributing to the success of Iskandar Malaysia?
The main objective of IMglad is to reduce the unemployment rate among graduates and that is why the programme is specially tailored for fresh graduates and those who have been working for less than a year.
We are not looking at those who are only good in paper qualification, that is why those with a minimum CGPA rating of 2.8 can apply and the most important thing is that they must be active in co-curricular activities.
Throughout my 20 years’ experience, I’ve found that straight As students do not necessarily do well during interviews but average students who are active in co-curricular activities fare better than them.
It is high time to start highlighting what happens to high achievers who scored 15 As or 20 As in SPM after leaving school or university and believe me, many of them don’t do well in the real world.
Programme on soft skills for graduates
Local graduates are still lacking in soft skills compared with overseas graduates, the main reason why they fail during job interviews. Deloitte Consulting (M) Sdn Bhd human capital services director Rahmah Ismail talks to StarBiz on what can be done to improve the situation
STARBIZ: Do you think the IMglad participants will be able to pick up the soft skills during the three-month classroom training?
Rahmah: I believe so. It took Deloitte about 40 years doing research involving over 1,000 companies in Britain before introducing GLAD five years ago.
Rahmah Ismail ... ‘We are not looking at those who are only good in paper qualification'.
Lacking in soft skills among fresh graduates is not only prevalent in Malaysia but also in other countries. The issue is common in developed economies.
If GLAD could be so successful in Britain, I don’t see why we cannot do the same and we don’t have to wait for 40 years before coming out with a similar programme.
Do you think our public universities have failed in producing graduates who are equally knowledgeable and good in soft skills?
Our public universities have done good in providing knowledge to their graduates; to teach soft skills to undergraduates is beyond the original role of universities.
Parents also have high expectations that universities are where their children go to acquire knowledge and skills and prepare them for the job market.
But when the issue of high unemployment rate among local graduates is being sensationalised and politicised by certain quarters, everyone is playing the blame game and starting to criticise the universities for failing to produce quality graduates.
What is the main objective of IMglad and how do you see the programme contributing to the success of Iskandar Malaysia?
The main objective of IMglad is to reduce the unemployment rate among graduates and that is why the programme is specially tailored for fresh graduates and those who have been working for less than a year.
We are not looking at those who are only good in paper qualification, that is why those with a minimum CGPA rating of 2.8 can apply and the most important thing is that they must be active in co-curricular activities.
Throughout my 20 years’ experience, I’ve found that straight As students do not necessarily do well during interviews but average students who are active in co-curricular activities fare better than them.
It is high time to start highlighting what happens to high achievers who scored 15 As or 20 As in SPM after leaving school or university and believe me, many of them don’t do well in the real world.
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