The NYC team along with more than 80 dedicated volunteers from various departments and subsidiaries from MISC (sea and shore) and MMHE held soft skill workshops with fun interactive activities at both universities.
NYC, which was first launched in 2007 aims at creating awareness on the importance of the soft skills amongst the undergraduates. The workshops were crafted to help the undergraduates work towards gaining the other necessary skills, apart from their hard/technical skills, which will enhance their ‘employability’ once they enter the job market.
Based on the last year’s feedback from the NYC participants, they had expressed their interest to know more on how to adapt to changes upon graduation and how to make good decisions in career, life, etc. Taking on their suggestions, on the first 2 days of the road show, we introduced a workshop on “Managing Change” and exposed the students to “Mind Mapping” tools through hands-on activities. During the workshop, students were required to conduct presentations and encouraged to speak up and give their opinions.
The HR Clinic counter, which was also introduced last year, was a hit amongst the students thanks to the HR personnel from MISC and MMHE who manned the counter. The clinic which provides advices on resume writing and interviews also allowed the students to submit their resumes for practical training or employment in MISC.
The fun zone booths also received great response from the students, with soft skills games to challenge their minds and team spirit.
Overall, based on the feedback given by the students and university representatives, the NYC programme has helped both UiTM and UTM students to gain knowledge on how to adapt to changes as well as being marketable after graduation.
Lastly, we would like to thank all our volunteers for your endless support and commitment in making the programme a success!
Check out the NYC 2010 photo gallery at:
By Andrew C. Abraham.- The landscape of graduate recruitment has changed. We’re surpassing the era where employers would hire candidates based solely on experience, skills or grades and transpiring into a period where many of the softer human qualities are desired in fresh talent. This portends a more equitable recruitment sphere and breeds a new millennial that is not only intellectually capable of the business world but also emotionally ready.
In a recent survey conducted by the NUS Careers Centre, that polled the results of 118 different companies, Communication, Passion, Analytical Thinking, Interpersonal Skills and a Desire to Learn were ranked foremost as the top five qualities essential for new graduates. The study was conducted in light of the Graduate Global Talent Development Programme (GGTP) – a new initiative by NUS to cultivate global-minded graduates. In (brackets) is the percentage of employers that ranked it in their top 5.
1. Communication (59%) – Often misconstrued as meaning the ability to speak (especially publicly), communication is a two-way street. It involves the ability to convey your message to another party, while also being able to listen and take feedback. An individual that can speak without qualms in the presence of an audience but has challenges understanding what his audience is interested in, might be a great orator but not a great communicator. Someone well versed in communication must be able to communicate cross-culturally; should be comfortable speaking with different age groups; heed advice and then adapt their message accordingly.
2. Passion (55%) – I’ve spoken about the importance of this ingredient before in a recent post so I won’t regurgitate all of it. But it’s fascinating to know that employers are interested in identifying this in candidates also. Passionate people are more likely to develop a passion in their future employers and passionately evangelise the company to others. The best publicity for any new product is word of mouth; and when that message is delivered by a passionate and trusted peer, it is all the more powerful. Passion also fortifies commitment and employers desire committed talent.
3. Analytical Thinking (47%) – Thankfully, university is good preparation for this acquired skill. Regardless of whether you’re studying Engineering, Law or History, your coursework often requires you to think critically and/or laterally when solving problems. One of the fundamental outcomes of analytical thinking is to understand that a situation may possess several different solutions. In the workforce, graduates will be challenged constantly in their knowledge and understanding and interactions with other people. Therefore, talent able to analyse situations and offer a fresh perspective on the issue are highly sought after.
4. Interpersonal Skills (45%) – Frankly I’m a little surprised that this attribute was not favoured by more employers; but it still ranks in the Top 5. I’ve also noticed marginal differences in the emphasis placed on this skill in different regions. Through my HR experience in Europe and Australia, there is definitely more precedence placed on possessing effective interpersonal skills than I’ve noticed here in Asia. When we break practically all job scopes down however, an acute ability to interact with people well separates the high achievers from the low. The rewards of strong interpersonal skills might be more obvious in sales, management and consulting careers, but play a vital part in roles such as programming and design – after all techies need to elicit information when gathering requirements for technological solutions.
5. Desire to Learn (42%) – I’m really pleased that this was recognised as one of the most important qualities for evaluating fresh graduates. A desire to learn challenges the existing mentality that certain skills need to be attained before employment and hones in on the potential that a candidate can offer instead. In my previous company, this was a characteristic we placed a lot of prominence on. Understandably talent will graduate with varying degrees of skills and knowledge; often as a result of circumstances beyond their control. Rather than allowing this to limit their potential, a desire to learn compensates for a lack of hard skills and reinstates the notion that new graduates all commence with a clean slate. Some of the most unlikely people, afflicted by a dearth of skills have gone on to build very successful careers. Employers that stand true to recruiting talent based on this quality attest to the importance of potentials over credentials!
Well there it is, the Top 5 qualities sought after when evaluating fresh graduates. This by no means is an exhaustive list and other attributes such as being a team player and a solid degree also ranked very highly. Please click on the embedded image to view the full criteria for this survey.
If you are graduating soon, then demonstrating you possess these qualities will launch you into favourable contention for the careers on offer.I’m interested in hearing your opinion if you’re a recruiter or graduating student so please share your thoughts.
reference:
http://fernandotarnogol.com/2010/05/09/top-5-qualities-employers-seek-in-fresh-graduates/
Come join us for our fun and interactive workshop as per details below:
UiTM Shah Alam : 28 September, 29 September, 30 September 2010
UTM Skudai : 5 October, 6 October, 7 October 2010
After the success of the Navigate Your Career(NYC) in School programme at the Royal Military College (RMC), NYC stormed its ways into Sekolah Menengah Sains Selangor , Cheras to bring more fun, games and learning to its students.
This time around, the programme kicked off with an interesting corporate overview presentation by Ms. Hanim Hamdan from Corporate Affairs and followed by a talk by Capt. Siva (ALAM) who shared with the students on career opportunities as a seafarer.
After the talks, the students were then led by Learning Edge consultants, our official training consultants for the NYC project, in an interactive and exciting workshop on soft skills followed by an informative debrief.
As part of the workshop, the students were divided into groups and were given tasks to be completed which emphasized on the importance of “going the extra mile” and “5% stretch”. One of the activities, called “On Demand”, really tested the students’ creativity where each group must follow specific instructions in order to complete the task.
All the tasks were crafted to make the students realize the importance of being resourceful, thinking out of the box, proper planning and strategizing when working in a team and to sharpen their communication and interpersonal skills.
Although the weather was unbearably hot, the students were very cooperative and gave their full support in participating in all activities. At the end of the day, they presented their key learning points, in English, something some of them found difficult to do. However, they made a great effort in expressing their thoughts on what they have gained from each of the activity conducted.
MISC volunteers, who mostly consist of newcomers to NYC, giving their full commitments by assisting and working closely with the students in co-facilitating the activities that were conducted.
Similar to the NYC at RMC, throughout the programme, an exhibition on MISC and ALAM were also set up and students, including girls, showed keen interest in the ship models. Two cadets from ALAM (also former SM Sains Selangor students) were also present to brief the students on studying in ALAM and life at sea, much to the delight of the students.
Well done again to our MISC and ALAM volunteers for your never ending support and looking forward to have you for our future programme!
The NYC programme, established in 2007, is aimed at influencing the mindset of local youth towards being industry ready by exposing them to the realities in the working world as well as to create awareness on the importance of soft skills. The programme was targeted for university students and the NYC road shows were conducted at several prominent universities across the peninsular, namely UM, UKM, UTM Skudai, and UUM Sintok. Following its success, MISC developed NYC in Schools, taking the message to form 4 and form 5 students, who are expected to make the first level decision for their future academic path.
The event marked the 2nd year of NYC in RMC as the school, a military school, is known to be one of the prominent feeder schools for ALAM. The workshop kicked off with the exchange of mementos between MISC/ALAM representative, Capt. Ahmad Imran B M Azmi, a lecturer from ALAM, and the Commandant of RMC, followed by an interesting and informative corporate overview presentation by Ms. Hanim from Corporate Affairs. Then, Capt. Ahmad Imran took the stage to share with the students on career opportunities as a seafarer. Students were excited to know about career at sea and posted numerous questions to Capt Ahmad Imran.
After the talks, the students were then led by Learning Edge consultants, our training consultants for NYC project, in an interactive and exciting workshop on soft skills followed by an informative debrief.
As part of the workshop, the students were divided into groups and were given tasks to be completed which emphasized on the importance of “going the extra miles” and “5% stretch”. They were also made to think of the importance of being resourceful, thinking out of the box, proper planning and strategizing when working in a team and to sharpen their communication and interpersonal skills.
MISC volunteers gave their full commitment by assisting and working closely with the students in co-facilitating the activities that was conducted. The students were very cooperative and gave full focus on the task given. En Malek(Snr Mgr, CBU), being a former RMC student himself, was kind enough to drop by to have a few motivational words with the students.
Throughout the programme, an exhibition on MISC and ALAM was also set up and students showed keen interest in the ship models displayed and voiced out their curiosity on the prospects of being a seafarer and working with MISC. Two cadets from ALAM (also former RMC Putera) were also present to brief the students on studying in ALAM and life at sea, much to the delight of the students.
Well done to our MISC and ALAM volunteers for your never ending support!
Tomorrow, MISC will make its presence at Sekolah Menengah Sains Selangor for the same cause.
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