'Having a degree doesn't promise you a job' - Malaysian Employers

Many employers now believe that possessing a degree does not guarantee a person his or her dream job.

This was the challenge that graduates these days are faced with, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director, Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said.

"To get a job today is very challenging. Currently, we have some 200,000 degree holders who are unemployed.

"However, this doesn't mean that employers don't take paper qualification into account at all; it all depends on the degree holders if they are willing to be employed in a position lower than expected.

"Employers right now are focusing on those who are willing to start at lower positions. We prioritise those who enter at the lower level and then earn their way up," he told Astro AWANI when contacted.

Shamsuddin's comments came on the heels of a newspaper report which stated that having a degree was not the priority for international agencies when hiring new blood.

Citing some foreign companies as examples, the report claimed that individual skill sets were their top priority right now.

Shamsuddin said, employers were not undertaking any risk when they take in overqualified people.

"An employer will take into account the employee's motivation and dedication, and if the worker fulfills the needs of the employer, then their position will be elevated faster.

"However, there's nothing much an employer can do if a position they need filled does require a specific qualification," he said.

Shamsuddin had last year urged the government to not just look at the overall unemployment rate but get to know who make up the bulk of the numbers.

In an October report last year, he had said of the 400,000 people jobless in Malaysia, more than half of them were diploma and degree holders.