Poor command of English key reason for graduates’ unemployment — Director

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ONLINE OPPORTUNITIES: August (centre) monitors the participants applying for jobs online during the Job Placement programme at the civic centre in Kapit.

KAPIT: A report presented in parliament recently revealed that some 72,000 graduates throughout the country were unemployed due to a poor command in English.

“Even though they have the qualification, they were unable to speak well in English during interviews as most of the interviews conducted by mega companies are in English,” said the state Manpower and Labour Department director August Buma when met at the Job Placement programme for Kapit held at the civic centre here on Saturday.

“In addition some of the graduates did not have good communication skills. The first thing the interviewer would assess is how well you can talk. The way you speak and interact with the interviewer is a benchmark when deciding the suitable candidates for the job.”

This was the sixth in a series of road shows for the Job Placement programme held statewide by the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Malaysia. Some 9 other programmes are in the pipeline with Marudi next on June 23, Mukah (June 30) and Sarikei (July 14).

The Job Placement Programme with the participation of corporate, private and public sectors provide employment opportunities for job seekers. Here the Ministry of Human Resource promotes and educates the public on agencies under the ministry namely the Labour Department, SOCSO and GiatMara.

The programme is also part of the annual events of the Labour Department to help youths to find employment.

Job seekers at the event have the opportunity to meet potential employers to register themselves in the Jobs Malaysia Portal, an online system for job seekers.

August was happy to note the encouraging response from the local community especially those unemployed and school leavers.

However he acknowledged that comparatively, the response this year is less as compared to last year.

“Even though the attendance is less, we have this year more companies from the corporate and private sectors setting up exhibition booths. We have put up some 10 booths of which 2 are for companies from Peninsular Malaysia. This is good as our programme now is not only know in the state but also throughout the country as we have advertised our programme online” he said.