Graduates succeed without fixed salary jobs
BIDOR: Despite the large number of unemployed graduates, there are those who think ‘out of the box’ and are looking for ways to earn an income without expecting jobs based on their university qualification.
Instead of relying on fixed salary jobs, many are beginning to take steps to become selfemployed through business that provides proper income.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Social Science (Geography) graduate Noorhidayah Halim has chosen to start her own small business selling ‘vadai’, a famous snack of the Indian community, in Bidor, Perak. The 26-year-old said she decided to operate her small business following a failure to land a job after several interviews in the related field of her study.
“It just happens that my mother also runs a small business selling snacks from home...so, I thought I might try my luck in business by opening up an umbrella stall at a road shoulder near the Bidor bus station,” she told Bernama when met at her stall.
Together with mother, Noraini Vanathevi Abdullah, 50, she operates her stall daily at noon by frying the snack and sell them piping hot to customers.
“My customers comprise various races and come from all walks of life. I am happy to see such a united front among the different races through my snack,” she said.
“After almost a year, my monthly income is about the same as the wages of any graduate who works on fixed salary and the most fun part is, I only work between four and five hours a day,” she said.
Noorhidayah added that apart from planning to expand her business, she also conducted tuition classes in the evening to earn extra income.
For Mohammad Haikal Hamzah, 24, a communications (corporate communications) graduate from Universiti Selangor (Unisel), he decided to get involved in business to prove to his parents that to be successful, a person need not necessarily rely on getting a job solely based on academic qualification.
“But that doesn’t mean that I will be keeping quiet because there are so many other fields that can be explored,” said Mohammad Haikal who runs an online business for graphic design and printing, and is also a motivational programme facilitator. - Bernama