Fast track to your career
AFTER the dreaded Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) is over, students need to consider the next big chapter of their lives, which is pursuing a pre-university course. This is a necessary step towards entering a university and getting a degree.
While some school-leavers have a clear idea of which career path to take and how to reach their career goals, most need guidance on the most suitable direction for them. One factor to consider along the career pathway is the duration of the pre-university course. A shorter pre-university course would give students an edge over their peers in terms of graduating earlier and entering the workforce sooner.
According to Vinoshni Rawindran, an education counsellor at Afterschool.my –a website that hosts information on different courses and universities for school-leavers – popular preuniversity courses among students in Malaysia are the Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia, diploma, foundation, A-Levels and matriculation, while the Australian Matriculation (Ausmat), SACE International and Canadian PreUniversity (CPU) are less popular.
“The shortest pre-university courses are the Australian matriculation programmes (Ausmat and SACE International), with each taking around 10 months to complete. Among the common courses, the fastest way to getting into university would be through foundation programmes, which usually take one year to complete. The catch is that students need to be sure of their career direction if they want to pursue this course.”
The right direction
Although it is crucial, duration should not be the only deciding factor in choosing a pre-university course. The most vital point to consider is the career path that a student wants to ultimately end up in and the best way towards it.
Vinoshni notes that most students who come to her for career advice are not sure of this end-point. According to her, they at least have an idea, however vague, of the pre-university courses they want to pursue and the subjects they want to take, but most don’t have the slightest clue about the career direction they want to pursue.
“At this point in their lives, they do not understand what they like. All they want is a high-income career upon graduation. The preuniversity courses they choose are based on only the knowledge of which field they want to work in, which is why they would often change their direction after a counselling session.”
The point to note is that times change. For instance, information technology may be in high demand in the job market right now, but this may not be the case in four to five years.
“Students must do more research to know whether the career path they wish to pursue will still be relevant when they graduate,” she advises.
Daniel Abraham, a digital marketer who pursued SACE International, believes that any preuniversity course, including the one he pursued, should offer more flexibility in choosing elective subjects so that students can try many different subjects and fields of study.
“I feel like that would give the
student a much better understanding of what he intends to do when he graduates, because at the point of time when students have to choose subjects for pre-university courses, very few are sure of the direction they want to go in. It would save them a lot of time, money and disappointments.”
Make sure you think long and hard and consider different factors before committing to a course. A short pre-university course may take you to a destination faster, but it may not be the destination for you.