ensuring marketable graduates
YOUR choice of university is important. Frighteningly so, in fact.
Such a statement in today’s world, where egalitarianism and equal rights are the orders of the day, might seem to be inappropriate, perhaps more suited to underline a scare tactics campaign.
However, the truth simply cannot be avoided.
A good university will have far- reaching consequences, while a mediocre one might even restrict your growth.
President of Multimedia University ( MMU) Professor Datuk Dr Muhamad Rasat Muhamad describes why the university plays such an important role.
“The university where you pursue your undergraduate studies, especially your Bachelor’s degree, will shape how you study, how you view academics, how you manage yourself, and how you choose to grow,” he said.
A good university not only helps its students become fully aware of these factors, it also helps them find answers that are suited to their individual needs.
Consider, for example, the issue of unemployment in Malaysia.
In May this year, it was reported that the Prime Minister’s Department stated that around 400,000 Malaysians were unemployed.
Of that number, 161,000 – about 40% – were university graduates.
“This is a really big number, and very worrying for Malaysia,” Prof Rasat said.
“Also, it presents a bit of a mystery. Where did they come from? If we look at MMU, we will find that for many years, more than 96% of our graduates have been able to secure jobs within six months of graduation, so very few of these unemployed graduates are ours.”
As unfortunate as it is, the only logical conclusion is that some universities produce highly employable graduates, while others are less so.
Prof Rasat explains how MMU grooms its students to become highly sought- after professionals.
“We knew from day one that we had to be more than just an institution where text books are used every day,” he said.
“As such, MMU has stood for more than just teaching, but rather for mastery of the field being studied.
“To this end, we have always encouraged our students to enter and organise competitions, which enable them to apply the theories they’ve learned.
We also emphasised the development of soft skills long before it became a buzzword in other universities. We trained each and every one of our students in critical thinking and entrepreneurship, and we gave them the confidence to speak out and share their ideas,” he said.
To ensure that MMU gets realistic feedback on the quality of its graduates, the university looks for input from neutral parties.
“At MMU, we like to provide figures from the Ministry of Higher Education, because it removes doubt,” Prof Rasat explained.
“Our graduate employability rate of more than 96% was obtained with the help of the ministry, so we can rest assured that we are not just looking at confirmation bias.”
It is not difficult to find supporters of MMU’s student development philosophy.
One such believer is Boh Shi Min, who received her degree scroll on Sept 5 during MMU’s 2015 Convocation.
Boh graduated with a CGPA of 4.00 for her Bachelor of Accounting ( Honours), earning her MMU’s 2015 President’s Award. Speaking with Boh, it was easy to see how MMU facilitated her pursuit of academic success.
In her award acceptance speech, Boh described MMU’s approach to student development: “MMU taught us not just the knowledge in textbooks or lecture notes. We were taught, or rather, trained, to be mature, responsible and mentally strong individuals.
“Having had to handle five or more subjects in one semester was indeed a challenge for our brains, but that was also how we, MMU graduates, polished our management skills.
“Group assignments always reminded us the importance of equipping ourselves with good people skills and managerial skills. Furthermore, working with group mates from diverse backgrounds made us learn and appreciate the beauty of cultural diversity,” she said.
It must be pointed out that Boh is not just paying lip service. She currently works at Ernst & Young as an Advisory Associate, a position she held since July 2015, two months before receiving her scroll.
While not everyone could win the President’s Award like Boh did, nevertheless many MMU graduates are as marketable as she is, securing employment even as thousands of graduates have to languish without jobs for a longer period.
It seems as if graduating from MMU is like being chosen to live in a lush oasis of opportunities in the middle of a desert.