PETRONAS’ GEES TRAINING BOOSTS PROSPECTS
WITH nothing more than a Mechanical Engineering degree in hand and her future hanging in the balance, Siti Rodhiah Lamree took a bus from Kunak on the east coast of Sabah and travelled westward to Kota Kinabalu on a road trip that would later prove to be one of the most important in her life.
It was not a journey of a thousand miles; it was just about 460km but throughout the long and winding road, she kept on rehearsing in her mind the interview she was about to attend in the state capital.
Yet, the interview was not for a job, but for enrolment in a programme to enhance her employability so that she could stand a better chance at kick-starting a career which had thus far eluded her.
“I was worried that I would never be able to get a job,” said Rodhiah, the sixth of seven siblings.
She recalled that right after graduating from Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam in 2016, she had begun sending her résumés to various companies hoping for a favourable reply.
But none was forthcoming despite months of waiting.
“I did receive a call from a company in Peninsular Malaysia but at that time, I was not ready to uproot from Sabah as I had to look after my mom who was not well.”
While waiting for an opportunity, Rodhiah worked as a replacement teacher at her former school SMK Kunak and provided tuition at home.
In July 2017, she came to know of an interview programme in Kota Kinabalu under the Graduate Employability Enhancement Scheme (GEES) which was supported by a number of companies, including Petronas.
And that set her on her journey to the west.
She showed up early at the programme with a clear goal – to hand in her résumé and leave a lasting impression during the on-the-spot interview, which happened to be with Petronas.
But the rest is not yet history. Two months later, Petronas called her for training under the programme, which provides two months of soft skills development training followed by six months of on-the-job training at Petronas Dagangan Bhd in Kota Kinabalu.
Rodhiah found her first day of training to be an uncomfortable experience.
“I thought to myself, oh my, I need to communicate a lot in English. I didn’t have the confidence then,” she said.
But the opportunity was too great to miss and she was determined to overcome challenges that came her way and to prove that she has what it takes to be a Petronas employee – a struggle that finally paid off with a job offer from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB), Sabah Assets, as an operations engineer.
Rodhiah, now 28, said her exposure in the programme played a huge part in building her self-confidence and communication skills.
Today, her work requires her to communicate not just with Malaysian colleagues but also those from other countries.
“I enjoy communicating with people from different backgrounds. I learnt that the most important thing is to communicate confidently and get your message across,” said Rodhiah.
Another GEES trainee who has successfully found employment in Petronas is Azilah Azie Aripin, 26, from Tuaran, who holds a Chemical Engineering degree from Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She was in the same batch as Rodhiah and did her training at PCSB Sabah Assets in Kota Kinabalu.
“Going through GEES at Petronas changes you. The training is impactful. It allows us to discover our capabilities,” said Azilah who is an executive at the Integrated Operations Planning, Infrastructure Department, PCSB Sabah Assets.
She added that although some might not end up working with their respective training providers, it would still be a worthwhile experience.
“I believe employers look highly upon those who have gone through the programme. It really helps to enhance graduates’ marketability,” said Azilah.
To date, Petronas has trained 840 Malaysian youths, including 150 from Sabah, under the programme. This year marks Petronas’ eight years of involvement in the programme.
The new GEES intake for November 2019-June 2020 will take place soon. Online application is open via the official Petronas website. Applicants must be Malaysian citizens who are not older than 26 years, possess a Bachelor Degree with a minimum CGPA of 3.0 and have not been in employment for six to 12 months prior to the application.