assignment learning skill of oum

32
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE ____________________________________________________ ____ OUMH1103 LEARNING SKILLS FOR OPEN DISTANCE LEARNERS _______________________________________________ _________ IMPORTANT SKILLS THAT EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN GRADUATES NO. MATRIKULASI : 780424085416001 NO. KAD PENGNEALAN : 780424-08-5416 NO. TELEFON : 012-5552985 E-MEL : [email protected] TURTO’S NAMA : Jawahar A/L Surianarayanan PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : PERAK LEARNING CENTRE

Upload: sarah-anderson

Post on 30-Oct-2014

155 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE________________________________________________________

OUMH1103

LEARNING SKILLS FOR OPEN DISTANCE LEARNERS________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT SKILLS THAT EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN GRADUATES

NO. MATRIKULASI : 780424085416001

NO. KAD PENGNEALAN : 780424-08-5416

NO. TELEFON : 012-5552985

E-MEL : [email protected]

TURTO’S NAMA : Jawahar A/L Surianarayanan

PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : PERAK LEARNING CENTRE

January 2012 Semester

Page 2: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

Table of Content

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Definition of terms used

2.1 Graduate 3

2.2 Employers 3

2.3 Skills

2.3.1 Hard Skill 3

2.3.2 Solf Skill 3

3.0 Literature Review 4

4.0 Findings

4.1 Communication Skills 5-6

4.2 Teamwork Skills 6-7

4.3 Computing and Office Skill 7

4.4 Critical Thinking Skills 8

4.5 Time Management Skills 9

5.0 Recommendation

5.1 Future Graduates Malaysia 10-11

5.2 Government Bodies Malaysia 11-12

5.3 Education institution Malaysia

5.31 Primary School 12-13

5.32 Secondary School 13

5.33 Higher Education Institutes 13-14

6.0 Conclusion 15-16

7.0 Reference 17-18

1

Page 3: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

1.0 Introduction

Every year, a large numbers of graduates emerging from the local universities, private or public

higher institutions. However, numerous articles have been written in the education journals, and

newspapers over the past years about the issue of high unemployment rates among local

graduates. According to the New Sunday Times (2008) indicated that “A qualification which

focuses solely on academic skills is just not attractive enough to today’s employers. Employers

would like the graduates who have good academic as well as “rounded” qualifications”.

According Nurita, Shaharudin and Ainon(2004), more employers in Malaysia are looking for

graduates who are balanced with good academic achievement and possessing ‘soft skill’ such as

problem solving, communication skills, interpersonal skills, and the ability to be flexible. The

statistics provided by ‘The Sun’ newspaper in 2006 reported that the unemployment rates of

the private colleges recorded 26% ,whereas the foreign graduates 34% and meanwhile the public

universities has reached a surprising 70%. Today, most of the employers are looking for

graduates with a high level of confidence who are exposed to niche areas outside of their

academic studies. Today, employers looking for quality skills in interpersonal communication,

critical thinking, and problem-solving, not just the ability to complete job duties (Un ange passé,

2008). According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook

2010 surveyed that the Malaysian graduates lack of the analytical skills, teamwork skills,

communication skills, strong work ethic and technical skills. Besides, the recruitment section of

the daily newspapers will give some clear informations. Job advertisements constantly define a

graduate as the people with the following qualities such as eager to learn, results –driven,

possesses enthusiasm and initiative, good communication and interpersonal skill, excellent

written and spoken English, flexibility, time management, leadership, numeracy, planning and

organizing skill, commercial awareness, teamwork, decision making ,creativity, independence,

stress tolerance, lifelong learning self awareness and last but not least, proficiency in Microsoft

Office applications. Therefore, this academic report presents the findings of the important skills

that employers are looking for in graduates . On the other hand, the suggestion for relevant

bodies to ensure that future graduates are equipped with the skills listed.

2

Page 4: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

2.0 Definition of Terms Used

For easy reference and understanding of this writing, the following terms are defined:

2.1 Graduates

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, graduate can be definite as a person who has a first

degree from a university or college.

2.2 Employers

According duhaimeorg., a person is contractually bound to a worker. He gives the worker

money as salary or wages, in exchange for on going work which the employer directs the work

and exercises fundamental control over the work.

2.3 Skills

2.31 Hard Skills

“Hard Skill” are technical or administrative procedures related to an organization’s core

business. These skills are easy to observe, quantify and measure. They are also easy to

train. For example machine operation, safety standards, financial procedures, computer

protocols and sales administration (Dennis, 2006).

.2.32 Soft Skills

“Soft Skills” are typically hard to observe, quantify and measure. These skills are needed

for everyday life as much as they are needed for work. For example, solving problems,

communicating, listening, engaging in dialogue, giving feedback, cooperating, as a team

member, contributing in meeting and resolving conflict (Dennis, 2006).

3

Page 5: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

3.0 Literature Review

During the past few years, the unemployment rate of graduates in Malaysia are increasing.

According to Malaysian Today (2005), the survey of the government Malaysia was discover that

about 60,000 Malaysia graduates were unemployment. This is because they lack of experience,

poor communication skills, poor in English and they had pursued studied irrelevant to market

place. The Ministry of Human Resource recently reported that a lot of graduates are still jobless.

According to the report, 70%of graduates from public universities and higher institution are still

unemployed. This is in contrast with 26% from higher private institutions and 34% who are

foreign graduates (Suresh, 2006).

Vijan (2007) indicated that there are common perceived reasons as to why graduates are jobless

in Malaysia. Because of lacking skills, they are not able to impress employers during interview.

They do not have the right skill like communication skills and presentation skills. They week in

proficiency in English (Phang 2006). They also can not perform to contribute to the company

once they start work because they no ready to work. Fong(2004) and Henwood (2007) indicated

that Malaysian universities are not producing “work-ready” graduates. This is because the

system of education Malaysia is too exam-oriented. Today, graduates are required to have more

than their academic. Baxter and Young (1982) said that employers need entry level employees

who are trustworthy and dependable, have thinking and problem solving skills, have basic

communication and have the desire to learn and advance, have team work skills and possess a

proper attitude.

According to Asma dan Lim(2000); Yogeeswaran(2005) dan Vijan (2007), the local universities

and higher institution has produced the graduates who are competent theory-wise. However,

they no sufficient practical exposure. The other reason is related to the mismatch between what

the higher institution are producing and what the Malaysia job-market seek. Besides, the local

higher institutions no guarantee the graduates get a job after a degree. According to

Norshima(2008), the government are setting the training scheme for unemployed graduates such

as the training scheme for unemployed graduates, more subjects at school level taught in English

and the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX) project.

4

Page 6: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

4.0 Findings

Taking into account the relative importance of the skills to employers, the greatest skill

deficiencies among new graduates were perceived to be in the areas of:

4.1 Communication Skills

Communication is the receiving and sending of verbal and non verbal messages within the

organizational context (Roebuck, 2001; Ober, 2001; Murphy, Hildebrandt, & Thomas, 1997).

According to Hanna and Wilson (1998), they expanded on this definition, indicating business

communication is a process of transmitting, generating, receiving and interpreting messages in

interpersonal, public, group, and mass communication contexts through written and verbal

formats. Hynes (2005) indicated that effective communication is the key to planning, leading,

organizing, and controlling the resources of the organizations to achieve objectives, and may be

formal or informal in nature. The graduates should focus on the importance of communication in

business. They can measure the importance of communication skills in the business sector when

they read the job advertisements. If a graduates lack of these communication skill, they may

find it impossible to climb up the corporate ladder. Thus, promotions come to those who can

communicate effectively at all levels, from senior management level to the lowest employee.

Good communication skills will help the relationships to develop along good lines, and ensure

that arguments and disagreements are kept to a minimum. Last year , ‘The Star’ ,10 April 2010,

reported that the top jobs only for those who know the language well. This newspapers also

reported that the graduates lack confidence in oral communication especially in interviews and

oral presentations. This is because the graduates cannot speak in English when they go to

interview. Now, the employers surveyed cited speaking in English as the most important skill

followed by writing. Today, every graduate must have the ability to write and speak in

professional manner because graduates have to involved in various aspects of business and

interact with clients. The language is very important because if you can not speak your English

present yourself well, it is hard to help a company drive business. Similarly, the graduates will

frequently carry out in English such as taking messages; reading contracts, instructions, reports ,

documents; filling in forms; receiving instructions; answering the telephone; interacting with

colleagues, clients, bosses; writing memos; participating in and holding meetings; giving

instructions; writing letters and writing reports. They also carried out in English as they involve

communication with other individuals at work or with clients who use English. If the graduates

5

Page 7: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

can not speak and writing in English very well, how they seek a job. Communication Skills

also includes the telephone skill, presenting, listening, persuading and negotiating, body

language, gathering information, motivating supporting and so on. Telephone skills is also very

important because before contact with the client or customer, the employee should thinking

through in advance what the employee want to say and keeping business calls to the point. The

employee should listen attentively so that he or she expresses interest in what people are saying.

Good listening builds a rapport and understanding with speaker. After reading the above skills,

the graduates will know what skills he or she lack.

4.2 Teamwork Skills

Benders et al. (2001) also discovered a positive effect of group delegation for

decreasing worker absenteeism rates and improving organizational

performance. Most companies realize that teamwork is important because either the product

is sufficiently complex that it requires a team with multiple skills to produce, and a better

product will result when a team approach is taken. If the graduates haven’t these skills, they

will gaining a poor reputation on the job. Therefore, it is important that graduates learn to

function in a team environment so that they will have teamwork skill when they enter the

workforce. Teamwork involves contributing your own ideas, working confidently within a

group, taking a share of responsibility and being assertive. The graduates accept and learn from

constructive criticism and providing positive, constructive feedback to other. As working in

team, they should have exercise on team working skills like the questionnaire which should help

them to analyze the workings of a group and help them reach some tentative conclusions about

their role in a team. Besides, the roles are not always constant in team depending on what is

being discussed. The graduates should give ideas of which of these roles they play in teams.

Harmony among the team members should always maintain. If the members feel comfortable,

they willing to change their own views to get a group decision. Besides, the good leader in team

should direct the sequence of steps the group take and keeps the group. The leader experts to

controlling people and events and coordinating resources. He or she have determination and

initiative to solve problem and bring competitive drive the team. If the teams effectiveness it has

a range of individuals who give different ways and complement each other. Everyone

understands the task they have to help each other. Hence, through the teamwork skills the risk of

6

Page 8: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

the company are low because the employees will help the company solve problem. So, all

employers are keen to recruit the graduates who able to solve problem, co-operate and work in

teams. These skills will increase the employer’s profit.

1.3 Computing and Office Skill

According to Stovers (2003), computers are often seen as the gateway to membership in the

global information society and a requirement for the workforce of the future. According to

Bailey and Stefaniak (2001), the knowledge, skills and abilities needed by computer programmer

and, find that the shortage of computer personnel comes from a lack of adequate skills not a lack

of applicants. The study identified a total of 85 skills that were important to computer

programmers; these subdivide into technical skills, soft skills and business concepts. Computer

skills are a basic requirement for a large number of jobs. Today, new technologies and

methodologies are requiring people to operate beyond their comfort zone. Employers are

looking for the graduates who have the computing and office skills. Graduates have to use

technology effectively at the work place to enhance their job output and use appropriate

technologies, channels and resources to access information . Now. almost any office job you

apply for will require you to have basic typing and data entry skills, as well as a basic

understanding of how to use an operating system. Most employers requires graduates to be

familiar with office productivity software as well, such as spreadsheet programs and word

processors. Graduates can take part in job skills training courses, leadership training courses,

safety courses and anything else on a computer. Because the internet is worldwide, even small

businesses can benefit by promoting their products and services. So, the companies can open the

business for international markets online to increase their income and increasing the sales

drastically. Through the internet also help the firm purchase or making payment online, linking

consumers and business , network management, trying out new ideas, doing fast business,

improving the standards of customer service or support resource, allowing the business to appear

alongside other established businesses, gathering opinions, supporting managerial functions and

so on. From the above benefits of the new technologies, all the graduates will understand why

the employers expect them to possess these skills. If the graduates lack of these skills, they must

take course to improve their IT knowledge.

7

Page 9: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

4.4 Critical Thinking Skills

Most problem-solving skills are developed through everyday life and experience. According to

the newspapers ‘The Sun’,4 March 2012, reported that graduates emerging from the Malaysian

education system are failing to meet the expectations prospective employers due to lack of

critical thinking skill. Usually, the graduates lack of critical thinking skill will fail their

interview. Therefore, human resource and recruitment consultants feel that the future generations

need a sound foundation in critical thinking for the employment market. According to Neumann

(1989), critical thinking describes how individuals think about and solve the complex problems.

Critical thinking can caused the managerial work effectively. A good leader with critical

thinking, able to make decisions and effect action of enlarged scope and heightened quality. The

graduates are often expected to think critically and make decisions about their work, not just

follow the manager’s instructions. The graduates will face problems in any job. The graduates

should show skills to solve the problem and the personal resilience to handle the challenge and

stress they may bring. If the graduates possess these thinking skills, they able to follow the

stages to solving problem such as evaluate information or situations, break the problems down

into their key components, consider different ways of approaching and solving problems and

decide on the most suitable of these ways, take action, examine results and test review.

Example, When the firm lacking of capital, the manager have to solve this problem through his

or her thinking skill to help the firm overcome obstacles in the businesses. So, the manager have

to plan how to rising of more capital. The manager often starts with a plan to see what the firm

cash needs are and when the firm’s cash needs arise. Thus, the manager need to consider the

suitable ways to rising the capital. Before taking action, the manager have to examine the results

and test review. Then, the manager take action such as borrow money from the bank. From this

example, we know that the skill of graduates will affect a company earned money or get loss in

the business. According to Bettman and Johnson (1993), an adaptively flexible leader can

manage successfully in the international marketplace than a leader who is not adaptively flexible.

8

Page 10: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

4.5 Time Management

Time management is a set of principles, practice, skill, tools and system that help the graduates

use their time to complete what their want. Today, employers are looking for a staff who have

time management skills. The employers feel that the time management is very important because

this skill will lead their business successful. According to Ajayi (2007), the reasons for time

management is reduces misunderstanding and confusion out the essential creates time and

opportunity for carrying out the essential duties. Next, it reduces conflicts in schedules, activities

and interpersonal relations. The third reason is increases the productivity of staff. The fourth

reason is facilitates delegation of duties to staff and the last reason is makes it easy for staff to

meet deadlines. Today, the employers are worry about the employees poor in time management.

As a newbie, time management in the workplace is an important skill, the graduate must possess.

It can determine their career success. Sometimes, the graduates will get quite stressful especially

when they are learning new roles and responsibilities. Let say , if you a manager in a company,

you should be sure you understand your own role and responsibilities in the office. This helps

when work is assigned to you. As a newbie, you may not know what is needed and expected of

you. This can cause delays and hence hamper our efficiency. The first time management in

workplace advice to understand your role and those of your colleagues. The second, you

should prioritize your work. Ranking them in oder of importance. Do not overwhelm yourself

with too long a to-do list. Too long a to-do list may cause you to postpone on starting the work.

The third, you do not waste time on taking long smoking breaks, chatting on phone , taking long

tea breaks and sufing on the internet. These actions will cause you cannot complete the jobs.

The fourth, you should get really clear about what is the next action. After that, please take

action now. Let everyone in your team know you are not to be interrupted unless there is an

emergency. If the workers or staff always waste the time , it will cause the productivity

decrease, the company will get loss and the clients do not trust the company again . The

graduates should improve their time management skill so that do not affecting Malaysia:s global

competitiveness. Thus, the employers are very concern the time management skills.

9

Page 11: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

5.0 Recommendations

Below are the recommendations for future graduates, government bodies or educational

institution in Malaysia to ensure that future graduates are equipped with the skills listed:

5.1 Graduates

From the above findings, the graduates should read the requirements of the job advertisements

before they go to interview. This way may help them understand the skills that the employers

looking for a graduates. Knight and Yorke(2000) said that any transferring the learning from one

context to another, the learner have to use that learning in a variety of different situations.

Through this ways, , it going to seem that practice in a number of contexts is fundamental for the

development of employability skills and attributes. Steel and Sausman(1997) indicated that

individuals are are encouraged to undertake higher education because, in part, there is a

significant earnings premium that graduates gain, on average, over their working lifetime .

Therefore, they must take actions to improve their weakness. The communication skills are very

important for a graduates. If they poor in English, they should take suitable English language

courses before go to seek their jobs. For this purpose, the courses should focus on speaking,

writing, confidence-building activities and job-related as well as in social situations. On the other

hand, graduates can improve communication skills from internet such as search the reading

materials from internet. This way may develop and consolidate graduates’ skills apart from

helping them acquire vocabulary and critical thinking skills. The graduates also can improve

their conversation using the Facebook. Before seeking a good job, the graduates need to

participate some activities to improve their teamwork skills. The graduates can join the camping

to acquiring these skills. Usually the camping will organize the participants into several groups.

the graduates can improve their teamwork skills from the activities such as group discussion.

Through this way, the future graduates have opportunity to contribute their own ideas

effectively, taking a share of the responsibility, working confidently and solving problem within

a group. Hence, it is an exercise on team working skills. If the future graduates weak in

computing and office skill, they must take courses, read technical books, read online tutorials,

subscribe to technical magazines, embrace a variety of software and learn to program. It is

10

Page 12: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

important to develop their technical skills as an integral part of their personal development

efforts. The future graduates should read a lot of newspapers. After that, they should write

some issues in blogs and give some opinions. This is because writing used as a means to

restructure knowledge improves higher-order thinking. In this context, writing may provide

opportunity for future gradutes to think through arguments and use higher-order thinking skills to

respond to complex problems . Time management also an important skill too. The future

graduates should using internet to acquire the information of time management. The future

graduates can view and download a free time management assessment tool at the free online

resources section, which will help them to objectively judge their time management and

underling issues. They must read the tips how to improve this skill. Then, they must training

themselves first before seeking a job. The future graduates can improve their time management

through planning; prioritising; delegating; controlling their environment; understanding

themselves and identifying what they will change about their attitude, habits, routines and.

After training, they already have the concepts how to manage the time in workplace.

5.2 Government bodies

The government bodies also play important roles to improve the skills that employers looking

for the graduates. Morley (2001) recommended that Higher Education Istitution both mediate

and manage government policy, and that the boundaries between the academy, government and

businesses have loosened and been reformed. First, the government bodies should start to help

the unemployed graduates by proving them with training opportunities to improve their working

skills and ability through their Management Training Scheme. However, the aim of this scheme

is to increasing the graduates’ employability. Through this scheme, the unemployed graduates

are given the exposure to office operations. Today, graduates need to be multi-skilled to enable

them to compete in the job market. A degree alone is not sufficient for them. They need to have

other additional skills such as communication, team work skills, time management, computing

and office skill and thinking skill. Through this program, the graduates get the opportunity to

improve themselves in these skills as well as gaining experience. Through the Management

Training Scheme, the graduates also can learn practical skills in dealing with fellow colleagues

as well as external parties. Therefore, the government should take an action immediately

because the skills and experience that they gain during the training give them added value and

11

Page 13: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

make them more marketable in the job market. The second recommendation is the government

also can help the graduates through the government loan . The government can set up a career

loan such as Professional ad Career Development Loan. Through this loan, the government will

help the graduates who lack the fund to take vocational courses to improve their career prospect

and earning potential. The graduates only start to repay the loan over a period agreed. Hence,

the graduates no need to worry about the course fees and living expenses. The third

recommendation is the government should enforce the employers offer the right internship to the

graduates. The employers should ensure that any internship opportunity conforms to legal

requirements. The government can encourage the employers to pay a wage that reflects both the

value of the intern’s contribution and the level of training and support offered by the employer.

The government should ensure the employer that any internship they offer complies with the law

on minimum wages. Through this way, the graduates can improve their communication skills,

team work skill, time management, computing and office skill and thinking skill in a realistic

office. Besides, the government should establish as a top-priority national aim that every

student must complete school possessing sufficient employability skills to earn a decent living.

The government also should increase teachers’ capacity to teach employability skills.

5.3 Educational institutions

5.3.1 Primary school

Based on the skill listed above, education system has to evaluate how well it is

preparing children for the job market. According to Harvey et al.(1997),

employability was highlighted as a concern for employers and was the focus of a

major study. I think we can train the pupils improve the communication skill

starting from the primary school. The English teachers are playing an important

role to make sure their pupil can speak in English from Year 1 to Year 6. Besides,

the school should force the pupils pass the oral in the examination. The English

teachers should held a lot of activities to improve the language such as story telling,

writing competition, reading competition and so on. The teachers should allow

several minutes of time for pupils to chatter in English amongst themselves and

allowing them to talk to their classmates while doing art projects or hands-on

learning activities. Besides, pupils must know how to talk and how to listen.

12

Page 14: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

However, often only listening is practiced in school. Teachers should provide their

pupils with ample time to talk on their own, and should listen to them. As teachers

demonstrate how to listen to pupil while pupils talk, pupils get a chance to practice

their communication skills and have a model for what it means to listen. Beside the

communication skills, the pupils should learn computing in primary school. The

teacher should teach them the basic of computing program such as Word

Processing(Microsoft Word), Spreadsheets(Microsoft Excel),

Presentation(Microsoft Power Point) and so on. Through these ways, they can

improve the computer knowledge.

5.3.2 Secoundary School

The secondary school also play an important role to improve the graduates skills.

The school should enforce the student take part in their co-curricular activities.

The secondary school should provide valuable lessons for practical situations such

as teamwork, communication skills, thinking skill, time management skill, wining

and losing, sportsmanship, and hard work. Through these activities, the student

can learn self-discipline, build self-confidence and develop skills to handle

competitive situations. These are qualities the employers expects schools to

produce in students so that they become responsible adults. Besides, the secondary

school should provide the computing programs to their student. The student

should learn the basic concepts of information technology, using the computer and

managing files, information and communication (email and internet) from here.

While the students studying in their classroom, the teachers should give the

students chance to express their own thinking, which demands that they evaluate

sources of information, identify assumptions, learn new principles and

vocabularies, and imagine the implications of the stance they decide to take.

5.3.3 Higher Education Institutions

According to Romer(1990) and Stokey (1995), Higher education has been

recognized as one of the major forces to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Example, the higher education institution produces skilled labour which is needed

to initiate research and development activities and thus provide a base sustainable

growth. The higher education institutions should always give seminars to the

13

Page 15: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

graduates about the skills that employers are looking for. This is because the

graduates not understand the working situation. The higher education schools

should cooperate with the employers working hand in hand in assignments, project

and give talks to the graduates . Besides, they also need to provide a long practical

training duration about three months, to better groom graduates according to

employer’s requirements. The higher educational institutions also should be given

lecturers to work in industry for better exposure in the academic environment.

The second way is the universities should set the activities with career awareness

for their student. The educators should arrange the classroom in such a way that

it replicates key features of realistic work situation. After that, the educators

should assign the student tasks similar to those performed by workers those

settings. These way can help the graduates understand the operation of the realistic

workplace. The following way is the educators should communicate to the

students who have to perform tasks successfully and provide monitoring and

encouragement to help them achieve success. The educators need to participate in

professional development activities and enroll in classes that emphasize methods

to teach employability skills. The educators must use the different materials in

different media in response to student’s differing learning styles. The higher

school should encourage the students take part in course such as the course about

learning oral in English, writing in English, programmes computing, the time

management skill, improve thinking skills and so on. Besides, the higher

institution also always force the student take part in camping. This way will help

them improves the communication skill, team work skills, time management skills,

thinking skill, and so on. Though this recommendations, the unemployment rate

will decrease in the future.

14

Page 16: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

6.0 Conclusion

Graduates unemployment is a big issues in Malaysia. Why a large of number of

graduates jobless? This is because they lack of soft skill and hard skill. The skills that the

employers are looking for are communication skills, team work skills, computing and office

skill, thinking skills and time management skills. The communication skills are very important

because which creates a positive impact when a person goes for a job interview. Now, the

employers surveyed cited speaking in English as the most important skill followed by writing.

Today, every graduate must have the ability to write and speak in professional manner because

graduates have to involved in various aspects of business and interact with clients. Now, the

employers surveyed cited speaking in English as the most important skill followed by writing.

Today, every graduate must have the ability to write and speak in professional manner because

graduates have to involved in various aspects of business and interact with clients. Teamwork

skills also a important skills that employers are looking for. The most effective teamwork is

produced when all the individuals involved harmonize their contributions and work towards a

common goal. Teamwork has become an important part of the working culture and many

businesses now look at teamwork skills when evaluating a person for employment. Most

companies realize that teamwork is important because either the product is sufficiently complex

that it requires a team with multiple skills to produce, and/or a better product will result when a

team approach is taken. Computer skills are a basic requirement for employers. This is because

the computing skills will help the employers promote their products and services at the

international markets specially the through the internet. The employers also want to look for the

graduates who have the thinking skills. The graduates who have the thinking skill will help the

employers solving problem in their organization. Besides, the graduates always make decision

about their works too. Thus, thinking skills is one of the important skill. Time management also

a important skills for the employers looking for. The graduates need to finish their work on time.

This is because it will affect the profit of a company.

Many methods can reduce the rate of graduates unemployment. I have recommended the

graduates have to take courses to improve themselves. Before going interview, they should

understand the skills that employers want. If they poor in English, they need to take course or

15

Page 17: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

from internet to improve themselves. They also can take part in activities which can improve the

team work skills. If the future graduates weak in computing and office skill, they must take

courses, read technical books, read online tutorials, subscribe to technical magazines, embrace a

variety of software and learn to program. The graduates also can write their opinions on blogs

because writing used as a means to restructure knowledge improves higher-order thinking. The

future graduates should using internet to acquire the information of time management. The

future graduates can improve their time management through better planning; prioritizing;

delegating; controlling their environment; understanding themselves and identifying what they

will change about their habits, routines and attitude. The government bodies also should

improve the graduates’ skill through the Management Training Scheme, set up a career loan such

as Professional ad Career Development Loan, enforce the employers offer the right internship to

the graduates and establish as a top-priority national aim that ever student must complete school

possessing sufficient employability skills to earn a decent living. For the education institution,

the education system has to evaluate how well it is preparing children for the job market. They

can train the pupils improve the job ‘s skills started from primary school and secondary school.

The higher education schools should cooperate with the employers working hand in hand in

assignments, project and give talks to the graduates. The educators need to participate in

professional development activities and enroll in classes that emphasize methods to teach

employability skills.

,

16

Page 18: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

Reference

David, C. & Robert, N.(2011). 24 Business Communication Skills: Attitudes of Human Resource Managers versus Business Educators. American Communication Journal(13).[Oneline]. Available: http://ac-journal.org/journal/pubs/2011/spring/ConradNewberry.pdf [2012, Mac 14]

Dawn, L.(2002). Employability Co-ordinator, University of Exeter. Employability - Literature Review, 1-23. [Online]. Available:http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/esecttools/esectpubs/leeslitreview.pdfGraduate [2012, Mac 16]

Dennis E. C.(2006). People skills training: Are you getting a return on your investment,1-3 . [Online]. Available: http://www.praxisconsulting.org/PeopleSkills.pdf [2012, Mac 12]

Duncan, G.et. al.(2012). Teamwork, Skill Development and Employee Welfare.b British Journal of Industrial Relations doi, 1467-8543.[Online]. Available: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2010.00787.x/pdf [2012, Mac 18]

Elizabeth, O. O.(2011). Managing Time In Education Organization: Policy Implications for Managers in Rivers State, Nigeria Educational. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 2 (4).[Online]. Available:http://www.mcser.org/images/stories/MJSS-Special-issues/MJSS-September2011/olawolu%20oladunni%20elizabeth.pdf [2012, Mac 15]

Hassan, Z. M.et. al.(2010). Relationship between Interpersonal Communication Skills andOrganizational Commitment. European Journal of Social Sciences (13), 1-12.[Online]. Available: http://www.eurojournals.com/ejss_13_3_06.pdf [2012, Mac 12]

Janice W.(2009). A Comparison of Student Perceptions of their Computer Skills to their Actual Abilities. Journal of Information Technology Education , 8, 1-20. Available: http://jite.org/documents/Vol8/JITEv8p141-160Grant428.pdf [2012, Mac 19]

Leonard, H. Reconsidering Graduate Employability: Beyond PossessiveInstrumentalism,1-16. [Online]. Available:http://www.reskill.org.uk/papers/reconsidering_graduate_employability2.pdf [2012, Mac 17]

Norshima Z. S.(2008). Are Graduates To Be Blamed? Unemployment Of Computer Science Graduates In Malaysia,1-16.[Online]. Available: http://aabss.org/Perspectives2008/AABSS2008Article6NORSHIMAZSHAH.pdf [2012, Mac 11]

17

Page 19: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

Robert, D. Critical Thinking, Developmental Learning and Adaptive Flexibility In Organizational Leaders. Journal of Lifelong Learning, (6), 1-10. [Online]. Available: http://www.iup.edu/assets/0/347/349/4951/4977/10249/465540C0-A3C5-4FDD-9771-B58565F8A871.pdf [2012, Mac 16]

Quah, C. H. et.al. (2009). Are Foreign Trained Grduates Better Than Locals?,1-10.[Oline]. Available: http://www.g-casa.com/conferences/tallinn/pdf%20papers/Hoo.pdf [2012, Mac 19]

5 reasons why the graduates unemployed.[Online]. Available: http://skorcareer.com.my/blog/malaysia-unemployment-issue-why-fresh-graduates-are-unemployed/2008/04/17/ [2012, Mac 20]

Graduate With Skills. Not Just a Degree (2010)[online]. Available: http://blogs.wsj.com/hire-education/2010/08/26/graduate-with-skills-not-just-a-degree/tab/print/[2012, Mac 20]

Hariati, A. & Lee, Y. M.(2011). Top jobs only for those who know the language well.[2011, April 10].[Online]. Available: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/4/10/nation/8454838

Local grads fall short of employers' expectations.[2012, March 4]. [Online]. Available:

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/311964

Available: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/graduate_1?q=graduate[2012, Mac 20]

Available:http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/E/Employer.aspx[2012, Mac 20]

Available:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/graduate_1?q=graduate[2012, Mac 22]

Available:

http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/E/Employer.aspx[2012, Mac 22]

18

Page 20: Assignment Learning Skill of Oum

OUMH1103

19