Graduates & Employment

571 human resource practitioners who took part in the survey - 64 % felt that the top reason why fresh graduates were rejected after the interview sessions was because the candidates were asking for unrealistic salary or benefits.

It said the second and third reasons for rejecting fresh graduates were the “bad character, attitude and personality of the jobseekers” (60 per cent), followed by “poor command of English language” (56 per cent). Another 38 per cent said that they tended to be too choosy about the job or the company they wish to work for.

The survey results also indicated that 86 per cent of employers do not discriminate against graduates from a specific type of university and that they have no qualms hiring fresh graduates from a local public university, a local private university or a foreign university.

On the question of the quality of our fresh graduates today, 66 per cent of respondents rated them as ‘average’ and 23 per cent rated them as ‘poor’.

According to government statistics, 71,000 people with diplomas or degrees remain on the job hunt, almost 20 per cent of the total number of unemployed which is 388,000.