Taylor’s Career & Employment Fair 2013 sees participations from over 60 top employers

Understanding the fact that employability after graduation is one of the biggest concerns students have in mind, Taylor’s University kicked off another successful Career & Employment Fair with an impressive total of 65 corporate organisations and talent-recruiting companies taking part in the bi-annual event.

Organised by Taylor’s Career Services Centre, the Taylor’s Career & Employment Fair attracted local and international companies from various industries including retail, hospitality, engineering, constructions, food & beverage, information technology, communication, media, accounting & finance and many more as they met over 900 students who visited their booths to seek for internship and job opportunities.

“Students of institutions of higher learning are largely concerned about their employability once they graduate. In this context, how employable a graduate is very much depends on whether he or she has the required skills, knowledge and character expected by a potential employer. We are very confident that we have done a good job with our students and are able to offer the industry the best pool of talents that we have developed,” said Mr. Pradeep Nair, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Taylor’s University.

“When we emerged as a new university in 2011, we have set a mission to ensure our graduates will be the most desired by the industry, making them the ‘top employers’ top choice’. To achieve this mission, we need the support from the industry and today, I am pleased to see so many established organisations coming together to be a part of our Career and Employment Fair,” added Mr. Pradeep, who also officiated the fair.

Mr. Jason Soh, Senior Director, Recruitment, Asia Pacific for Hilton Worldwide who has participated in this fair third time in a row, had only praises for Taylor’s University’s graduates. “Hilton Worldwide is one of the world’s biggest companies and we want the best people to give in their best for the company. We want our employees to have the right attitude and passion for the hospitality industry because it is a tough industry.”

“From my observations, Taylor’s University graduates are of very high quality and that is why we keep coming back to the career and employment fair. In fact, we are very excited this year that we have requested for a bigger booth!”

Seeking for graduates who have good communication skills, confidence and passion, Ms. Melissa Chew Sue-Li, Assistant Manager, Group Human Resource from CIMB Group, commented that the company is pleased with the group of Taylor’s University’s graduates it has recruited. “Taylor’s University has been one of our top hiring universities in the country and under The Complete Banker™ Programme that we set-up, we are able to monitor the performances of some of these graduates who have been part of our top performers in the programme.”

“One of the Taylor’s graduates has been very impressive as he has taken up the leader role of the company’s CSR committee after just two years with us. This has clearly shown how he is willing to take up more responsibilities, aside from his normal workload and also, despite the fact that he is just a junior in the company.”

Attending the fair for the first time, Mr. Dip Kang, Senior Manager, Human Resources Talent Acquisition & Sourcing, University Relations and Projects, Malaysia, IndoChina and ANZ from Dell, seeks for attitude rather than high scores. “To us, attitude is the utmost important factor because skills are trainable and experience can be gained over time.”

“We decided to participate in this fair not only because of our partnership in Taylor’s World Class Scholarship, but also due to the strength of Taylor’s University brand name. Therefore, we are confident we can find some good candidates here.”

Besides bringing over 60 top employers into the campus, this year’s Career & Employment Fair also sees the return of some highly successful Taylor’s alumni mentoring session, with former students who now work for established organisations such as Ernst & Young, Veritas Architects and Orion Social Media, coming back to share on what it takes to excel in the corporate world.

The continuous efforts by the Taylor’s Career Services Centre have resulted in several milestones, further positioning Taylor’s University students as ‘Top Employers’ Top Choice’. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Tracer Study 2011 revealed that Taylor’s University bachelor degree graduates’ average monthly starting pay is at the top 25% among other graduates of the same disciplines in Malaysia. Based on the record of the Taylor’s Internship Placement Centre from January to March 2013, 59% of Taylor’s students are placed with top industries for their internship programme.

Taylor’s Career Services Centre was also rated second in the world among 53 institutions of higher learning from 6 countries in the Graduate Survey – Summer Wave 2012.