First launched in 2011, Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (1Malaysia Training Scheme/SL1M) has helped 126,000 job seekers across the nation to gain employment, up to July this year.
Talking after the opening of SL1M’s Southern Zone Open Interview Programme 2017, SL1M secretariat head Norashikin Ismail said that talents who are struggling in the job search should possess the right mindset and attitude in order to be hired. She suggested the job seekers not to be picky in choosing the job. Norashikin also stressed that they should be open-minded and willing to get out of their own comfort zone.
“Some job seekers have rejected job opportunities offered to them just because they did not want to leave their villages to take on challenges in new places,” she said.
“This kind of mindset needs to be corrected, especially if you are unemployed graduates,” Norashikin told the reporters at the event held at the Melaka International Trade Centre in Ayer Keroh on Monday (Aug 28).
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Norashikin continued that the current unemployed youth, whom she referred as the “strawberry generation”, was also highly demanding as they great expectation toward a high salary. For example, she found some talents who expected a monthly salary of RM5,000 for their first job.
Regarding to this matter, she said that job seekers should accept jobs with reasonable rather than chasing only financial benefit. She added that as long as they can gain experience from such employment, talents should not only rely on the monetary compensation.
“Most of us started our career at the bottom before we climbed up the ladder,” she added.
A total of 100 participating companies had set up 110 booths during the two-day programme, and offering more than 15,000 jobs and training opportunities both for graduates and job seekers.
Norashikin informed that the next leg of the SL1M programme would be held at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, Perak, from Sept 23 to 24 this year.
Coming to the event was Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, who opened the sixth batch of the SL1M programme. He welcomed the SL1M Open Interview Programme scheme, which he said had evicted claims by some groups about the lack of employment opportunities in the country, The Star reports.
Additionally, he said the initiative demonstrated the Government’s concern and commitment in providing opportunities to graduates and job seekers.
The SL1M initiative falls under the Prime Minister’s Department’s Economic Planning Unit. The aim of the scheme itself is to help improve graduates’ potential to create more employable talents while strengthening the country’s human capital altogether.
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