By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, Oct 5: It is not necessary for fresh graduates to land a job which is suitable with their qualifications or degrees, but they could use it to expand their knowledge in other fields of their choices.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg pointed out that there were many instances where successful people came from a very different educational background than the industries they were successful in.
Therefore, he said, present students and fresh graduates can pursue and expand into whatever industry they desired to be professional in, if they focus and put their hearts to it.
“You must have your basic knowledge. With the foundation, you then try to find which profession is suitable for you,” he advised some 100 secondary school students from Satok area during the closing of the Career Venture in Highly Demanded Professions Seminar held at Yayasan Sarawak near Jalan Sultan Tengah here this afternoon.
A couple of examples Abang Johari cited were an engineer who became a modern farmer, and a lawyer turned handicraft seller and exporter who sells her products to the United States (USA).
The engineer, he shared, utilised his engineering knowledge to set up, run and maintain a fertigation rock melon farm; while the lawyer used her knowledge in her businesses especially regarding contracts and intellectual property.
“So they used their base knowledge to expand their career to what it is now,” he said.
In advising fresh graduates to always be optimistic when looking for jobs, he reminded that the mentality of “no suitable jobs for fresh graduates” was relative, as there were always jobs out there and it was only a matter of willingness to take them up.
“When people say there are no jobs, it’s relative. Jobs are there, just a matter of if you are willing or not,” he said.
“Actually, (it is) like poverty, (whereby) in most cases it’s not absolute poverty. It’s relative poverty because they have land as asset, (but) just that they don’t monetise their land,” he explained.
While knowledge was the basis of life, he however pointed out that it was still up to individual to use their knowledge to earn a living.
“The jobs available may be different from your degree or educational qualifications, but your knowledge will always be there,” he added.— DayakDaily
