Career Design Starter Kits for Malaysian Young Professionals

The covid-19 pandemic has created a challenging job market for young generations. In Malaysia, the unemployment rate is expected to remain high at 4.8% during the recovery period. To share some insights in this matter, we interviewed a potential young professional, Ms. Marshila Kaha who formerly worked at Leave a Nest Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology pursuing her study in Biotechnology.

Coping with Challenges and Obstacles in Career Hunting in Malaysia

Seeking a relevant job that matches your educational background is challenging. The research-based company in Malaysia is currently limited, therefore very challenging for researchers in science backgrounds to land suitable jobs.  To Ms. Marshila, the magical words “keep trying” always motivated her to cope with this situation. Tireless efforts in finding the right position had led her to Leave a Nest Malaysia. “I learned about Leave a Nest Malaysia during my engagement with their Tech Planter program and instantly fell in love with their mission to bridge industry and academia”. For her, Science is not just about working in the laboratory but also contributing her knowledge to tackle different issues in society. Therefore, it is important for graduates to look for a job that allows them to utilize their knowledge and bring benefits to more people.

Plan Your Career Journey

In Japan, the job hunting season for graduates begins during their final years of candidature. Inspired by this system, Ms. Marshila thinks the same culture should be implemented in Malaysia to boost their career searching activity. This way, students will have direct support from their academic advisors as well as the career development office at their respective institutions.  Back in her day, she secured the job with Leave a Nest Malaysia before her graduation, proof that this system is effective. By approaching the company earlier, we also can understand the requirements and needs of the work and start to prepare while we are still studying and have more time.

Explore New Opportunities and Challenges to Grow Yourself

While working at Leave a Nest Malaysia, she was able to build professional connections with many researchers on various issues in society. Through these networks, she was inspired by their efforts to commercialize their research projects, which motivated her to pursue her Ph.D. She hopes one day she will be able to make such progress in her own research efforts, hence she is determined to give herself new challenges and pursue her passion in research without delay. With her experience at Leave a Nest, she believes she will be able to work on research that can be commercialized and bring benefits to the world.  She mentioned that the young generation should not stay in their comfort zone and be aware that there is another way to build their career which is by creating their own.

Lastly, embarkment on a new adventure may start with some difficulties but surely will open new doors of possibilities ahead. What’s more, to have grit, the combination of perseverance and passion. She concluded that people with grit aren’t discouraged by rejection or failure but rather encouraged to try even harder.