By Vinoothene Chandrasekaran
Pix Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, Feb 26 2016 – The National University of Malaysia (UKM) has  targeted that all graduates are offered employment upon graduation.

The challenge was made by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Affairs Industry and Community Network, Prof Datuk Dr Imran Ho Abdullah to UKM Career Development Center Director (UKM-Karier) Prof Dr Ishak Yusoff.

“He (Prof Ishak) has done a good job in bringing the students to the required level because, for your information,   the employability rate of UKM graduates has reached 85%. We want to achieve 100% employability in 6 months time, ”  said Prof Imran when launching an interview for internship session by the  Alcon  company, with students of UKM, here on Feb 24.

According to Prof Imran although the employability rate of 85% is good compared to other universities in Malaysia, he believes it can be further improved.

“In other words, we want all UKM students to have job offers before they graduate,” he said.

Several Alcon Novartis officials gave talks to students about the internship  training opportunities as well as the skills needed to get a job in Alcon, a subsidiary of Novartis in Malaysia.

One of them, R. Shantini, the Learning and Organization Development manager of Alcon said in her briefing that one of the employment challenges faced by  Malaysia is to achieve international standards.

Shantini said to address these challenges, the programmes organised by Novartis are emphasizing the need for increasing the competitive edge and the importance of critical thinking as well as job opportunities in Novartis.

Novartis is an international pharmaceutical giant and its subsidiary Alcon produces contact lenses.