Graduan® Aspire Career & Postgraduate Fair is back!

Graduan® Aspire, the two-day career and networking fair, will be taking place from May 17 to May 18 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

It will be held in two halls this year, as more organisations have signed up to engage with graduates and jobseekers.

On top of learning more about companies, jobseekers can drop their curriculum vitae at booths and meet with human resources personnel to express interest and to interact.

For organisations, this is a chance to connect with potential hires to share job opportunities and to find out what the new generation of talent is seeking for in terms of employment and opportunities.

For individuals interested in pursuing post-graduate studies, they will find a wealth of information via the many university booths at the fair. Plus, you won’t want to miss out on this year’s GRADUAN® Apprentice Challenge where the winner gets the chance of a lifetime to be mentored by a top CEO. All this and more happening at the exciting GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2014.

GRADUAN® APPRENTICE: “WHAT’S NEXT?” CHALLENGE

MAY 17, 2014 @ THE ASPIRE 500 CONFERENCE

The flagship event for GRADUAN® ASPIRE, the GRADUAN® APPRENTICE CHALLENGE will involve pre-selected teams in a final elimination round where they have to deliver a rousing pitch to CEO judges on how they can take their business forward.

It promises to be an exhilarating challenge as teams will have to outdo each other not only with their creative ideas but also in their presentation styles.

It will take a lot to impress the CEO judges, who will be grilling the teams on their ideas. Winners will be handpicked by each CEO for an opportunity to be mentored and to gain valuable industry insights.

GRADUAN® EMPLOYER BRAND AWARDS

What does it take for an organisation to attract top talent? Which companies are the most popular in the nation when it comes to hiring? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed as talents will get the chance to vote for their most preferred employer in the GRADUAN® EMPLOYER BRAND AWARDS survey. This is a great way for organisations to learn what individuals have to say about them and how they can better suit their hiring styles to get the best talent in town.

GRADUAN® IS 20!

What makes GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2014 even more exciting this year? It coincides with GRADUAN®’s 20th Anniversary!

For two decades, GRADUAN® has been the No. 1 and trusted career resource for Malaysian talents, connecting them with top Malaysian employers to facilitate an energetic workforce in the nation.

The GRADUAN® ASPIRE talent networking fair is one of the most successful fairs in the nation where participants get to take part in workshops, events and activities while visiting the booths of various top Malaysian employers.

This year, the fair has attracted more participation from organisations eager to connect with top talents in a fun and exciting atmosphere.

The fair is not just for fresh graduates looking for work opportunities; talents who are currently employed will also find it beneficial to check out GRADUAN® ASPIRE to advance their careers or find out more about other industries and opportunities.

COUCH CORNER

Want to get to know human resources (HR) practitioners better? The GRADUAN® ASPIRE Couch Corner is an intimate session for talents and HR practitioners to get to know each other. This is an informal space for both parties to share their perspectives on employment. Couch Corner takes place on both days of the fair.

RESOUNDING SUCCESS!

GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013 proved to be one of the biggest and most successful talent networking events to date in the nation. Here are some highlights of what took place at the “Work Hard, Play Hard” fair last year.

RECORD-BREAKING!

More than 25,000 jobseekers and 70 organisations and institutions took part in GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013, including Shell, Maybank, Petronas, Celcom Axiata, CIMB Group, PwC, Accenture, and many more.

THE FIRST-EVER GRADUAN® APPRENTICE CHALLENGE

For the first time in a career fair, individuals were invited to take part in an exciting challenge for an opportunity to win a chance to shadow CEOs from top Malaysian organisations.

Each talent had to make hispitch on why he deserved the coveted spot to a panel of CEO judges.

Six winners were handpicked by the judges, which included Datuk Seri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly (CEO of Celcom Axiata), Ahmad Izham Omar (CEO of Primeworks Studios), Jason Lo (CEO of Tune Talk), Sajith Sivanandan (country manager of Google Malaysia), and Sridharan Nair (managing partner of PwC Malaysia).

Supported by: TalentCorp Malaysia

ORGANISATIONS:

•        Aeon Co. (M) Bhd

•        Affin Bank Bhd

•        Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd

•        Astro-MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd

•        AUO Sunpower Sdn Bhd

•        Auric Pacific Malaysia

•        Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd

•        Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd

•        BAT ASPAC Service Centre Sdn Bhd

•        BDO

•        Berjaya Corp Bhd

•        Celcom Axiata Bhd

•        Chatime

•        CIMB Group

•        Continental Tyre PJ Malaysia Sdn Bhd

•        Cypark Resources Bhd

•        Dell Global Business Center Sdn Bhd

•        Deloitte Malaysia

•        DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd

•        DKSH Malaysia Sdn Bhd

•        DRB-Hicom Bhd

•        Dyson Manufacturing Sdn Bhd

•        Eco World Development Sdn Bhd

•        Employees Provident Fund

•        ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia

•        EY

•        Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme

•        Gamuda Bhd

•        Garena Malaysia Sdn Bhd

•        Genting Malaysia Bhd

•        GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Sdn Bhd

•        Great Eastern Life Assurance (M) Bhd

•        GRP 1000

•        Hewlett Packard

•        Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd

•        HSBC Bank Malaysia

•        Kerry

•        KPMG In Malaysia

•        Lafarge Malaysia Bhd

•        Mah Sing Group Bhd

•        Maybank

•        Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd

•        Malaysia Marine And Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd

•        Manulife Technology & Services

•        Maxis Bhd

•        Media Prima Bhd

•        Meltwater

•        Nestlé Products Sdn Bhd

•        New Straits Times Press

•        OCBC Bank (M) Bhd

•        Padiberas Nasional Bhd

•        Petra Energy Bhd

•        Petronas

•        Pharmaniaga Bhd

•        PwC

•        Proton Holdings Bhd

•        Public Bank Bhd

•        RBC Investor & Treasury Services

•        RHB Banking Group

•        Rohde & Schwarz

•        Samsung Malaysia Electronics (SME) Sdn Bhd

•        Securities Commission Malaysia

•        Shell Malaysia

•        Standard Chartered Bank (M) Bhd

•        Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia

•        Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd

•        Tan Chong Group

•        Taylor’s Education Group

•        Teach For Malaysia

•        Telekom Malaysia Bhd

•        Top Glove Corp Bhd

•        UEM Group Bhd

•        UMW Corporation Sdn Bhd

UNIVERSITIES:

•        Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara)

•        Curtin University

•        International University of Malaya-Wales

•        Learning Port

•        Multimedia University

•        Putra Business School

•        Segi University

•        Taylor’s University

•        The University Of Melbourne

•        Unitar International University

•        Universiti Islam Antarabangsa

•        Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

•        Universiti Malaysia Perlis

•        Universiti Putra Malaysia

•        Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka

•        Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

•        Universiti Teknologi Petronas

•        Universiti Tun Abdul Razak

•        Universiti Malaya

•        Westminster International College

Here’s what those at Graduan® Aspire 2013 have to say

“GRADUAN® ASPIRE – A career fair unlike any other. Fun and serious career advice combined, plus top employers with exciting opportunities to offer.” – Johan Mahmood Merican, CEO, TALENTCORP MALAYSIA

“GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013 was an outstanding summit and connected the top minds and best employers from the nation. Its inaugural launch of GRADUAN® APPRENTICE CHALLENGE was one of the main highlights and indeed a great opportunity to unleash the potential of our graduates.” – Hishammudin Salleh, head, talent acquisition, group human capital, MAYBANK

“GRADUAN® ASPIRE is a unique career fair that provides a one-stop shop for job seekers to connect with multiple recruiters under one roof! The event was buzzing with the energy of talents hoping to find the right company to realise their potential. Likewise, recruiters like myself who participated in the event were presented with a multitude of high calibre talent, in the flesh, versus merely sifting through resumes. This increases likelihood of recruiting for fit.” – Nurulasween Ahmad, executive, communication & brand, talent sourcing and employee relations, human resource management, PETRONAS

“GRADUAN® ASPIRE was the first time I participated as a recruiter instead of a fresh graduate. I know in depth why it attracts many big corporation and companies. It was a great platform that allowed interaction with many bright and intelligent students, and mingling with like-minded individuals. In much anticipation, I am looking forward to GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2014.” – Arvin Danial Hermain Herbert, executive, corporate responsibility, group talent management, AXIATA GROUP BHD

“I decided to visit GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013 because I saw it as an opportunity to meet top-notch employers and their representatives to discuss employment opportunities and company culture. It was also a good place for networking as I could attend talks. The highlight of the event was definitely the talks and seminars, like those by company recruiters on how to excel during a job interview. GRADUAN® ASPIRE is one of the best job fairs because of this. I even got shortlisted for a management trainee programme while I was there!” – Ahmad Akmal Syahmi Noor Azahan, executive, strategy, manufacturing and engineering division, UMW

“With more than 70 of the largest Malaysian and foreign corporates exhibiting at GRADUAN® ASPIRE, I felt that this was an excellent opportunity to not only connect with prospective employers but also identify which of these corporates had dedicated employment programmes for talents. This allowed me to gauge what a company’s corporate culture was like and form a preliminary opinion on which company could potentially offer the highest value proposition in terms of a career. Job fairs bring together a large number of corporates and allow prospective employers and employees to meet in an informal setting. – Jylene Tay Yih Jia, 25, global apprentice, MAYBANK

“I visited GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013 in search of potential job opportunities. I went to the Maybank booth and was informed about the Maybank Go Ahead Challenge. That was the beginning of my career in banking as well as an unforgettable experience. I was shortlisted as a finalist for the competition, following which I was also offered a position in the Global Maybank Apprentice Programme. GRADUAN® ASPIRE 2013 led me to where I want to be. I would have never found out about the competition if I had not visited the fair.” – Olivier Colin – Lim, associate, business credit, commercial banking, CIMB

Click here for more articles.