Qualification and Certificates

Recently I had a very interesting conversation with a group of my students about the quality of their qualification when searching for jobs. I think it is word sharing to all.

Student: Is there any differences if I graduated in a local college that is not popular compare to another institution that is more famous.

Me: How much you have to pay for your studies compare to the one that you claim is more famous?

Student: Hmmm... about 3 times more expensive in the famous institution.

Me: Now, if you and your family can afford it, then I would say you can choose any institution that you like the most; in terms of the environment, the location, the people, the facilities, the courses, overseas collaborations and others you may think it is important to you.

Student: But how about to find a job when we graduate?

Me: Personally, I think it is the same as long as the institution is a recognised institution by the Ministry of Education. The chances of you in getting a job would be the same, doesn't matter from which institution that you graduated from. This is because there are many factors that a good employer will take into consideration when hiring a new staff. It is not where you graduated from or how much you have spent in your studies.

Qualification is a minimum requirement, just like a key to open a door so that you can get in. After you got in, what would you do with the key? Do you admire it or merely left it on the desk? We need a certificate to proof that we are qualified to apply for a position. Employer will sort the application according to the requirements for the job and qualification is often the common criteria for the screening process in recruitment and selection.

As long as you meet the criteria, you may have the chance to attend for an interview. Meaning, you have the key to open the door and get in to meet the interviewer. After that, it is you who will have to impress the interviewer, convince them with your competencies and attitude towards work.

Student: But why others pay more and study in more famous institution?

Me: Well, there are many reasons for this. For example, what is the meaning of famous? It is mainly from marketing efforts. Actually, some larger institution that charged more compare to the others provides better environment to study with state of the art classroom, full recreation facilities for extra curriculum activities, collaboration with other overseas institutions for the recognition, more qualified teaching (for some institution only), and others that you may find it unique.

All these may have some relationship to your learning experience that will make you to learn more and be more better in your studies. However, if you are not committed, involved and engaged in your studies, it will not benefit you.

Comparing to other institutions without these, does that mean a student cannot gain good learning experience, poor attitude, lack of knowledge, and cannot develop good skills in the field of studies? Again, it is how committed you are and engaging in your studies.

There are always alternatives when you want to solve a problem which each alternatives has its pros and cons. Ultimately, an education is still a key to open the door of employment. Doesn't make if you have a wooden key, golden key, or key with diamonds...it is only used to just unlock the door.

Student: .........

What say you?

Education Fair 2013 in Malaysia

Every time when I go to the education fair, I find something is different. I guess I am witnessing the evolution of education industry in Malaysia. 

Most private institutions dominates the main halls in the education fair, with unique constructions of a large area which consist of many booths (12-16 open booths size). Also, there are actually many private higher education providers in Malaysia and growing larger. So far, I don't see any public university there (even if they are there, they will only take very few booths with minimum spending on the booth design). It shows that the private institutions are still more desperate for students than the public. Well, this has always been the norm, just that the private institutions are becoming more competitive and aggressive in sales and marketing.

Secondly, more students involvement in the marketing efforts by various institutions. They call them the 'student helper'. Their task is to give out flyers, goodies and to collect database by stopping everyone to fill up the enquiry form. Some institutions are like those Telcos (in blue, red, yellow t-shirts), assigning there student helper to try to grab anyone who passes by their booths to fill up the form (just like Telcos promoters-signing up a data plan or buying prepaid SIM). I just wonder if this is how education fair suppose to be - "selling" or it should be a place for counselling and to find out about courses available.

In this education fair, there are also some European universities participating under the European Union education booths. Their counsellors are all standing near to their booths welcoming the potential students to approach them to ask about their courses. It is not so much on collecting database as they are mainly here to create the awareness, provide informations and encourage the candidate to apply for their programmes if they are interested; not on "selling".

To some extent, I find that the approach used by many institutions now is more like trying to sell the visitors a product, just like in PC Fair (for ICT) or Matta Fair (for Travel and Tours). It is scary because the institutions are supposed to promote their courses by creating awareness, help the candidates to choose the right course, provide information on financial aid and to cultivate learning and development in younger generations.

What say you?