Some have chosen to pursue their passion and explore non-traditional career paths after graduation, including in the arts and entertainment. — 123rf
“GET the degree, get the dream job”.
This is the mantra many Malaysian parents have drummed into their children for decades. But as many are now finding out, especially those in a professional field, getting a degree will not necessarily secure career stability in their futures.
This stark reality is what Deepa Krishnan has had to face since she graduated with a law degree.
“I’m realising that what worked during my parents’ time does not necessarily translate to the world now. It was really hard to get a job, even a paralegal job upon graduation.
“Many peers around me were really struggling to get pupillage placements as well and it was common to apply for at least ten or more law firms.
“I got really discouraged from seeing that competition and already entertained thoughts of choosing another career path,” says the 25-year-old.
After about nine months of applying to law firms, she bit the bullet and started applying for work outside of law.
Now working in copywriting, she says this was her backup career because she has always liked writing.
“The other practical reason was I managed to land this current job within two months, which was fairly quick and I needed to start earning money as soon as I could,” she adds.
While she is rather satisfied with her current situation, she says she does often face questions from friends and family asking why she gave up a prestigious career for copywriting.
“After a while, I think my parents have reluctantly come to accept my current job.
“But I still hope to return to law someday, once I am satisfied that I have learnt all I can in my current job,” she says.
Deepa’s experience is one that is increasingly shared by others around her age in Malaysia.
According to think tank Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap), a whopping 33.9% of youths were underemployed in terms of their skills in 2021.
This overall proportion of underemployed youths has remained largely unchanged from 2017 to 2023, Insap adds.
No vacancies
This is supported by a recent Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) report titled “Shifting Tides: Charting Career Progression of Malaysia’s Skilled Talents,” which highlighted that a significant proportion of Malaysian graduates are overqualified for their current jobs. In 2021, 48.6% of graduates were working in positions that did not match their qualifications, often accepting low or semi-skilled jobs due to a lack of suitable opportunities, KRI said in March.
On Oct 8, the World Bank cautioned Malaysian policymakers about the rising number of underemployed graduates.
While the situation is not unique to Malaysia, the report noted that the problem in Malaysia has its “own characteristics.”
A main reason here, the World Bank pointed out, is the low number of high-skilled jobs being created for tertiary educated workers.
In 2023, there were just 48,700 high-skilled jobs offered against the 287,000 over graduates produced that same year. The volume of high-skilled job vacancies have remained more or less the same since 2018 while the number of graduates have hovered over 250,000.
Last year, a popular thread on social media platform X saw many youths sharing their job search woes.
Among those who added to the conversation was Azim Azhad, who holds a Masters degree in aerospace engineering, but at the time of his posting, was working as a part-time cashier in a supermarket.
Though he managed to land an engineering internship initially, he has since worked a variety of other part-time positions, including in convenience stores, restaurants and department stores.
“(I am) looking for a full-time job. Multiple job experiences. Eager to learn. All I need now is a job paying good money.
“I only hope to be able to continue in the engineering field. I am interested in engineering and want to use my potential,” he said in his postings.
Passion and flexibility
Still, while Deepa and Azim still harbour hopes of being able to use their degrees in the future, not all youth feel as beholden to the study choice they made when they were in their late teens.
This is part of a growing trend of youth exploring non-traditional career paths and pursuing better work-life balance in a rapidly changing world with many nascent technologies and industries.
When she was deciding what to study in university, Nur Arina Zamri eventually went with marine science because she found it interesting and novel.
After she graduated, she landed a job taking care of the marine animals in a theme park in Johor.
“It was a great experience. I met a lot of people and loved sharing my knowledge related to my field,” she says.
Despite that, she yearned to move back to her hometown in Negeri Sembilan to be closer to family and eventually decided to go ahead with her decision.
Unfortunately, after relocating back home, she found it difficult to find a job in marine science.
“So I decided to start a business in event decorating.
“This is my passion. I loved doing something with art and business,” says the 29-year-old.
Having turned her passion into a new career, Nur Arina says she has currently has no plans to return to marine science.
“I am so glad to not be working in a field related to my degree now. My current job is more flexible and I have better work-life balance now.”
The creative arts have also always held an appeal to Pang Kai Xin, who initially decided to study graphic design in university.
“Originally, my plan was to pursue a career in graphic design. However, there was a turning point in my life when I discovered dance. That moment changed everything for me,” she says.
She realised dance was her true passion and found that it gave her a sense of fulfilment unlike any other.
“That’s when I decided to fully commit to a career in dance,” she recounts.
It was also important that being a full-time dancer afforded her flexibility in her schedule, she adds.
“This freedom, combined with the creativity and passion dance ignites in me, made it the perfect career choice for me,” she says.
Pang feels no regrets for giving up on a career in graphic design.
“While I still value the knowledge and skills I gained from my degree, I believe I’m exactly where I’m meant to be and I’m glad I followed my heart.”
