Thailand: How to get a job in today's market

Sound advice from employers for students and new graduates

By: PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN

Published: 17/03/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Learningpost

'Because of the unstable economic situation, I'm feeling a bit worried as I will be entering the job market soon. Companies may not be interested in me," says Preeyanan Lertphorncharoen, a fourth-year business student at Assumption University, who is graduating this month.

Even though she has undergone job training with the Coca-Cola Co and has participated in several activities at her university - including working in her university's student council, joining karate classes, and competing in a marketing plan challenge event - she still feels insecure about becoming employed.

Is there a crisis?

Undoubtedly, one of the most daunting questions facing new graduates today is how to get a job during the current economic meltdown. Fortunately for Thailand, at least, the employment situation does not seem to be critical just yet.

Statistics conducted by the web site http://www.jobsdb.com, one of Thailand's largest online job

Students pursuing employment prospects listen keenly to advice from an HSBC recruiting officer at Bangkok’s First Overseas Graduate Recruitment Fair, jointly organised by Mentor International and the British Chamber of Commerce earlier this year. PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN

search engines, show that despite a drop in the number of advertisements on the site compared to a couple of years ago, there are many companies seeking new job applicants.

"The economic situation has affected the business sector, but it doesn't mean that there is no employment," says Noppawan Chulakanista, deputy general manager of Jobs DB Recruitment (Thailand).

She reveals that currently there are approximately 7,000 vacancies posted on the web site. Most of the positions are for sales representatives, information technology (IT)-related occupations and financial and banking careers.

Openings in technical sales, for example, in the fields of information technology and engineering, are particularly abundant, Mrs Noppawan adds.

Employers' market

While employment opportunities remain plentiful, they come with great expectations from employers, especially now that companies have the advantage of being able to choose from among a large pool of applicants to fill fewer jobs positions.

Last month, Dhanin Chearavanont, chairman and CEO of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), revealed at a question-and-answer session after his speech at the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lat Krabang that the company was continuously recruiting new employees to serve its expanding business.

"A large company like CP Group does not recruit people just to get the positions filled; we pay careful attention to the candidates' potential future progress, too," says Dr Ajva Taulananda, vice-chairman of CP Group, explaining how the conglomerate evaluates applicants.

He emphasizes that the company prefers applicants who have strong leadership abilities, and who are mobile and flexible. The recruits should be willing to be relocated and clearly demonstrate enthusiasm in taking the next steps in their careers.

"CP Group doesn't look for only knowledgeable people, but also looks for good people," stresses Dr Ajva. "We would like to have people who have not only [a high] IQ [intelligence quotient], but also [superior] EQ [emotional quotient]. Moreover, they need to have, I would say, MQ, or moral quotient, as well."

In the hospitality sector, Accor, a leading international hotel operator, continues to expand, and it offers several career opportunities. Currently, in Thailand, the company has around 180 vacancies, and over 1,000 vacancies worldwide.

According to Nicha Ratanakul, its recruiting and induction manager, Accor looks for three important qualifications in prospective employees - they must be service minded and eager to learn.

"We want people who know what they like and what they want to do. These people will enjoy their work and will be keen to learn more about it. They step forward and love to work hard for themselves and for the benefit of the company," states Ms Nicha.

Applicants, especially new graduates, have an advantage if they have previously received training in the hospitality business. However, Ms Nicha says, this is not an absolute necessity.

IT products and home appliance enterprises, like Sanyo (Thailand) Co, are still welcoming new employees, particularly specialists, such as sales engineers and sales executives, according to Paramate Intharavisith, senior manager of Human Resources and General Affairs at Sanyo.

The company is also recruiting sales representatives to support the launch of its new line of digital cameras.

"We would like to have people who really want to work for us and trust in our brand," stresses Mr Paramate.

According to Mr Paramate, the company looks at three factors when reviewing applications in general - work experience, additional skills and academic background.

Beyond academia

Extra-curricular activities, such as internships in companies, participation in university clubs and involvement in social work, also play an important role.

According to Dr Ajva, such activities show students' leadership skills and reveal whether or not the students have a sense of social responsibility and care for others. Similar to CP Group, Accor also looks for candidates who have a robust sense of social consciousness, according to Ms Nicha.

Some students were not fortunate enough to train or work in large companies while they were studying. However, Mrs Noppawan suggests that previous work in food stalls or coffee shops is beneficial as well.

"Every workplace has things to be learned," Mrs Noppawan says. They provide opportunities for students to be familiar with teamwork and a real working environment.

Mrs Noppawan also recommends that students who have no extra-curricular experience emphasize their exceptional educational credentials in their resumes, such as having worked on three study projects simultaneously and completing them within the assigned deadlines.

Other vital qualifications that every company needs from candidates include foreign language skills and IT-related capabilities. English skills and the ability to use basic computer applications are fundamental requirements. At the same time, in today's extremely competitive environment, a third language and knowledge of other computer software programmes are great advantages.

For example, a good command of spoken and written Chinese would be viewed favourably by CP Group, according to Dr Ajva. Similarly, competence in the Japanese language is a plus when applying to Sanyo, says Mr Paramate.

Plan before you choose

For new graduates, deciding what positions to apply for could be both easy and difficult. Therefore, it is a good idea for them to have a clear picture of their objectives in mind.

Dr Ajva advises that before new graduates or job applicants choose a position or company to work in, they should first set their goal in life.

After they know exactly what positions they want to go for, applicants should do thorough research on those positions and find out as much as possible about what the companies require and expect of them. They then have to evaluate themselves against the positions' requirements to determine their strengths, Dr Ajva adds.

More importantly, applicants should pick the fields that they love, the ones that they are genuinely interested in.

"Don't enrol in a course or apply for a job by following statistics or trends. For example, students might just flock to study IT if they hear or read that prospects for IT graduates are very bright, in the hope that they would get a job and a good salary right away after graduation," says Mrs Noppawan. "The students will end up being miserable if they have no interest in their course of study."

"If they like their job, they will love to do the work it entails, and when they love to work, they will dedicate themselves to the tasks involved. This process acts as the springboard to better performances," she says.

"Working in the field of their interest will spur them to work well with their colleagues, and this will lead to commendable results," Mr Paramate says.

Planning toward goals

Dr Chirapa Srikalasin, assistant to the vice-president for student affairs at Assumption University, who looks after the university's Career Development Centre and provides career consultation services to students, summarised the five qualifications that employers seek in candidates. These key requirements are: knowledge of the fields of the jobs that they are applying for; language and IT competencies; the ability to adapt themselves to a company environment; possession of teamwork skills; and having a good personality.

If they bear this advice in mind, students can correctly choose their course subjects during their four years in the university and inculcate in themselves a frame of mind that will increase the likelihood of their achieving these qualifications by the time they graduate.

"Students do not have to wait until the last day of their university life before they start looking for jobs in advertisements," says Mrs Noppawan. In her view, students can start looking for positions on the first day that they step into their universities. If they have clear goals for their future career, they can immediately start working toward fulfilling their preferred positions' requirements and job descriptions.

In the end, there are always opportunities, even during a crisis. Career opportunities are still lingering and waiting for students to grab. And if students find it hard to get one of those chances, they can use this opportunity to prepare and add more value to themselves before entering the employment market. After all, Ms Preeyanan should now feel a bit better about her future employment.