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BY

MASTER TRAINER MR. AMARJEET SINGH SRAN

Blog: www.amarjeetsran.blogspot.com

Email: nbw5100@gmail.com / AmarImachZenith@gmx.com

Contact: +6011 1131 9393

LinkedIn: https://my.linkedin.com/pub/amarjeet-singh/36/20/481

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Choosing what to study at university is one of the biggest decisions you'll make

as a young person. So how do you decide what's right for you?

Should you follow your heart and study something you're really passionate about,

regardless of where it might lead you, or should you instead opt for a degree

with a more secure career route? Here two students argue both sides of the

debate.

'Study what you love,' is what I say.

Ask a student what they'd study if guaranteed their dream job and it's likely that

the answer won't correspond with what they actually choose. This is often

because their aspirations have been diminished by those who "know best".

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Most advice on which degree to study is concentrated purely on obtaining a job

in the future. We are discouraged by many from pursuing abstract interests

because, apparently, the prospects are unrealistic.

But is it really worth taking an unappealing route on the basis that it could

possibly increase your chance of securing a job? It's difficult to enter employment

from any angle, so why not try with a subject you enjoy?

The concept of standing by what you love despite the risks is dismissed by some

- namely disapproving parents and teachers - but I believe it to be more sensible

than focusing solely on a job.

In recent times we have noticed that many choose to study not what they love

but rather follow a bunch of friends who are doing that and they are comfortable

with and another one is being forced upon peer pressure or even family.

Seriously is that called studying what you love!

Having a genuine interest in something can't be faked and it's the surest way to

succeed. As Steve Jobs famously said, "the only way to do great work is to love

what you do".

In the long term, deciding to study the subject of your choice is generally more

beneficial. Simple factors such as a person's happiness and sense of fulfilment are

overlooked in this argument, even though they are largely affected by career

choices. These factors aren't just based on income, either - studies have shown

that there is little correlation between people's salaries and their job satisfaction.

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The fact is, there are few reasons not to study what you genuinely want to.

Achieving in the subject area that appeals to you is always possible and if you

don't do it, other people will. I believe you have to make the right decisions for

yourself, because no argument against this will counteract your regrets when you

see people of the same age and ability as you excelling in your dream job.

'Be realistic' says Kerry Provenzano

University is all about doing something you love, right?

Well, not quite. Choosing to study something you are passionate about might

not be as beneficial as you think.

When you study at university essentially you are making an investment: one

worth up to (and sometimes over) $30,000 per year to RM500,000 full course.

That's a lot of money.

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You don't have to know much about investments to know that the purpose of

them is to make a profit. Your degree is a long term investment in which you are

profited with knowledge.

However, investing money that will some day need to be paid back means that

your profit needs to be financial, not just academic.

So if you are naturally gifted with numbers but have a real passion for travel,

opting to study geography at university might be a mistake. You may find you

aren't quite sure what to do with your degree once you graduate, and find

yourself knowing you're capable of the mathematical jobs you see advertised, but

have no qualification to prove it.

There is a difference between your interests and your career strengths. If you

think you could really crack the world of modern art then great, but if art is just

something you enjoy on a weeknight, perhaps reconsider your choice to study

fine art.

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If you are currently choosing a course at university, or thinking of changing your

course, my advice to you is simple: don't confuse your hobby with your career

prospects.

Play to your strengths, not your passions. If you are lucky enough to have the

two overlap then great. But bear in mind that with the right job there will always

be time for the things you enjoy, regardless of whether you studied them at

university or not.

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT &

PLANNING RESOURCES

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN?

Career development is a lifelong pursuit of answers to the questions: Who am I?

Why am I here? and What Am I Meant to Do With My Life? It is vital that you

have a clear sense of the direction you would like to head with your career.

Career planning is a critical step and is essential to your success.

Career development is discovering:

Ones’ authentic self in terms of interests, temperament, personality, values,

skills, talents, hopes, and dreams

The types of activities, situations, and people with which one is most

comfortable, happy and fulfilled

The learning subjects in which one is most interested and the learning

styles with which one is most effective, engaged and comfortable

The types of extracurricular activities, hobbies, sports, pastimes one likes

most

The types of work, paid or unpaid, one might do which align with one’s

talents, preferences and aspirations, and are congruent with one’s values,

sense of meaning, and purpose

Organizations that are seeking the talents one possesses and offer

employment opportunities congruent with one’s career and lifestyle

aspirations

The 21st century knowledge and skills needed to market one’s talents,

qualify for positions sought or create new entrepreneurial opportunities,

interact well with co-workers, customers, and supervisors, and progress in a

career path

The knowledge to develop plans to reach short and longer term objectives,

and to adjust plans and objectives with changing circumstances and

emerging opportunities

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The knowledge and skills to balance work and life and become

independent, resilient citizens contributing to the prosperity of one’s family

and community

These are among the most intimidating learning challenges all humans face.

One's success in mastering them determines the extent to which one leads a

happy, fulfilled, and purposeful life. Therefore, the purpose of a career

development plan is to help you reach your career goals. Everyone has

aspirations in life and specific levels they would like to reach. Part of the

planning process actually involves you developing specific career goals and

mapping out a course on how to best reach them. This binder will provide you

with the necessary career resources you need to make your career dreams come

true!

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COLLEGE DEGREES AREN'T

BECOMING MORE VALUABLE THEIR GLUT CONFINES PEOPLE WITHOUT THEM TO A

SHRINKING, LOW-PAY SECTOR OF THE MARKET

Every time a new study comes out regarding the “payoff” from college, I wonder:

Will this finally be the one that takes note of widespread underemployment

among recent grads and comprehends the impact of credential inflation?

In February, Pew Research released a study on the effects of college but the

instant I saw the title, I was sure that this would not be one that broke out of the

usual “college is a great investment” model. That study, “The Rising Cost of Not

Going to College,” actually moves further in the wrong direction by telling people

that those who don’t go to college are penalizing themselves.

The many “college is a great investment” papers present statistics showing

that, on average, individuals who have college educations earn more than do

people without them. They left the conclusion, “If you aren’t planning on college,

you really should,”implicit. As mention in the earlier subject the cost of education

is on a continuous rise.

Pew, however, makes that explicit. “If you don’t go to college, you’ll lose out big

time” is the message it sends.

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What makes that message particularly distressing is the fact that more and more

young Americans who have their college degrees are unable to find jobs they

couldn’t have gotten straight out of high school—or maybe even while still in

high school. They’re often struggling with large college debts. And yet this study

tells them that going to college is more important than ever.

Pew proclaims that its research is “non-partisan and non-advocacy” but they

don’t say that it’s “non-misleading.” This study is very misleading and if young

Americans take it seriously, many will go to college just because they think that

not going would be a self-inflicted penalty.

The paper declares, “As college costs have increased in recent decades, so, too,

have many of the economic rewards for getting a four-year degree as well as the

penalties for not doing so….”

But is it true that the rewards for college have increased? And is it true that

Americans who don’t attend college suffer a financial penalty?

Because Pew is highly respected, it is worth some time to closely examine its data

and conclusions.

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The most important data in the paper are in a chart showing a widening gap

over time between full-time workers who have a 4-year degree or higher, those

who have a two-year degree or “some college,” and those who are high school

graduates. Looking back to 1965, the difference was comparatively small:

college graduates earned on average $3,883 per year

the middle group earned on average $3,365 per year and

high school graduates earned on average $3,138 per year

By 2013, the inflation-adjusted figures were: $33,600, $21,600, and $9,600.

Average earnings for college grads are way up, but they’re down for people who

did not earn 4-year degrees or go to college at all. At a glance, those figures

certainly appear to justify the conclusions that getting that bachelor’s degree is

an excellent investment and that young Malaysian’s who don’t do so are seriously

penalizing themselves.

PARAPHRASING HAMLET, “GET THEE TO A COLLEGE!”

But before everyone who doesn’t have a college degree hurries to apply (or if still

in high school, take the diploma / certificate as the prelude to applying), let’s

inject a cautionary note.

Going to college guarantees you a lot of expenses, both in money spent and

time that could have been used differently), but it does not guarantee you a job

that pays well enough to cover your costs. In truth, it doesn’t guarantee you any

sort of job.

Reading through the report, you find no evidence of the fact that large numbers

of college graduates can only find employment in jobs paying the minimum

wage. Currently, according to Department of Labor Statistics data, 260,000 people

with college or even professional degrees are so employed.

Moreover, the percentage of college graduates who work in jobs that don’t

require any advanced academic preparation (the “mal-employed”) has been rising

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for years, and now stands at 36 percent. If college degrees are becoming more

valuable, why are so many graduates either unemployed or employed at low-

paying jobs?

Those facts clash with the report’s encouragement for anyone who does not have

a college degree to enrol and try to earn one. They comprise the elephant in the

room that Pew can’t see.

The report’s only hint that college isn’t proving to be as beneficial now as it

previously was is its finding that only 62 percent of the “Millennials” agree that

their college experience “has paid off” compared with 84 percent of the

“Generation Xers” and 89 percent of the “Boomers.” Conversely, the percentage

who says that college was not beneficial is growing. Among “Boomers” it was

only 8 percent, but among “Millennials” is has reached 12 percent.

Unfortunately, we never ponder this paradox: How can it be that college

education is getting more and more valuable in financial rewards when there is

abundant evidence that many students learn little while in college?

In the book Academically Adrift, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa quantified what

numerous professors have said for years—students can pass many college

courses with minimal effort owing to falling academic standards and the erosion

of the curriculum.

We can see this so evidently in Malaysia. Quality of today graduate’s is a concer

to employers and the market at large. Look into the skills of Thinking, Softkills,

Communication either in English or even the local dialect, trying new things, think

out of the box and many other weakness.

Falling academic standards and declining learning by students seems clearly

inconsistent with the notion that degrees are becoming increasingly

beneficial.

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The solution to the paradox is that the gap is widening because credential

inflation is steadily wiping out good careers for people who don’t have college

degrees.

Look back at the oldest of the data. In the mid-60s, prior to the great push to

increase the number of people going to college with federal student aid, the

average earnings gap was quite small. Up until that time, very few good careers

were foreclosed to Malaysian’s who didn’t have college credentials.

For reasons of professional licensure, some fields required college degrees—law

and medicine for example—but otherwise young people who had good high

school educations could get into entry level jobs in finance, insurance,

manufacturing, hospitality, and most other businesses.

When in the village or estates when you see a young man return and holding a

degree is like meeting an astronaut in today’s world. Reality today, throw a stone

it would hit a graduate and that stone would hit another two graduates there on.

After the government started vigorously promoting “access” to college, however,

something changed in the labor market: credential inflation.

Today employers, facing a market in which more and more job applicants had

college credentials, began to screen out those who didn’t.

Professors James Engell and Anthony Dangerfield noted this trend in their 2005

book Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money, writing, “(T)he Developing

World has become the most rigidly credentialized society in the world. A B.A. is

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required for jobs that by no stretch of imagination need two years of full-time

training, let alone four.”

Therefore, the explanation for the gap between the average earnings of college

graduates and people with lower educational levels, as well as the paradox

regarding the decline in learning, is that the latter group is increasingly confined

to the lowest-paying jobs sectors by our mania for college credentials.

Unfortunately, we never ponder this paradox: How can it be that college

education is getting more and more valuable in financial rewards when there is

abundant evidence that many students learn little while in college?

In their book Academically Adrift, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa quantified what

numerous professors have said for years—students can pass many college

courses with minimal effort owing to falling academic standards and the erosion

of the curriculum. Falling academic standards and declining learning by students

seems clearly inconsistent with the notion that degrees are becoming increasingly

beneficial.

The solution to the paradox is that the gap is widening because credential

inflation is steadily wiping out good careers for people who don’t have college

degrees.

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Look back at the oldest of the data. In the mid-60s, prior to the great push to

increase the number of people going to college with federal student aid (MARA

& etc), the average earnings gap was quite small. Up until that time, very few

good careers were foreclosed to Malaysians who didn’t have college credentials.

For reasons of professional licensure, some fields required college degrees—law

and medicine for example—but otherwise young people who had good high

school educations could get into entry level jobs in finance, insurance,

manufacturing, hospitality, and most other businesses.

But as a citizen and author I still have doubts in quality of some of the graduates

in the above fields which requires such graduates to practice it. The other

concern is the double standards practised in the education system which effects

quality in learning & delivery based on ethnic.

After the government started vigorously promoting “access” to college, however,

something changed in the labor market: credential inflation.

Employers, facing a market in which more and more job applicants had college

credentials, began to screen out those who didn’t.

Professors James Engell and Anthony Dangerfield noted this trend in their 2005

book Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money, writing, “the developing

countries has become the most rigidly credentialized society in the world. A B.A.

is required for jobs that by no stretch of imagination need two years of full-time

training, let alone four.”

Therefore, the explanation for the gap between the average earnings of college

graduates and people with lower educational levels, as well as the paradox

regarding the decline in learning, is that the latter group is increasingly confined

to the lowest-paying jobs sectors by our mania for college credentials.

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ONLY 27% OF COLLEGE GRADS HAVE

A JOB RELATED TO THEIR MAJOR

Here's some interesting new data from Malaysian Statistics Department. The vast

majority of Malaysian. college grads, they find, work in jobs that aren't strictly

related to their degrees:

There are two different things going on in this chart.

First, a significant number of college grads appear to be underemployed: In 2010,

only 62 percent of college graduates had a job that required a college degree.

Second, we estimated that just 27 percent of college grads had a job that was

closely related to their major. It's not clear that this is a big labor-market

problem, though — it could just mean that many jobs don't really require a

specific field of study.

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There's an important twist here, too. The chances of finding a job related to your

degree or major go up a few points if you move to a big city:

Our argument is that "big cities have more job openings and offer a wider variety

of job opportunities that can potentially fit the skills of different workers." The

odds of finding a match between college degree and job are about 6 percentage

points higher in a place like Kuala Lumpur then to Kuantan.

.

Indeed, it's the most common outcome by far. (My specific Business & Law

Degree doesn't really come in handy for journalism all that often, but college

itself was still useful.)

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The research does, however, hint at one possible advantage of large cities — and

might help explain why workers in denser cities tend to be more productive.

If there's a policy upshot here, it's that the broader economy could stand to

benefit if large cities loosened up some of their restrictions on housing and made

it easier for more people to live there — a point that writers like Matt

Yglesias and Edward Glaeser have made over and over again.

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60% Of College Grads Can't Find Work In Their Field.

Is A Management Degree The Answer?

Sixty percent of Malaysian college graduates cannot find a full-time job in their

chosen profession, according to job placement companies locally.

Dubbed ‘Generation Jobless’, college graduates ages 24 and younger face an

uncertain job future that, even with improving employment numbers, is only

going to get more difficult if we continue to turn out graduates without what

an Apple exec described as “the skills we need.”

Career and job websites, such as Monster Worldwide, ostensibly exist to address

the challenge, but, in practice, offer only generic resume-building tips and

interview skills.

The needs of this job-seeking cohort are more granular. It is no longer sufficient

to have quality undergraduate training in a specific area (say, journalism or

architecture). Today’s employers can choose from candidates all over the globe.

And what sets one applicant apart from another are skill sets that transcend one’s

major or desired profession.

In particular, employers are looking for applicants with core business

competencies. Unfortunately, most undergrads, focused on training in their

desired field, never bother to accrue such skills.

I see this first-hand at all my past employments and when conducting interviews.

When we actively seek out creative professionals in writing, marketing, production

and post-production, we find that applicants often lack basic training in

21st century tech skills, such as programming, web design, and search engine

optimization.

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In addition, including

and shared inquiry that come from arigorous, deep chronological

reading of “the Great Books”.

Moreover,

.

That is probably why a new trend is emerging among universities to partially

combat ‘Generation Jobless’: specialized, accelerated Masters in Management (or

MiM) programs that take less time than conventional MBAs, cost less, and allow

students to break through a cluttered job market in order to join their chosen

field faster. This programs are particularly tailored to undergraduates from non-

business backgrounds.

I would have welcomed such a degree, but to my surprise the system has yet to

catch up in Malaysia, where we still believe and practice old school education

system and a believe in some failing system’s.

When would we see a change and be a front runner again? From awakening

giant of SEA to now a sleeping cow!

.

Currently there are at least four MiM degree programs (not to be confused with

Masters in Information Management, which are sometimes called MiM programs)

at local colleges. Class sizes range from 15-30 students.

Young entrepreneurs have been particularly drawn to MiM programs. According

to a recent study conducted, 54 percent of the nation’s recent graduates either

want to start a business or have already started one.

However, many would-be entrepreneurs do not major in business, even though

business majors continue to grow in popularity (about 22% of all majors).

Imagine, for instance, that you are a dance major, but dream of opening your

own studio. You may choose the MiM degree to learn business fundamentals to

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help you forge a marketing plan, read a supply sheet, balance your budget, raise

capital, and get your business off the ground. Perhaps you are an engineering

major. An MiM degree positions you to move up the corporate ladder faster

through better understanding of business fundamentals.

However, if one is going to invest one year in a MiM, why not invest two years

and get a traditional, and more respected, MBA? While both MiM and MBA

programs use the case study method and emphasize team work, the answer lies

in the type of student that would apply for each. MiM applicants are typically

college seniors or recent graduates under the age of 24, with little or no job

experience. They majored in a non-business degree, but now know that

management training will give them a competitive edge for even an entry-level

position. Alternately, a MiM provides essential skills to start one’s own business.

Moreover, with an MiM degree, a student will complete the degree in just nine

months at a much lesser cost, depending on the program.

By contrast, most MBA applicants have been in the professional workplace for

several years – the average age of MBA applicants is between 27 and 32 — and

want to pursue a C-level position. They seek an in-depth, specialized curriculum

plus a summer internship that leads to a job offer. Moreover, they have a flexible

schedule with two years available to complete a new degree, plus at least $47-

75K to spend, depending on the program.

In reality here we have people who live on credit or deduct from EPF. Then

comes the PTPTN Loan’s and etc.

So even before you begin something you are already with a huge debt on your

shoulders.

For the right entry-level or entrepreneurial person with an analytical bent, the

MiM degree is the cost-beneficial option. Heretofore, MiMs have been a

European phenomenon, where many students get them in lieu of an MBA.

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However, according to the Application Survey, the number of applications to MiM

programs has risen steadily since 2008, including a 69% increase in 2009

applications alone.

If the ROI of MBA graduates is an indicator, MiM graduates are likely to get not

only the job they want, but the salary they want too.

The rise in MiM programs suggests that universities are finally listening to

employers who’ve long decried the lack of strategic savvy, financial literacy,

technical competency, and entrepreneural drive among applicants for entry-level

jobs.

“Finding a job upon college graduation has historically been challenging and is

exacerbated by today’s down economy,” said Amy Hillman, executive dean of

Arizona State’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

In so doing, MiM programs are addressing a far larger “pain point”: the slide in

global competiveness among many firms due to a dearth of properly trained

undergraduates.

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WHAT YOU STUDIED HAS LITTLE

TO DO WITH WHERE YOU WORK

Many of my career counselling appointments go something like this: “Dr.

Amarjeet Singh, I just changed my major to XXXXX. I just want to know what

sorts of things I can do with this major.” Typically, my response begins with

something like this: “Well, it would be a shorter list if I just told you what you

cannot do with your major."

A couple of years ago, the statistics department released a pie chart that showed

the percentage of Malaysians with an undergraduate degree who work in a job

directly related to their academic major. The percentage was 27.3%. You read it

correctly, 27.3%.

Why am I bothering to write about this? Well, I think we offer young people

imprecise advice when we suggest that what they study in college is the “be-all-

to-end-all” of their entire career. Clearly the statistics suggest otherwise. Neither

working in a job within your field nor outside of your field carries a guarantee of

career satisfaction or dissatisfaction, career success or lack thereof.

As an example of someone who works in a field unrelated to their undergraduate

studies, I have undergraduate degrees in business management and law yet I am

a career office director and a college career consultant, and I love my job and

cannot wait to get to work each day.

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I have a friend who is chair of criminology at his university and his undergraduate

area of study was architecture. Yep, architecture! Another friend who is our

office's assistant director of career education studied, you guessed it, Biology!

And by the way, she is a fabulous career consultant and is revered by many of

our students.

Read up on the Theory of Planned Happenstance and the work of Dr. John

Krumboltz (one of my few heros – because what he says makes complete

sense). Life happens. If we know ourselves well and are ready to say “Yes” to

opportunities, then it matters not what we studied in college. The world is full of

opportunity and those who are most successful in finding those opportunities are

simply those with the greatest self-awareness and willingness to embrace

uncertainty and happenstance.

For those who advise young people to “find a career that makes lots of money”

or “look for a popular major with a growing industry” or “study something that

will give you some prestige” or “why in the world would you want to study

History or Philosophy”, take a deep breath.

Think about the statistic that the Statistics Department has provided us, and tell

them instead:

1. Study what you love, because then you'll actually want to attend class

2. Study in a field where you can be academically successful

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3. Build a strong network

4. Know yourself well

5. Then do what you want

Many people will be put off or dissatisfied by the uncertainty that is embodied in

this advice. Some expect a magical career professional who can look at some

complex computer program and tell them what to "be". While we do have the

ability to help a person find their way to a good theoretical career fit, anyone

who attests to being able to provide certainty to a person's future is full of

nonsense and frankly, is irresponsible.

The five points provided above just might be the best advice you can offer a

college-bound student as these points seem to fit best with the statistic shown in

the pie chart.

The Census Bureau has provided evidence that over 70% of college graduates,

including myself, already have.