Insightful talk by TalentCorp

Dr Madhavan

UTAR Department of Alumni Relations and Placement (DARP) organised a talk titled Harnessing Skills Beyond the Classroom on 22 July 2022 at UTAR Multipurpose Hall of Sungai Long Campus. Invited to give the talk was Dr Madhavan Balan Nair, the manager of MyNext, a platform under Talent Corporation Berhad (TalentCorp).

Dr Madhavan began the talk by speaking about TalentCorp. He said, “TalentCorp is an agency under the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) and our goal is to empower talent, or in other words, students. We also aim to transform Malaysia into a global talent hub.” Displaying a statistic regarding Malaysian graduates, he added, “Thirty-one point two per cent of Malaysian graduates are classified as mismatched in occupation, meaning that they are not working in the right job that suits them. This goes to show that they are not fully utilising their education and skills when entering the workforce.”

The talk continued with Dr Madhavan educating the participants about skills that graduates learn and the skills that employers look for. “There are seven skills that graduates learn upon graduating. However, it is important for them to realise the difference and the importance of each skill and what employers seek. The seven skills include basic Information Technology (IT), leadership, time management, teamwork, communication, problem-solving and advanced IT skills,” said Dr Madhavan. He added, “Graduates would usually prioritise the skills as so; basic IT, teamwork, time management, leadership, communication, problem-solving and advanced IT skills. However, employers would often look for different skills at first. They are communication, analytical skills, time management, teamwork, motivation, leadership and basic IT.”

Dr Madhavan giving his talk

From there, Dr Madhavan went on to speak about MyNext, which aims to nurture expert talent. He then explained the three main products of the platform to the participants, which were talent, university and company. “The three products are correlated to one another. Talent refers to the students, who are seeking internship or permanent employment opportunities, and they can use the platform to complete psychometric assessments to find out their strengths, weaknesses, personality, and if they are ready to join the workforce. Meanwhile, by utilising MyNext, universities can assist in gauging the students’ progress and their areas of improvement.  Companies, on the other hand, can use MyNext to scout talents,” said Dr Madhavan.

The students listening attentively

Among other topics discussed by Dr Madhavan include MyNext profiling suite system, the RIASEC model, and the Big Five Personality Traits. The talk then ended with a quick Q&A session.