The top 5 factors Malaysian graduates look for in their first job

In TalentBank's new survey of 28,000 graduates from Malaysia, it was found that salary and bonuses are among the top three things that respondents look for in their first job. In fact, while male graduates accorded C&B as their second priority, for women it was their number one priority.

More than half of the respondents (55%) comprise graduates from Klang Valley, while 45% of the graduates represent the other states.

The following are the top five factors female graduates look for in their first job (in order of priority):

1. Salary and bonuses
2. Career development
3. Learning and development opportunities
4. Flexible working hours
5. Company culture

The following are the top five factors male graduates look for in their first job (in order of priority):

1. Career development
2. Salary and bonuses
3. Learning and development opportunities
4. Flexible working hours
5. Company culture

Surprisingly, two key aspects comprising the employee value proposition, i.e. flexible working hours and company culture, landed in the bottom two for both female and male graduates.

This survey was conducted on the sidelines of TalentBank's Graduates' Choice Awards, where Maybank, PETRONAS, Maxis, Samsung and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were voted by local graduates as their five most attractive employer brands.

In the manufacturing category, Top Glove won the Best Graduate Employer Brand 2019, while Microsoft won in the tech category and Lazada topped the e-commerce category.

Other winners include AIA Shared Services in the shared services category, Uniqlo for the fashion category, Nestlé among FMCGs, Watsons for retail, and Sunway Property for real estate.

At the ceremony, TalentBank Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ben Ho, noted that undergraduates are beginning to discover the importance of their voice in signaling to the industry the importance of employer branding.

He added: "Second, from an employers’ perspective, the higher participation by undergraduates is an indication that young people are paying more attention to what companies do to brand themselves."

Photo / StockUnlimited