PETALING JAYA, Dec 31 — Entrepreneur Ng Ying Shin would jump at the chance to learn more about social media if he could turn back the clock and return to university.

Setting up his company showed him the crucial role of sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter when it comes to running a business in today’s fast-paced world.

“This is an era of social networking. We do almost everything on social media like job hiring, marketing, interacting with customers, company exposure, and more.

“It’s a necessary trend and it would have been great if I had managed to explore more of it during university,” he told Malay Mail.

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Meanwhile, network engineer Kunaprasan Karegalan said he would delve deeper into the field of cybersecurity if he had the chance to go back to being a student.

According to the IT graduate, the subject is still lacking in most universities.

The competitive nature of today’s working world means young Malaysians need to acquire more than just academic knowledge while hitting the books at university.

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They will have to brush up on their experiences in technical tools and platforms, obtain certifications in a variety of fields, and hone hard and soft skills if they want to stand out from a pool of potential candidates for a job opportunity.

Being fluent in a coding language or simply being able to command the presence of a room when giving a presentation will not only make the job-hunting process smoother, it’ll also ease the transition into the role.

For Kunaprasan, constantly challenging himself to learn new skills as a student was especially important to guarantee himself a long-term career.

“Nowadays, many young individuals end up focusing on making money within the short-term.

“Don’t look for or do something easy. Always go for something that challenges you.

“This applies to everything you do, be it assignments, projects, research, coursework and more.

“If you choose something easy at the beginning, you won’t be able to learn how to handle something harder when it comes and you will find yourself at a dead end.”

Ng (left) and Kunaprasan cite social media and cybersecurity as some of the fields they wished they could have learned more about during their time at university. — Pictures courtesy of Ng Ying Shin and Kunaprasan Karegalan
Ng (left) and Kunaprasan cite social media and cybersecurity as some of the fields they wished they could have learned more about during their time at university. — Pictures courtesy of Ng Ying Shin and Kunaprasan Karegalan

Once these skills are part of their arsenal, students need to put them to the test by getting industry experience through internships or work placements.

Ng, a fellow IT graduate, said it was initially unnerving for him to step into new territory when he decided to become an entrepreneur.

To make up for this, he relied on the problem solving, analytical, and logical thinking skills that he picked up at university to help him find his footing.

“Living an entrepreneurial life is always like an adventure and you never know what surprises are awaiting you down the road.

“There are a thousand or more scenarios that we will face in the future and these unknown situations are going to influence us either positively or negatively.

“To become more capable in this era, we need to study hard and learn from those who are more experienced in our respective fields

“My lecturer told me this once and it will stay with me forever, ‘Logical thinking is the key to your future life.’

“Every problem can be solved as long as we analyse it logically. By leveraging a logical thought process, when a problem arises, we can find a solution.”

Kunaprasan echoed Ng’s sentiments and shared how the soft skills he picked up at university have bolstered his qualities as a leader.

“No matter how good I am at the technical stuff, I also need to be presentable and step up to lead and manage a team.

“At university, I picked up soft skills such as team management, leadership, project management, time management, communication, public speaking, and more.

“Winning as a team is important but it won’t happen without having a quality leader, and a quality leader needs those soft skills to manage a team.”

To empower students with the competencies for the workplace, INTI International University & Colleges offers numerous extra-curricular initiatives beyond classroom learning.

This includes industry-led boot camps, training and micro-credentialing by leaders such as Microsoft, SAS, and IBM; digitally-enabled learning and real time analytics through the globally renowned Blackboard online learning management system; and employer projects and access to global competitions which give students hands-on experience into actual business issues, even before they kick off their career.

For more information on pursuing a tertiary education with INTI, check out their official website and the programmes they have on offer.

* This article is brought to you by INTI International University & Colleges.