IMU Graduate Career Fair 2020 on a Virtual Platform

11 September 2020 – IMU Graduate Career Fair 2020 was successfully held despite the challenges and restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Organised by Industry Partnership and Career Development Unit as part of its effort to help IMU students  achieve their goals in securing internships and future jobs, the Fair provides students with the opportunity to meet their future employers and at the same time, enhance their employability. The one-day Fair started at 9am and ended at 5pm with twenty-one (21) companies participating in the Fair. The Fair this year is unique compared to last year as it is not only available via the face-to-face mode, but also virtually. The virtual mode was to cater to students who are still on virtual learning and are not on-campus when the Fair was held. A dedicated platform https://careerfair.imu.edu.my/ had to be developed specifically for this purpose, giving  students  the opportunity to connect and engage with participating companies just with one easy click. This year, we are, indeed, fortunate to get a very good response with the participation from twenty-one (21) healthcare companies and related organisations. From a total of twenty-one (21) companies, five (5) participated virtually, four (4) participated face-to-face and the remaining twelve (12) participated both virtually and on-site at our Bukit Jalil campus. Companies paticipating in the Fair include those from the medical, pharmaceutical, wellness and chiropractic industries as well as government and non-government organisations.

The launch of the event was at 10am and was officiated by YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman, Chairman of IMU Group and Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, Vice-Chancellor and CEO of IMU Education, accompanied by Prof Toh Chooi Gait, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Engagement and Industrial Partnership and Prof Rokiah Don, Associate Dean of Industry Partnership. In his opening remark, Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, took the opportunity to thank all invited exhibitors for their time and willingness to attend the IMU Graduate Career Fair 2020.

He added, ‘’may this occasion help strengthen IMU’s partnership with industries and organisations and to also enhance IMU’s training, research and outreach programmes and provide direction to IMU’s academia for partnership development in future related disciplines. It is my sincere hope that this IMU-Industry Partnership will also bring a win-win situation for both parties in producing quality graduates who are work-prepared and strengthening ties in collaborative work in research, training and consultancy towards nation development’’. In addition to the on-site and online communication between students and company representatives regarding career-related opportunities, a separate sharing session, with selected industry partners,  was virtually conducted by local and international speakers, in the Auditorium of the IMU Bukit Jalil campus from 11:00am to 5:00pm. The talks had been pre-selected by students based on their topics of interest.

^{Chart 1 indicated responses from 210 students (28.1% on-site and 71.9% on-line). Each student is allowed to join more than one sharing session.}