Career & Employer preference findings on students from South East Asia

Many would probably think millennials are all the same and that talent across the region would not be so different. However, reality’s proved that many multinational companies failed in attracting talent as they treat these targets as a group without local adaptations and market intelligence.

From the recent survey that Universum conducted across South East Asian region (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines) with 94,072 students take part, we discovered what traits are in common and how diverse the career preferences and expectations are in students from these country members.

On the other hand, what does not come out quite often in many discussions is that universities are also facing the challenges of attracting the right students, understanding what students aspire in their future careers and in the universities themselves.

WHAT DO STUDENTS WANT IN THEIR CAREERS?

When it comes to Career Goals, not much of a surprise, all students from 6 countries mention “To have work/life balance” is the number one most important to them. This is now consistent across the region when students in Thailand no longer chose “To be secure or stable in my job” over “To have work/life balance” (in 2015). Whenever sharing this information with universities and companies I met, the most anticipated reaction was: “Wow kids nowadays don’t want to work!” I recalled those days when my father taught “no pain no gain, you’ve got to work hard” and no matter how severe the working environment was, he didn’t think he could have complained or changed it.

But time has changed! Millennials has become an “ununderstandable generation” to Baby Boomers and Gen X… Many are not surprised anymore when hearing “work/life balance” being associated with “millennials”. But not many understand what they mean by aspiring that “balance”, which are: “respect for its people”, “flexible working conditions” and “enabling me to integrate personal interests in my schedule”, which doesn’t mean "not working”.

Besides “work/life balance”, what draws our attention is also the increase of "dedicated to a cause or to feel that I am serving a greater good” on the importance scale. Vietnamese students – in the 3rd consecutive year have chosen this attribute to be the 2nd most important career goal (since 2014). In 2016, we also record that students in Singapore and The Philippines share the same view (choose this attribute to be top 3). Clearly, the meaning of careers and the creation of positive impacts are what students care about in their responsible employers-to-be. Noticeably, “to be a leader or manager of people” makes it to top 3 career goals only to students in Vietnam, and “to be entrepreneurial or creative/innovative’’ is chosen by 45% students in Indonesia to be number 2 career goal but not by their peers in other countries (out of top 3).

WHAT ATTRACTS STUDENTS IN IDEAL EMPLOYERS?

If you are one of the 80%-90% employers and universities we’ve talked to, you’d probably answer “competitive base salary/benefit”. What might surprise you is the students' answer: “A friendly work environment”. This is the number one most attractive factor that students in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand are seeking in their employers of choice. On the other hand, students in The Philippines pick “Professional training and development” whilst their Vietnamese peers prefer “A creative and dynamic work environment”. Employer A might not win an excellent candidate over Employer B by paying higher.

A very interesting trait to mention, across 6 countries in the region, Vietnamese students are the only ones who strongly tie “Market success” and “Prestige” to important elements ideal employers must possess (among top 10 most important employer attributes). Students in this country are also strongly influenced by parents on their career and university choices (research findings from the 2016 Vietnamese student survey). This may explain why their preferences share the common ground with the parental generation.

EMPLOYABILITY – WHAT STUDENTS ARE EXPECTING OF THEIR UNIVERSITIES?

In 2014 in the Universum global student survey, when being asked which factor drove the choices of which universities to study with, students across regions and countries worldwide pointed out that “Employability” was the number one factor that mattered the most to them. Digging down to that point, we followed up with questions on how students perceived the importance of "employability" and what they expected universities to help them within this aspect.

Students in Thailand believe that the best thing universities could do to prepare them for professional lives is “teaches transferable and practical skills employers are looking for”. This might result from the fact that either the universities have not managed to point out the connection between what's being taught in schools and what's being sought after by employers. This may result from the effectiveness of communication, or result from a real weakness in the tie between schools and industries.

Vietnamese cohorts look for the “opportunities to network with employers”. These students are more "in the battle”. They love to have universities help build up their connections and understanding by in-person contacts with employers via career fairs, employer presentation on campus, through which they get to know about the companies through their people.

“High employment among graduates” is deemed as number one attractive employability attribute to students in Malaysia and Singapore. Employability – in the end – to them is measured by the ratio of unemployment and employment. Students in Singapore believe their schools are achieving a healthy ratio, while Malaysian students don’t. 

In the other two countries – Indonesia and The Philippines, students share the same point of view: “Good reference for future career and/or education” tops the list of important factors related to employability.

CONCLUSION

Companies which are expanding into new markets, MNCs which are developing the regional employer brand and regional talent strategies need to at the same time develop the “umbrella” employer value propositions and localize the EVPs to be reasoning with what talent in the markets are expecting and associating with them.

Majority of universities in the region have not been data-driven and have not seen the importance of research/or conducted research. Thus, they have not yet managed to attract the relevant employers to campus, improve their students' employability by being more relevant to industries, and improve the career services quality. 

Employability is the number one most important factor that drives students’ choice of which universities to study with, and it has to do with the relations between employers and universities that require the clear communication in what the former wants and what the latter can offer. 

(All data in this article is based on all students across main fields of study)