Graduating with first-class honours is no easy feat, and is usually thought to be a major boost to one’s employability.
However, that has not been the case for one Malaysian engineering student, who claims they haven’t been able to find a job despite their stellar results.
The reason for this, they allege, is that they lack English proficiency.
Source: X
They also complained about how friends who are supposedly “less hardworking” have been able to get jobs due to having better English, adding that “the world is unfair”.
The confession was submitted via NGL, a platform that allows users to send anonymous messages to a user via a link.
Although it is unclear which Instagram account the confession originated from, it caught the attention of X (formerly known as Twitter) user @meinmokhtar.
Source: X
After the user shared the confession to his account, the post went viral with over 600,000 views as at the time of writing.
In the confession, OP wrote that they graduated with first-class honours in engineering, but now has trouble finding employment due to their ‘poor’ English.
They went on to say that their friends are ‘mediocre’ but able to get jobs due to their ability to communicate in English.
Additionally, they claimed that their friends aren’t as hardworking as them and simply know how to talk the talk.
They then lamented that the world is unfair.
In the same post, the X user who reshared OP’s confession offered some advice.
First off, he encouraged him to start learning English.
Calling it a soft skill, he said that English is easier to pick up than engineering.
On top of that, he advised OP to cut back on their feelings of envy and focus on improving themselves instead.
His advice is in line with a 2021 survey by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
The survey showed that English proficiency is among the top five skills that potential employers are looking for.
The remaining four are critical thinking, interpersonal skills, flexibility, and adaptability skills, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
Some X users were equally encouraging by offering various ways to improve their English effectively.
One said that they can have a dictionary next to them while reading the papers.
Source: X
Another agreed with the dictionary tip, and advised them to watch more English series with the subtitles on as well as read English song lyrics.
Source: X
On another note, a user expressed their sympathy towards Malays who have to speak English for job interviews and presentations, even if their colleagues are Malaysians in a Malaysia-based office.
They claimed that it creates “unnecessary anxiety” for those who aren’t fluent in English.
Furthermore, they admitted that they themselves lack confidence when it comes to answering technical questions.
They also took issue with the fact that one has to speak English even when the interviewer is Malay.
Source: X
For another user, it was not the widespread use of English that bothered them but rather the OP’s attitude.
They said that the fault lies entirely with OP, and stressed that academic excellence is not enough to secure a job in this day and age.
They went on to say that they could tell the OP would always criticise their classmates before making themselves out to be the smartest in class.
Source: X
Finding a stable, decent-paying job in an increasingly competitive market is certainly not easy.
We hope OP can take some of these tips into consideration, and secure good employment in due time.
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Featured image adapted from X and Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
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