It’s no secret that jobs have been hard to come by since the world was hit by COVID-19. The pandemic has forced many to lose the jobs they had and left fresh graduates grappling without the chance of securing their first employment opportunity. According to the International Labour Organisation, the world economy won’t be able to fully repair last year’s damage to employment by 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the equivalent of 255 million jobs1.
Despite the bleak job market, global recruitment agency, Ranstad, predicts four potential areas of growth in the technology industry in 2021 – cybersecurity, Software-as-a-Service conferencing solutions, e-commerce, and IoT.
Despite these bleak circumstances, global recruitment agency, Ranstad, predicts four potential areas of growth in the technology industry in 2021 – cybersecurity, Software-as-a-Service conferencing solutions, e-commerce, and IoT. The agency also said that experienced talent in cybersecurity, app development, DevOps and digital marketing would be highly sought-after in 20212.
Echoing this, Kesavan Vadiveloo, an analyst with Dell Technologies’ Talent Acquisition department, said the world is now seeing significant digital acceleration.
“With so many organizations operating remotely because of the pandemic, there’s an uptick in data privacy and cybersecurity concerns. Accelerating transformation isn’t easy, especially with the added pressure of a pandemic, but this year has signaled an opportunity to respond successfully in new ways. Dell Technologies is at the forefront of driving the digital future. We deliver the infrastructure, tools, and processes that help organizations create modern data pipelines that rapidly reduce the time between data creation and innovation across private and public clouds out to the edge,” he said.
According to Kesavan, the pandemic has impacted the demand for tech jobs significantly, but with the recovery ongoing, the demand has been increasing slowly. Software engineering and cybersecurity fields tend to have more demand because of digital transformation, but while hard skills are important for these jobs, he emphasizes that soft skills are also required by graduates who wish to join companies like Dell Technologies, which is also an industry partner of INTI International University & Colleges (INTI).
“Both soft skills and hard skills are needed. Soft skills will play an important role in your career, especially when you are making that important first impression on your employers. Personal attributes, personality traits, and communication skills are needed for success in any job. These soft skills characterize how a person interacts in his or her relationships with others.
“Hard skills also play an important role in securing a job in Dell, as they will be your technical abilities that a professional applies to their job. For example, programming languages are among the technical skills needed when a candidate applies for an IT role,” he explained.
As an initiative to hire fresh graduates, Kesavan shared that graduate development programmes have been created within most of the departments at Dell Technologies. These programs are designed to improve professional skills and help graduates start a career by joining a team that empowers new ideas. Each graduate development program is designed differently in terms of duration, structure, and training, but with the same objectives of empowering their career growth.
Mezza9 Solutions managing director and INTI alumni Madelaine Chew also shares the same sentiments as Kesavan, stating that as people are now moving towards utilizing digital solutions, it also demands for a change in attitude. This is because most professionals are no longer able to speak to each other face-to-face.
(left to right) Kesavan Vadiveloo, analyst at Dell Technologies’ Talent Acquisition department, Madelaine Chew, managing director of Mezza9 Solutions, and Akshay Anil, a Bachelor in Computer Science (Hons) Cloud Computing graduate from INTI International University believe that soft skills and hard skills go hand in hand in today’s challenging employment landscape.
“I expect employees to be more proactive and reach out to their colleagues to communicate. As an industry partner with INTI International University & Colleges, I often share this feedback with students and alumni who work with me because I too am an alumnus. In the past, being proactive and teamwork were useful skills to have, but now they are critical skills to possess.
“At Mezza9 Solutions, for example, we have a daily virtual stand up meeting. The whole idea of this is to share updates with the team daily, but in a quick and crisp fashion. When you stand up you don’t talk too long!” she laughed, adding that this allows for communication without making it heavy.
Madelaine foresees that the job market in the coming years will be particularly tough for fresh graduates, despite them being born in a time when technology is already widely used.
“This is because they will be making a major transition from traditional brick and mortar – going to work at an office from nine to five – to working virtually. I am not sure if our graduates are ready for this. Being able to use technology and mobile phones is not the same as working virtually,” she said.
She said that knowing the fundamental skills that a job requires is a given. For example, a graduate applying for a post as a mobile developer must know how to build mobile apps and software. It is the soft skills that make the difference.
“Would I hire someone who is a fresh graduate who doesn’t know much and needs coaching, or someone who is a lot more independent? How do I put a fresh graduate to the test? During an interview, most candidates will say they can do this and that. So, I will conduct a technical test and give them two weeks to learn a particular technology. After that period of time, we will see how they can demonstrate certain competencies.
“This will demonstrate a candidate’s resilience, willingness to learn, and how they respond under pressure. Fresh graduates who can show they are independent and do not need to be spoon fed, as well as have the ability to take something and run fast with it, are what employers need right now,” she added.
Meanwhile, Akshay Anil, who secured a job as a cloud engineer at Itelligence Outsourcing MSC in May 2020 when COVID-19 was still at large locally and internationally, admitted that there were hardly any openings in IT companies due to the pandemic.
“What helped me land a job during the pandemic was the hard work that I put in during my internship, which I completed at the same company in January 2020. I learned as much as I could from the experienced staff there. Despite the pressure of work and the workload during the pandemic, I was able to handle it. The senior staff were impressed that I knew my way around the office and work,” he said, adding that one of the challenges of working from home was having to work overtime.
The Bachelor in Computer Science (Hons) Cloud Computing graduate from INTI International University, however, will not let himself become complacent. He is adamant to work hard and meet the company’s expectations to ensure that his position is secure should the company decide to lay off employees.
When asked what fellow graduates would need to do well in the IT profession, Akshay said they should explore the vast world of IT.
“Go venture into more branches of IT. Who knew cloud computing would be in high demand today? They should explore more options in IT before they decide to just pursue scheduling or programming or designing. Programming and designing nowadays is like drawing on a paper. Cloud computing is the new future for everyone. I would advise them to venture into cloud computing and see if there is anything else that they can find out from this branch or other upcoming areas,” he concluded.
1 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/global-crisis-damage-from-covid-19-is-now-about-255-million-jobs
2 https://www.thesundaily.my/business/urgent-and-unprecedented-demand-for-technology-talent-randstad-malaysia-HJ5931009