Survey: Poor English holds back job-seekers

2009/11/15

Sonia Ramachandran and Chandra Devi Renganayar

KUALA LUMPUR: The main reason companies reject job applicants is their poor command of the English language, a survey has revealed. The survey by online recruitment company JobStreet.com in August found that 65 per cent of employers turned down job-seekers for this reason.

The survey among 1,001 major companies was conducted to gauge why graduates were unemployed.

"Our business is selling jobs to others and we want to help people as much as possible. We truly want to see if we can make a difference and this is one way of doing it," said JobStreet.com Sdn Bhd general manager Eric Sito.

The survey results have led to the introduction of an English Language Assessment (ELA) by JobStreet.

"This test is intended to provide employers a better way to assess job-seekers' command of English."

Eric Sito says the English Language Assessment provides employers a better way to assess job-seekers’ command of the language

Consisting of 40 questions to be completed in 20 minutes, the ELA assesses the job-seeker on four key areas -- conversation, grammar, comprehension and vocabulary.

"All the questions are objective and randomly generated to ensure every test has different questions."

The test is formulated by consultants from around the region, including English professors.

A person can only take the assessment, which is available for free, once every three months.

After taking it, they can choose to show it to prospective employers.

Since the ELA's soft launch early this month, more than 4,000 jobseekers have attempted the test.

"This test is not compulsory but the employer can stipulate it as a condition when applying for a job.

"Companies need to hire good people quickly and effectively. To screen 1,000 people, they might have to go through 1,000 resumes. With the ELA, one can actually benchmark and quickly decide. The recruitment and employment process will be faster."

The ELA will also be launched in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines next month.