education

Recruiting during pandemic

Due to the movement control orders, most companies are relying on video or phone interviews for the recruitment process. Some even engage job seekers virtually via webinars, which replaces career fairs.

Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd Talent Acquisition Manager Shariza Mohd Razi said throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had been recruiting trainees and interns, as well as mid-career workers.

She said Nestle explored new ways to engage potential candidates via webinars and virtual career fairs through partnerships with Seeds, Talentbank, and Lazada.

"We continue to advertise job vacancies through our social media career pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on our Nestle Malaysia career website."

Since the start of the movement control orders, Nestle has been conducting online video interviews with the job seekers.

"We will continue to take this approach, while concurrently planning ahead to see what could be the new ways of working in compliance with the current regulations and safety protocols during the Recovery Movement Control Order."

Axiata Group Bhd's Young Talent Programme head Rohaiza Ahmad said job seekers went through two online interviews as part of the company's selection process this year.

"We will notify them about the time, duration and format of the interview. We will take into account the time difference, which may affect foreign job applicants. Certificates and resumes are collected prior to the interview for validation. The interview takes place via Microsoft Teams."

The digitalised selection process has five stages — online application, online assessment, screening interview, assessment centre and final interview.

Human resource practitioner Hafiz Muslim said online interviews were the new norm.

He said the use of social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, was important to connect with potential hires.

Meanwhile, Shariza said the company predicted a surge of job seekers due to the current market environment.

"Recruiters need to adapt to new ways of connecting and engaging with them. Many Malaysians have been spending more time on social media. This is a good avenue for companies to continue being active and leverage their social media platforms to reach out to potential hires."

She advised job seekers to stay active on social media and digital platforms to ensure they are up to date on the latest employment opportunities.


Last edition of Higher Ed

Since 2016, the New Straits Times has been publishing a dedicated section called Higher Ed (HE) on Wednesdays, featuring news on the country's tertiary education. But today is the final edition of HE. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our readers for your support in the last four years.

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