Beyond the Books: Real-World Learning Through MNC Partnerships - Spotlight Greater KL

Business

Beyond the Books: Real-World Learning Through MNC Partnerships

Director, Graduate Employability and Career Centre (GECC),
Universiti Malaya

1. In your view, why is it important for universities to collaborate with multinational companies (MNCs) in Greater KL?

From the university’s perspective, there are many benefits for university-MNC collaborations that range from research cooperation for academic staff to enhanced student employability for our students. In a wider view, these benefits would eventually contribute to nation building in the long run in terms of a more skilled and educated workforce, which would be attractive to the MNCs.

2. How do partnerships with MNCs enhance the employability and industry readiness of your graduates?

Essentially, the university’s role is to provide the theoretical foundation and skills for our students that they can apply in the workforce upon graduation. This is imparted on our students through their academic programme syllabus and co-curriculum activities on campus. The graduates are expected to transition naturally into their jobs, but oftentimes the classroom does not fully prepare them for the industry. With InvestKL’s help, we have been collaborating with MNCs in employability programmes such as industry visit, mentoring, career talk and CEO talk. These programmes are fantastic in exposing our students to the real-life demands of the industry and help them improve their skill gaps.

3. Can you share an example where collaboration with industry has directly benefited your students or academic programmes?

There are many examples from the many interactions with industry, but the one that stands out is the InvestKL x Cognizant’s Ready4Real Mentorship Programme in April 2025, which was jointly organised by InvestKL and Cognizant. Our students were invited to Cognizant’s office in Menara Shell for a Syawal celebration followed by the first mentoring session with Cognizant’s senior personnel. Our students seemed transformed after the programme, perhaps inspired by the office visit and mentoring.

4. What more can be done to strengthen the relationship between academia and MNCs in Malaysia’s evolving talent landscape?

There definitely needs to be a more structured approach when devising programmes bridging academia and MNCs. In that sense, I refer to the Ready4Real which was thoughtfully curated by Mdm Yoges of InvestKL. Any future initiatives should be planned as a continuous programmme rather than a one-off event. This would create branding for the programme, thus making it easier to market it to students.

5. How is your graduate centre preparing students to adapt to the future of work, especially in the context of rapid technological change and global industry shifts?

At GECC, we realise that the academic programme syllabus and our lecturers’ capabilities may not be abreast with the rapid technological and global industry advancements. Therefore, we conduct certified upskilling programmes to help prepare our students for the job market. Recently, we successfully obtained the Ministry of Higher Education’s Graduate Employability Intervention Grant to conduct a four-day upskilling programme entitled “UM GECC Finishing School: Generative AI Foundation” for 30 graduating students from various faculties. This is just to illustrate our efforts in ensuring our students are industry-ready.

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