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Malaysian Companies Can Be Employers Of Choice

A second report, Jobstreet.com seems to bear out the view that English language skills in Malaysia are not up to standard. The report ranked Malaysia third behind Singapore and Philippines in the command of English. It noted that 65 per cent of employers have turned down job seekers due to poor command of English, which is the official working language for 91 per cent of Malaysian companies. The lowest scores for English proficiency were noted amongst general workers, industrial engineers and clerks. CSR Asia Newsletter and was reproduced with per
30 Apr 2010: How important is a jobseekers command of English today? Studies have shown that 65% of employers in Singapore have turned down jobseekers who have poor command of English. Further studies show that 95% of employers feel that if the quality of jobseekers English language is enhanced, overall productivity will increase too.

Education Ministry deputy director-general Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said that although surveys show 56% of employers cite poor command of English among fresh graduates as a rejection factor, the ministry had worked to improve the teaching and learning of the language.
Three-quarters of employers would be put off a job candidate by poor spelling or grammar, a survey suggests. Hertfordshire University found bad English alienated 77% of the 515 companies it spoke to Good reading and number skills are vital for most - more than twice the 34% annoyed by CV exaggerations. jobs The biggest draw for potential employers was relevant work experience, mentioned by 46%, followed by a "good work ethic" (43%). A university spokesman said practical skills were "absolutely key". Degree status Only 24% of employers interviewed said they were interested in a candidate's class of degree and 14% in the reputation of the university they had attended. A Confederation of British Industry survey last year

suggested that 42% of employers were unhappy with reading, writing and numeracy skills among school-leavers. A CBI spokesman said: "These days, employers are looking for more than just good grades and a relevant degree when recruiting. "They rank relevant work experience highly, and expect candidates to be able to communicate well and show that they are highly motivated too." The Hertfordshire University survey found almost one in five recruiters would decline to interview candidates without relevant work experience. Anusha Everson, the university's director for graduate employment, said: "It's clear that gaining real-life work experience as part of your course, or on your own initiative, is an absolutely key requirement for students getting ready to go to university this September."

We asked for your views on modern spelling and grammar. Here is a selection: I work in a personnel department and see so many spelling errors on application forms. I can't believe what some people send in - people can't even spell the job title they are applying for. It doesn't surprise me that employers are put off by bad spelling, it not only shows a lack of basic skills but also a lack of attention to detail and self awareness (if you know your spelling is bad, get someone to check it before submitting the form). Has spelling and grammar become worse? I think this is irrelevant - what matters in an application form is the ability to impress and you won't do this by misspelling words. Jake, East Morton, UK I receive many CVs from people of all ages, many of which are full of the most basic spelling and grammatical errors. Shockingly, it seems that those from young people are often seen by school or college tutors, who help with the drafting of them. If I have the time, I send the CVs back with the major flaws highlighted, and never invite the senders for interview - after all, if they can't (or can't be bothered to) get their promotional material up to an acceptable standard I can have no faith that they will perform any better in the workplace. Sad, but true. Ian, Sandbach UK

I do a lot of recruitment as part of my job. For most positions I get about 150 CVs sent in for about 6 vacancies at a time. When I read through the CVs first time round, I'm looking for reasons to reject the applicant, bad spelling and grammar are near the top of my list. As soon as I can reject those not suitable, I can spend more time reviewing candidates that have prepared a good quality CV. If a candidate can't be bothered to check their spelling then they are not going to be bothered to do a good job for our company. Andy Young, Bedford, UK Employers may say they are put off by bad spelling or grammar, but they clearly don't refuse to employ someone on that basis. Almost all the e-mails and letters I receive from agencies, banks and other organisations have such silly mistakes in them; and as for online property adverts, I think I've yet to see one without a spelling mistake in it. Are managers perhaps too scared to correct their employees' errors? Toby, Bristol, England Deteriorated? Don't make me laugh! - a quick read through the Have Your Say pages will tell you. It's mostly the result of laziness, poor teaching and lack of respect for the language, unless half the population is educationally subnormal or dyslexic. Pull yourselves together! Marcia, London It's definitely got worse. My own theory is that the first generation to have been utterly failed by the education system has now worked its way through its Mickey-Mouse media studies courses - and into the media, which now serves to corrupt the next, equally uneducated, generation by example. The standard of writing on this website has plummeted in recent years. I pity anyone trying to learn decent English from BBC News - and if the BBC is in that state, what hope is there for the rest of us? Ed, Cheshire, UK Spelling and grammar - the keys to understanding the written word - have definitely got worse in recent years. However, when I saw that a teacher's correction of my nephew's attempt to spell "cheetah" had been spelled "cheeter" I realised that it is worse than I had thought. I understand that not everybody is a good speller or able to punctuate correctly, but anything that is for public consumption should be checked by someone who is or can. Spell-check does not always suffice, as it will not pick up words spelled correctly but used in the wrong context. My

solution? Any business that publishes material or uses signage with incorrect spelling or grammar should have to give a free item or service to anyone who points it out. (This website is not immune...) Howard Collins, Burgess Hill, England Spelling and grammar might have become worse, but what is more interesting that of the 75% of employers I would estimate a majority have poor grammar and spelling. To have those employers assess candidates' literacy is somewhat ironic. Chris Hayes, London UK