November 13, 2015, by Noor Syuhada

UNMC Students’ Aspiration Boosted at International Relations and Communication Studies Career Day

On 28 October 2015, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) hosted an International Relations and Communication Studies Careers Day for the first time. The event, organised by the UNMC Careers Advisory Service took place at the Great Hall with the participation of seven incredible speakers from diverse backgrounds.

p1This event offered golden opportunity for students to reflect on the valuable experiences of the honourable speakers. Approximately 110 students attended the three-hour event which was supported by School of Modern Languages and Cultures (SMLC) and School of Politics, History and International Relations (PHIR) student body PHIRnotts.

YB Dr. Ong Kian Ming, the Parliament, member of Serdang and General Manager of Penang Institute in Kuala Lumpur, emphasized on the art of effective questioning.

“It is important to know the right questions in order to serve the country. Your degree is worthless if you do not know what to ask. Feel free to ask about what is beneficial for the betterment of the country. As a politician, asking the right questions will encourage our political leaders to take stands on the really important issues.” Dr. Ong said.p2

“The secret in negotiation is to know what you can accept and what the other party can accept too. You need to compromise when it comes to negotiation, especially in politics. You have to deal with people who have different beliefs. Hence, you have to find the common ground and think whether you can accept his or her belief before you come to an agreement,” said Yin Shao Loong, the Executive Director of Institut Rakyat who previously worked as a policy advisor to the Selangor State Executive Councilor for Environment, Tourism and Consumer Affairs.

Shao Loong also added, “Let the great work speak for you. When you perform greatly, people will recognize and come back to you.”

p3In addition, Koo Yi Lin, the Education Services Manager of Victorian State Government at SEA Business Office provided some helpful tips on how to work with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

“Be clear when you write or speak. Check with the other side, whether they get the right ideas. Most importantly, do not be rude and be aware of your choices of words. Take time to do some research on other cultures. Be sensitive and sell the ideas that you think will work,” said Yi Lin, who has over 10 years’ experience in management and communication in the education sector.

According to Tuan Faisal Azmy who is the producer of Playground Production, the main key element before pitching any ideap4 to the potential funders is to always put the other party’s interest before our own selves.

“As producers, we have to search for funds to produce a movie. When it comes to pitching, we have to think of the interest of other people first, such as the founders, actors, etc. The advice is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and you need to prepare yourself before you do the pitching.” Faisal said.

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Careers Advisory Service would like to thank the Head of SMLC, Dr. Sean Matthews; Dr. Thomas Barker, Dr. Micheal Connors, Dr. Stephen Acreman, Yeong Woon Chin, ICS and PHIRnotts students for their involvement in the execution of the event.

Posted in Careers Events