JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 16 – Students who are about to graduate should not consider the final year spent at the university as a period to have fun without making any future preparations.
Future preparation is very important because these prospective graduates will finish their studies and start exploring the job markets or business opportunities while some will continue their studies to the postgraduate level.
RunCloud Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arif Tukiman said graduating in such a difficult time where the whole world being attacked by the COVID-19 pandemic with limited job opportunities requires the adaptation of graduates toward this situation in order to ‘survive’ no matter what happened.
“Due to this current situation, there are three components that need to be carefully analyzed by the graduates namely Mind, Portfolio and Skills followed by Network. Consideration on these matters can be done through Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis technique as this will greatly help prospective graduates to make any preparations before and after graduation, “he said.
Arif said this while delivering a virtual talk entitled ‘Be Ready for Real-World: Tips Before and After Graduation’ in the ATU-Net 2020 Student Leaders Forum (ATU-Net SELF 2020) session organized by the International Office of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM International).
Through this SWOT analysis, prospective graduates can identify every weaknesses, strengths, opportunities  and threats inside themselves and start planning for the future.
According to Arif, the exposure to the real world actually started when a student was still studying on campus that is when the lecturers giving  an assignments to do.
“Most students see these assignments as a complement to accumulate marks that will be carried until the end of the semester for final exam results.
“If you carefully examined this, the task is actually a trust given with the hope to be completed with full integrity and self-discipline because that is where the trust lies as an employee or entrepreneur,” he added.
This is where the symbolism as an employee by carrying out instructions from his employer as well as the entrepreneur who sells or provides his services according to the specifications demanded by his customers.
Students are also encouraged to learn as many skills as they can while completing final year assignments as these assignments also have the potential to be included in a ‘resume’ when attending a job interview later.
“Improve your personal brand and attitude because this is also an attractive factor for employers to hire you or customers to choose your business for various transactions in the future.
“To succeed in this agenda, make sure you are always careful with every comment on social sites because without you realizing it, every word you say there will give a good or bad perception of others that will affect yourself or your business later,” he added.
A good and attractive resume is indeed needed by the employer as the main consideration in hiring employees. Due to this factor, final year students should take the opportunity to complete their personal details, experience and other details that are considered important in giving a positive image of themselves.
“As a student, you must always be ready from time to time. Do not be selfish and always be helpful to each other, “he added.
Arif Tukiman is co-founder and Chief Executives Officer (CEO) of RunCloud, a centralized control panel to help deploy, configure, manage and monitor cloud servers. Since its launching in late 2016, the startup currently manages more than 220,000 web applications from over 100 countries around the world, including the U.S., U.K. and India. In 2018, RunCloud won the Malaysia leg of the Startup World Cup.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science (Graphics and Multimedia Software) in 2014 and Master of Science (M.Sc.) Information Technology Entrepreneurship in 2016 both from UTM.
The ATU-Net SeLF2020  connecst students to the larger global community and cover issues pertinent to student organizations and youth development, with a theme of “The Great Reset: The New World and Society”
The forum provides an opportunity for participants to dissect and deliberate on the current societal crisis and the prospect of the future in order to lead beyond the pandemic.
In particular, it will concentrate on the key roles of youth of technological universities in shaping the narrative of today’s world, through guided vision and design-led leadership for the benefit and prosperity of the lives of others.
This programme was held with the aim to bring together youth and student leaders from member institutions of the Asia Technological University Network (ATU-Net) to share their knowledge and learn from one another, to strengthen their regional bond, and form a shared global identity.
The Asia Technological University Network (ATU-Net) is a strategic international alliance chaired by  Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
The ATU-Net was established on 9th August 2016 during the 8th University Presidents Forum held at UTM Johor Bahru with the purpose of connecting technology-focused institutions of higher learning in Asia.
Its mission is to support member universities in achieving world-class quality of education and research in engineering and technology through strategic international alliance. Membership of the network is open to all technology-focused institutions of higher learning in Asia.