10 Top Companies For Malaysian Graduates

Shell continues to strengthen its position as the company of choice in Malaysia after being named as the most popular graduate employer in the inaugural Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers recently.

It was a result of a seven-month survey done by the GTI Specialist Publisher, a Europe-based firm which specializes in the publication of career surveys and guides to students and job seekers.

GTI has offices in the UK, France, Ireland, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and China.

The survey, which ended on September 2008, involved some 15,000 students who were studying in their final year in the universities across different countries including Malaysia, Australia and United Kingdom.

In the list dominated by foreign companies, Shell shakes off competition from Intel, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and HSBC Bank, which won their respective category – ICT, Finance & Professional Services, and Banking & Investment. Only 3 homegrown companies were ranked among the graduate’s best employers, namely Public Bank, CIMB and now the privately owned Maxis. The three occupied the bottom three in the top 10 table.

Apart from being the most popular company overall, Shell Malaysia also tops the engineering category, ahead of Schlumberger and its great nemesis ExxonMobil.

The top 10 winner of Malaysia’s Leading Graduate Employers 2008:

1. Shell

For decades, Shell has always been at the heart of many graduates and job seekers vying to have a fulfilling career not only in Malaysia but also in almost any other countries. A promise of lifelong learning, coupled with attractive remuneration package and other incentives make a job offer from Shell irresistible. Globally, Shell employs more than 100,000 employees and operates in more than 110 countries worldwide.

2. Intel

Penang is home to Intel Malaysia, and without doubt the world’s largest semiconductor company is a very much sought after employer. As one of the most popular manufacturing companies in Penang, it is perhaps one of the very few companies not very much affected by the continued economic turbulence hitting the northern state. Intel was founded in 1968 by two former employees of an American semiconductor firm, Fairchild Semiconductor.

3. Schlumberger

As one Schlumberger engineer put it during one of Shell’s career talks to graduates, “Schlumberger is probably the biggest company in the world among of those you’ve never heard of”. True enough, Schlumberger is presently the largest oilfield company in the world with operation in over 80 countries worldwide, and backed by more than 80,000 strong staff. The company supplies and provides solutions to other multinational companies in the oil and gas and engineering sectors.

4. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big 4 of the accounting firms, was born in London in 1998 after two British companies decided to merge their operation and created one of the world’s largestprofessional services firm. PwC is also the wealthiest company among the Big 4 firms, earning close to $30 billion in its 2008 fiscal year. Long hours of work may be your routine, but polished accounting skills are waiting in return.

5. Ernst & Young (EY)

Another Big 4 accounting firm. EY’s two main global headquarters are located in London, UK and New York, US. Today’s entity is also a result of merger, not one, but many. EY worldwide operation is divided into 5 different regions – America, Far East, Oceania, Japan and Europe (including Middle East, India and Africa). In 2007, Forbes magazine ranked Ernst & Young as the 7th largest private company in the United States.

6. KPMG

Also belongs to the Big 4 clan. KPMG employs more than 120,000 employees worldwide with operation spanning across more than 140 countries. The word K-P-M-G represents 4 of its earliest partners who decided to form a merged corporation. KPMG specializes in providingprofessional services in a wide range of industries including construction, energy, government, education, healthcare, media, pharmaceutical and others.

7. HSBC

One of the oldest banking institutions created in the modern world, HSBC was founded by the British but commenced its first operation in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In fact, the term HSBC originated from its earliest name – Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Earlier this year, HSBC topped the Forbes 2000 list and was named the world’s largest company for 2008.

8. Public Bank

Public Bank, one of the country’s largest banking institutions, was formed by award winning entrepreneur, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow, who is acting as the company’s non-executive chairman today. Public Bank is ranked as the second most valuable brand this year behind Maybank. It was also voted as the Best Managed Malaysia Company by Finance Asia for the year 2008.

9. CIMB

For the past 10 years, CIMB, which is helmed by the Deputy Prime Minister’s brother, Datuk Nazir Tun Razak, has grown by leaps and bound and made its mark as the fastest growing financial entity in the country. In the process, it won many awards and accolades, including Malaysia’s Bank of The Year 2007, Best Investment Bank 2008, Best Private Bank 2008 and Deal Maker of The Year 2008.

10. Maxis

Maxis communications was founded by local entrepreneur, Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, who now resides in London, UK. Ananda is also Malaysia’s second richest man after Robert Kuok the sugar king. Maxis was delisted from the Malaysia public exchange in 2007 after Ananda made a surprise bid to take full control of the company. As a telco giant, Maxis competes with Celcom, DiGi, U Mobile and Packet One.