The recent Career and Education Fair 2005 held at Putra World Trade Centre was a huge success as it attracted thousands of fresh graduates looking for career opportunities. In line with the theme "Exploring New Opportunities", Bumiputra-Commerce Bank (BCB) set up a booth which gave an insight to visitors on career opportunities available at the Bank.

Hundreds of visitors visited the BCB booth during the three-day fair which ended on Sunday, 27 November 2005. The booth was manned by staffs from the Human Resources Department who accepted resumes and conducted on-the-spot interviews. Among the job opportunities that were available included personal financial advisors (PFAs), recovery officers and business analysts.

CIMB-BCB Head of Corporate Resources, Puan Hamidah Naziadin said BCB's participation in the fair demonstrated the Bank's effort in supporting the government's call to resolve the unemployment issue in Malaysia. "Career fairs like this are excellent as they enhance and widen our resume pool," she stated.

In addition to getting internal staff, the Bank can utilize this pool to fill in vacancies rather than advertising, she said adding that this also saves time and cost. Hamidah elaborated that the banking industry has now evolved tremendously and requires individuals who are able to multi-task and take on any tasks assigned to them.

"Fresh graduates should understand that banking is no longer a 9-5 job, even officers need to go down to the ground and cross-sell products and services," she said. BCB, added Hamidah, has comprehensive training and certification programs to further enhance the successful candidate's knowledge in the banking sector. During the fair, BCB representative from the Human Resource Department Dr. Soberi Ali gave a talk on the role of Personal Financial Advisors.

The BCB booth was constantly flooded during the three days with candidates filling in the job application forms. A majority of those interviewed said they chose BCB as it is a leading and established financial provider in the country.

Siti Shaharatulfazzah Mohd Saad from Pantai Dalam, who has just returned from completing her postgraduate program in Britain, said she hopes to contribute her knowledge to the growth of the Bank. "I am glad I visited the BCB booth as it provides graduates like us an opportunity to present our resume for the Bank to consider in future," she said.

Echoing her statement was Ida Iryani Azni of Shah Alam, 26, who stated that the fair provided fresh graduates an opportunity to know the various positions available in the market. "After coming to the BCB booth, I have learnt that being a PFA requires a wide knowledge of products and services to ensure customers enhance their wealth," she said adding that she is willing to meet such challenges if recruited into the Bank.

Ahmad Khairul Ahmad Hilmi from Kedah, 23, said he has no problems starting from the bottom. "As a fresh graduate, I am willing to learn from the beginning as this is where I will learn about the industry and gain experience. It is up to the individual to perform well and climb the corporate ladder in the future," he said.