University throws a party to help job-seeking students

One way it hopes to achieve this is through an annual social gathering for its new graduates to meet and build connections with business people.

“Currently, 90 per cent of our new graduates are employed within six months. They also have about 25 per cent higher wages than others, but we still want to improve this figure,” CEO Gilles Claude Bernard Mahe said. 

“We know that the graduates’ employability is a major issue; many countries’ unemployment rates of new graduates are very high – in Europe and the United States and it is pretty high in Australia too. [Many] new graduates in these countries can’t find a job or can’t find the right job,” he said.

Thailand’s unemployment rate was still low at around two per cent, but this country still had employability problems because many new graduates ended up in jobs they didn’t really want, he said.

“The fair will give a chance for our graduates to know what qualifications and duties are involved in the career of their interest, while also allowing them to make connections with future employers, boosting their chances for desirable jobs right after graduation,” he added.

This year’s gathering, held as a cocktail party at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel early this month, saw Stanford students, mostly in their third and fourth years of study, and businesspeople from 44 companies, chatting in a less formal atmosphere. The project has been held for seven consecutive years now, and organisers said, once again, it has been a success.

RMI Company’s business development and marketing director Narumon Chiramongkol thought this fair was useful for employers too. “[An] opportunity for me to know the students and look for those with abilities to work with our company in the future,” Narumon said.

“The event’s informal atmosphere eased future employers and students into sharing their thoughts freely and deeply, compared to the formal job interview.”

Undergraduate student major in airline business, Thirayada Thanaphaisan, said the event was very helpful for her in deciding what she would do after graduating.

“After talking with many future employers, I understood what each company did and what kind of employees they needed. It helped me focus on how I can develop my abilities to suit the job I want,” she added.