With regards to the letter Close encounter with MMU graduates , it is my opinion that the grouses contained within not only apply to MMU graduates but to all local graduates.

The issues arise because our graduates lacked personal marketing skills. Sometimes, we know our strengths and capabilities, but due to lack of effective marketing communication, our strengths seems to be not appealing or unconvincing to others.

Through my own experience of hiring local professionals for my company, as well as sharing experiences with other company recruiters, these are what we identify as areas where local graduates should upgrade themselves.

1. Most students know how to communicate, but they don't know how to articulate. ie, they can speak English, but they don't know how to present their points and ideas in a smooth flow of thoughts.

2. Most students think that their technical skills are their main and only selling points. They don't see the importance of showing a good overall impression which includes a professional resume, proper business etiquette, attire, etc.

To most employers, lack of technical skills can be learnt, but soft skills - sometimes associated to personal traits - are difficult to inculcate have a great impact on the company culture. Human resource is a long term investment and they can't afford you to break the team.

3. Local graduates have this mindset of, 'I come to the company to learn and I want to see what they can offer me'. But the correct attitude should be, 'What can I offer to the company leveraging on the skills that I have?'.

This is the attitude most employers are looking for. If you don't have the skills, you might want to pick it somewhere else like attending a short course or certification programmes.

4. Graduates don't know how to price themselves. Either they price themselves too high, more than their value's worth (which is too ridiculous to the employer) or they are too humble and underprice themselves in desperation of getting the job.

Most people think that underpricing is not a big deal but from the employer's perspective, price is always associated with value. If you price yourself too low, they might get the perception of being incompetent and unconfident.

5. Not being punctual enough for the interview. Graduate don't know that most managers are busy people which means that they have to allocate time out of their tight schedule to interview you. Thus, being late gives a bad impression.

6. A lack of a sense of humour. An interview is a formal meeting. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't laugh or show some sense of humour at appropriate times. A lot of workplace these days are challenging, and when tough times come, the company needs someone who has good sense of humour to tune the atmosphere to keep morale burning and avoid burning out.

In a nutshell, personal marketing - just like any other corporate product marketing - is all about customer perception, in this case the employer. Graduates should put themselves into the shoes of the employer, as though they were hiring someone for their own company.

If they are not bothered to think about this, or can't see from the employers point of view, most probably they will not able to present and market themselves effectively.