Ngo Menghourng and Kim Samath have noticed people promoting themselves in some interesting, and innovative ways recently. With their own job search only a year away, they sought to find out how people are spreading their name, and what methods are the most effective in matching job seekers with their ideal employer

With the increasing number of human resources and graduates, the job market in Cambodia now is limited. Students and job seekers are now using new technology and promoting themselves in newspaper and job websites to find employment. Young Cambodians have entered the 21st century.

Rein Hunly, 28, a year four student majoring in marketing at the Build Bright University, found a job as a sales person for the Hydrologic Social Enterprise in Banteay Meanchey province after he chose to promote himself in a newspaper. He said found his job easily compared with finding jobs in other ways.

“I did not need to send my CV out to a lot of companies. I just spent a few minutes writing my educational background, work experience and my contact details and then sent it all to The Phnom Penh Post for publication. When any company is interested in me, they will call me in for an interview.”

Media organisations also played an important role in helping him find work. “I spent time to find out which media organisation has a lot of readers. I decided to choose The Phnom Penh Post because I hoped I had more of a chance to get a job. I advertised one time, but my personal information was read by many people,” he said.  

He still continues looking for a job and using The Phnom Penh Post, even though he has found a job already. He hopes to find a better job and has a chance to broaden his knowledge and experience.

Companies contact some applicants promoting themselves in newspapers and also provide them with a job opportunity. Ou Puthyta, 25, an assistant at the Hydrologic Social Enterprise, said her enterprise gave students and job seekers who promote themselves in newspapers and on job websites the same opportunity as others who send in applications directly. “Self promoting in a newspaper also provides benefits to not only applicants, but also to companies because it is easy for companies to select applicants,” she said. “However, there are a few disadvantages for selecting these kind of applicants because some give us exaggerated information to get jobs.”

Even though some try to promote themselves and give false information, companies can still find qualified candidates. Sen Minea, 25, a sales director at the World Wide Company, said his employer selects some students and applicants from newspapers and websites because he found that some of them are qualified enough and match the company’s criteria and requirements.

“It is good that students can find new ways to seek job by themselves. Using media tools to find a job can provide students with a lot of opportunities because students do not need to spend much time searching and contacting companies directly. Students just look forward to hearing from a company interested in them and being called in for an interview,” he said.

Because of job limitations and the increasing number of graduates each year, applying for a job is very challenging for Cambodia students. Keo Sophy, 24, who graduated majoring in banking and finance from the Royal University of Laws and Economics, said there is a lot of competition among job seekers, so it encourages her to  use new ways to find a job.

“Even though I do not give detailed information about myself, I find that promoting myself in newspapers is effective because I have been contacted for interviews about 10 times,” she said. “I was not successful because my requirements did not match theirs.” However, she has not given up and still promotes herself on newspapers, hoping to find that perfect job.

Chean Samphors, 23, a consultant with the Family Health International Organisation, said he used this way to find a job after he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He said more than 10 companies contacted him for interviews, but he didn’t find one he liked. He didn’t like them because the companies offered him jobs which were not relevant with his major, they offered inappropriate salaries and no holidays.

“I believe that promoting ourselves using media tools can provide us with job opportunities, but the job we get sometime is not as good as we expect,” he said. “I have my current job because of  my volunteer work, not from my advertisement.”

According to www.nea.gov.kh, to help achieve the government’s objective of improving labour market efficiency, increased labour market participation, reduced unemployment and eventually poverty reduction, the National Employment Agency was established in 2009 as a Special Operating Agency under the jurisdiction of the National Training Board and the minister in charge of the Council of Ministers.

Its job is to provide quality employment and labour market information services to job seekers, employees, employers, training providers and the general public free of charge. Nowadays, the NEA has received 4,340 job vacancies and approximately 200 of 3,000 job seekers have found work.”