The developer of a range of audio CDs advising young Cambodians on careers and job-hunting is ramping up efforts after success of first discs

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You Can Centre employees took to the streets in Phnom Penh during last month’s Water Festival to promote the company’s range of audio CDs, which offer career and job-hunting advice.

EARLY success has encouraged the developer of an audio CD offering career advice to young Cambodians to expand his business and launch a range of new titles.

You Can Centre director Ourn Sarath said 7,000 copies of his Top Salesperson CD were bought at US$3 each within a year of its launch. A second CD titled How to Get A Job, which hit the market last month to capitalise on the success of the first, has already sold 500 copies.

"I think that the reason many students can't find jobs is because they don't know job-finding techniques," Ourn Sarath said. "There has been quite positive feedback from the students who have listened to the audio CD.

"Many have called to thank me after using my method of job hunting."

You Can Centre has now expanded to 17 staff, and Ourn Sarath is currently developing ideas for new titles. Next off the production line will be a CD aimed at helping managers improve their skills.

Ol Chamreuon, 22, an electronics student at a training centre in Phnom Penh, said the CDs were invaluable job-seeking aids.

His copy was in hot demand from his friends who were looking for jobs, he said.

He has also used the Top Salesperson CD to help him in his part-time job at a mobile phone shop.

"I learned some new techniques about the art of communication with customers and how to deal with customers and with my employers," he said.

Ek Monosen, the vice rector at Phnom Penh's Human Resources University, checked the audio CDs for accuracy before they hit the market.

If a fish likes

to eat earthworms, you must not give

it a hamburger.

"What he [Ourn Sarath] has done in the CDs is to awaken the desire in students to learn relevant ideas before applying for jobs," he said.

Choose career early

He added that it was important that students, and their parents, thought carefully about the career they wanted to pursue before deciding on a course of study.

"Everyone should not study 10 skills at the same time," he said. "Instead, one specialised skill, computer knowledge, English and personal morality are necessary for each candidate."

Ourn Sarath said the key message in his CD is that job hunters must have a skill specific to the job they are applying for and demonstrate a good attitude and a willingness to work hard.

"If a fish likes to eat earthworms, you must not give it  a hamburger," he said. "You must know exactly what the employer needs. The interviewer won't choose a candidate who doesn't have a clear plan and a strong commitment to work."

He added that employers gave an 85 percent weighting to attitude and behavior in selecting candidates, and just 15 percent to experience.

Ek Monosen said students also needed to consider the realities of the job market and the types of jobs available.

He cited his university as an example, where 1,500 students had chosen to study accounting, a field where jobs were scarce, and only 400 were studying tourism. "If you have skills in hotels and tourism, you won't have to worry about not having a job," he said.

An official at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport said Cambodia had three main employment sectors. There were around 350,000 people employed in garments and textiles, thousands more in tourism and millions employed in the agriculture sector.

The ministry was also helping people find jobs abroad in countries like South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.

"If they have a skill, they will not find it hard to find a job," the official said.