34%

Job-hunt savvy

According to a CAMFEBA study released last year, 34 percent of university graduates feel they know how to find a job, 52 percent think they know a little and 14 percent admit to knowing nothing about job seeking.

REGARDLESS of their field of study or future careers, students at the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) face a highly competitive and uncertain job market.

For most, top of the list of techniques for finding that elusive job is word-of-mouth, using a network of friends and relatives already in work. Ket Sokunthea, 22, said she wanted to find work in marketing in her home province of Battambang when she graduated.

"I will ask all my friends what they know about companies or NGOs locally, and if they are recruiting someone in marketing," she said.

While good networking skills will help job hunters get ahead of the pack, many other avenues are worth exploring. Aing Leangmuy, 21, got a jump on her peers through an internship at recruitment agency HR Inc, giving herself an idea of what jobs are out there and the best way to apply for them. She also used the experience to map out a personal career path in economic analysis.

"I have a few ideas of places I could apply to," she said, adding that she was not afraid of making an unsolicited application. "After all, that's how I found my internship."

Economics and management student Hone Thyda said job announcement boards at universities were also a good resource.

"I look at the board every single day," she said, adding that the job ads were different from those in the newspapers as the recruiting NGO or company often had a relationship with the university.

Em Meak, who is working while completing a master's degree in development studies at Royal University of Phnom Penh, recommended students approach business associations.

THE ONLINE JOB HUNT

www.bongthom.com

www.pelprek.com

www.cambodiaworks.com

www.cambocareer.com

www.khmer-jobs.com

www.phnompenhpost.com

www.camfeba.com

www.ccfcambodge.org

www.careerlink.hrinc

.com.kh

www.cambodiajobs

.blogspot.com

"CAMFEBA, or the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations, provides job announcements on its website, as does the Franco-Cambodian Chamber of Commerce," he said.  "The Ministry of Labour also has an office dedicated to people who are looking for a job."

Kheang Kimhuoy, 21, also studying at Rule, said she hoped to find a job in a foreign bank in Phnom Penh because salaries tended to be better than in Cambodian banks.

"But I will try to study abroad because in Cambodia, when you apply for a job, anyone who has graduated from a foreign country will have priority," she said.

Fellow RULE student Koychao Savory, 20, said many of her friends at the National University of Management or Norton University were worried about finding jobs, but that she was confident.

"Students from the French-speaking part of this university are well regarded on the Cambodian job market," she said. "I am more worried about the level of my salary."