Kuala Lumpur, 26 February – Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) launched the Graduate Trainee Programme (GTP) to provide opportunities for unemployed graduates to gain working experience and skills as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

The GTP was designed to provide continuous learning for the trainees with a broad-spectrum of sales and marketing skills to meet CGC’s future business goals as well as to ease their transition from the academic environment into the financial services industry.

To be eligible to participate in the programme, candidates must be an unemployed graduate at the time of application without prior working experience. The candidates must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline with a minimum CGPA of 3.0 from recognised institutions of higher learning, and most importantly, must be from a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) family background. Over 600 graduates applied to the GTP, and only 10 trainees were selected for the programme.

Speaking to the press after the launch ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Finance II, YB Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani applauded CGC’s effort in providing training and hands-on working experience for the unemployed graduates. He said this is a commendable initiative which more corporations should follow suit.

“In line with the 11th Malaysia Plan, there are six (6) strategic thrusts that we are looking to achieve in the next five (5) years. One of the thrusts is to accelerate human capital development to achieve advanced nation status. Thus, we are in need of highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals in the workforce to ensure that Malaysia remains competitive globally,” added Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

“The graduate trainee programme is an initiative undertaken by CGC to complement the government’s efforts to provide training and employment opportunities to unemployed graduates,” said CGC’s President / Chief Executive Officer, Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak.

“CGC will offer the apprentices an invaluable working experience, especially in the fields of sales and marketing. I urge them to take this precious opportunity to gain as much experience to equip themselves well for their career advancement,” added Zamree.

GTP’s module comprises of two phases. During the first month, the graduates will be guided to build their understanding on CGC’s business nature, market and product knowledge. The trainees will then be attached to an assigned mentor from the branches to support and coach them on sales and marketing activities. Hence, the trainees will also be exposed to soft skills training such as communication and customer service skills.

The launching ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Finance II, Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani. Also present at the event was the Chairman of CGC, Dato’ Agil Natt, CGC’s Board of Directors, President / Chief Executive Officer of CGC, En. Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak and officials from Bank Negara Malaysia.