Employers urge graduates to prioritize transferable skills over academic majors

[Photo: Ricaela Diputado]

Graduates entering Macau’s job market are being urged to shift away from a degree-centric mindset and instead focus on transferable skills and adaptability, as employers note of growing demand for candidates who can work across roles and industries.

Speaking at Macao Polytechnic University’s (MPU) Careers Day 2026, industry representatives said hiring priorities are increasingly driven by practical abilities, learning attitude, and cross-sector flexibility rather than strict alignment with academic backgrounds.

“Students searching for their first job should stop relying on generic application templates and start embracing a ‘can-do attitude’,” according to Jocelyn Ho, co-founder and managing director of Job Wonders.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Ho noted that many graduates mistakenly believe they must find work that exactly matches their university major, when in fact transferable skills open far more possibilities.

Her advice was echoed by Ahsen Zhu, operations manager at the Guangdong Talent Market Co., Ltd., who encouraged students to tap into internship programs and training sessions to build relevant experience.

The event brought together over 100 enterprises from Macau and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), offering more than 2,000 job and internship opportunities across sectors including information technology (IT), banking and finance, hospitality, tourism, telecommunications, education, social services, and public institutions.

A shifting mindset for a new era

For many students, the transition from campus to the workplace is often accompanied by anxiety over whether their academic qualifications will be sufficient. Traditional thinking has long held that a student’s major determines their career trajectory. But according to Ho, whose company Job Wonders specializes in human resources outsourcing and IT system services, that assumption is increasingly out of step with reality.

“I have seen some students or graduates who think they might need to find a job that matches their major. But actually, I think it doesn’t have to be,” Ho explained.

“Because currently, we find that transferable skills are also quite important. And that may not only apply to one kind of job or position, but actually be applied to many other kinds of positions. There are more possibilities for a candidate or a graduate to find their job or career path this way.”

Ho’s company, established in 2024, operates an online job search platform at JobWonders.com. While still relatively new in Macau’s employment services landscape, the firm has already built strong business-to-business (B2B) relationships with corporations across the region.

Ho noted that Job Wonders has received a large number of applications, both for positions within her own company and for vacancies posted on behalf of other firms. Current openings include IT engineer positions, developer roles, and administrative positions in human resources.

Building skills through action

One of the most common concerns among graduating students is a perceived lack of practical experience. Many worry that without a lengthy résumé of internships or previous jobs, they will be overlooked by employers. Ho offered a direct and practical response to this dilemma.

“I think the most direct way to build skills is to do it,” she said. “You can find more ways to build up the skills. For example, if you want to learn how to use Canva, you can just find an online source or you can find a course to enhance ability and skills.”

Beyond technical competencies, Ho emphasized the importance of mindset. “I think for a student or a graduate, he or she must have a can-do attitude. This is very important. If they don’t have this mindset, they may have difficulty or give up easily.”

This emphasis on attitude over background reflects a broader shift in hiring practices across the GBA. Employers are increasingly looking for candidates who demonstrate adaptability, a willingness to learn, and the ability to solve problems creatively — traits that are not always captured by a transcript or a diploma.

The role of gov’t-backed support

At the event, Zhu, operations manager, offered a complementary perspective rooted in institutional support. The service station, established under the guidance of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, operates under the provincial Guangdong Nam Yue Group Co., Ltd. in Macau.

He outlined four main functional pillars of the service station: identifying talent, serving talent, connecting talent, and gathering talent. Through various talent exchange activities, the station aims to support high-level professionals as well as young people from Hong Kong and Macau who wish to develop their careers or launch projects in the GBA.

“The functions of our service station are, first, to facilitate talent attraction from the mainland, using Macau as a window to reach overseas,” Zhu explained. “On the other hand, we serve as a mainland government-backed platform in Macau, hoping to provide resource support to talents coming from the mainland to work or carry out projects in Macau.”

For students lacking practical experience, Zhu pointed to structured pathways already available. “If a student has no practical experience in the field, they can rely on short-term internship programs organized by the school (MPU) and the Macau government to gain relevant work experience needed for their development,” he said.

Zhu also identified a common pitfall among job-seeking students: the overuse of generic application materials. “In my industry, there is a phenomenon where students use generic templates to apply for various types of positions. This practice actually greatly reduces their chances of getting an interview,” he warned.

Student perspectives

Among the students from MPU attending the event, attitudes toward the job market ranged from quiet confidence to measured concern.

Stephy Wong, an accounting student, was actively seeking a position related to her major. When asked about expected salary, she indicated a range of MOP10,000 to MOP15,000 but remained flexible about location. “I’ve been keeping an eye on companies in the GBA,” she said. “Now that the area is more open, Hengqin has a lot of connections with us in Macau, so there should be more opportunities for us.”

Wong had already sent out five or six job applications and received invitations to complete online assignments for some of them. When asked whether she would prefer to stay in Macau or move to the GBA, she responded, “Actually, either is fine.”

Marco Leong, a final-year student who has applied for a master’s degree in Portuguese, offered a more nuanced perspective. While he believes Portuguese remains relevant in Macau as an official language, he acknowledged that demand for the language is not as widespread as some might assume.

“Portuguese still plays a big part in Macau, but there aren’t many people who understand or comprehend Portuguese,” he said. “For me, that’s also competition.”

Leong plans to continue his studies while seeking opportunities to improve his language skills further. “I want people like me who are studying Portuguese to make more effort,” he urged. His advice to students on a s imilar path was to deepen competencies.

A platform for ‘connection and growth’

The Careers Day 2026 featured a range of activities designed to prepare students for the workforce. Beyond the job and internship fair itself, the event included professional career talks, policy presentations, enterprise visits, and career guidance sessions.

More than 10 specialized seminars covered topics such as youth development, career planning, technological innovation, leisure and entertainment industry development, internship opportunities, and AI-powered job-seeking applications.

In addition, career seminars offered workshops on industry trends, resume writing, and interview techniques, helping students clarify their professional positioning. Enterprise visits allowed them to step into the frontline of the workplace, while professional image-building workshops enhanced their workplace confidence.

Throughout the day, participants were able to interact closely with enterprise and organization representatives, discussing job opportunities and potential career paths while receiving immediate advice.