How Much Can You Earn In Malaysia As A Young Graduate (Less Than 5 Years Of Work Experience)

As young graduates, your salaries can be important in determining the trajectory of the future salary offers throughout your career.   

Although factors like job satisfaction and employee benefits can be important to job seekers,  salary is key to a talent’s decision of accepting or rejecting a job offer. 

Salaries for young employees can vary depending on the industry and company they work in. If a company in a certain industry is experiencing rapid growth, it may offer a higher salary to compete for the best talents. 

Adecco has released a Salary Guide for year 2023 detailing the salaries for workers in Malaysia including entry-level roles for employees with less than five years of work experience.   

#1 Accounting And Finance – From RM4,000: Accounts Payable/Receivable Specialist, Finance Analyst 

The salaries for those in accounting, finance, and banking vary according to which industry you’re in.  

Accounts Payable/Receivables Specialists earn a salary of RM4,000, according to Adecco. They typically have a Degree in Accountancy or Finance and are tasked with maintaining the company’s ledger, collecting, and processing payments.   

The second highest salary of RM8,000 goes to Internal Audit Executive who performs audit checks, identify issues and ways to solve them. Audit Executives have a background in Accountancy and Finance usually and are required to streamline audit checks for a company, ensuring compliance, reporting audit review results, and improving processes.   

Employees specialising in financial planning and analysis in the Information Technology industry are awarded the highest salary of RM9,000 per month. 

Financial Analysts need to have a background in Finance or related fields and have the task of performing financial forecasting, tracking the discrepancy between realistic and planned finances. 

#2 Human Resources (HR) – From RM4,000: HR Executive, Talent Acquisition Executive 

Employees with less than five years’ experience in the HR industry could potentially earn a salary between RM4,000 and RM7,000. HR roles can be generalised covering multiple areas such as payroll and administrative work or focused on expertise such as hiring. 

HR Executives and those specialising in talent recruitment earn a salary of RM4,000. They perform recruitment tasks such as sourcing candidates, screening them, arranging for interviews to onboarding them. They may also be tasked with processing salaries and organising activities such as team building.   

A Senior HR executive could earn a maximum of RM7,000 per month followed by HR Executives and Talent Acquisition Executives who earn a maximum of RM5,500. Talent Acquisition Executives are responsible for specifically scouring potential talents to fill in positions which is crucial to a company’s success. 

#3 Oil And Gas (O&G) – From RM3,500: Mechanical Engineer, Drilling Engineer 

The O&G industry are deemed to be a lucrative one as it deals with valuable assets. The industry is divided into upstream, midstream, and downstream processes. It all begins with the upstream process where there’s extraction of oil. Then the oil is transported which is the midstream stage before ending up with the final products at the downstream stage. 

Employees in this industry could earn a minimum of RM3,500. Those earning between RM3,500 and RM5,500 include Mechanical Engineer and Geologist. A Mechanical Engineer needs to have relevant Engineering background and has the role of maintaining and developing equipment used in O&G. Meanwhile, a Geologist has a relevant degree in Science such as Geology and is involved in studying natural deposits for extraction. 

This is followed by employees with salaries from RM6,000 to RM9,000 such as a Drilling Engineer and Petrophysicist. With a background in Engineering, a Drill Engineer manages rig activities and assists with the drilling as well as the backend part of it such as preparing budgets and contracts. A Petrophysicist has a relevant degree in Science such as Geophysics and works with technologies and study the properties of rocks in search for oil reserves. 

#4 Information Technology (IT) – From RM3,000: DevOps Engineer, Pen Tester, Tribe Lead 

The IT field is vast and divided into several sub-categories in Adecco’s Salary Guide including security, software engineering, software development, infrastructure, customer relationship management, and data and digital. 

In a digital-focused world, it’s no surprise that IT graduates have some of the most coveted skills. The minimum salary for IT workers with experience under five years ranges from RM3,000 to RM12,000.   

Positions with RM3,000 salaries include a UI/UX Engineer who is responsible for designing web pages or applications. One usually needs to have a background in Multimedia Design or Web Design to be a UI/UX Engineer.  

Following are job roles with a salary range of RM4,000 to RM10,000 such as a Penetration Tester, DevOps Engineer, Automation Engineer, Cloud Engineer, and IT Audit. A pen tester is usually equipped with a background in Computer Science and Information Technology and works in cybersecurity, challenging the company’s systems with simulated attacks so they can fix weak points. Meanwhile, a DevOps Engineer needs to have generalised knowledge in maintaining a company’s software and servers.  

The job roles with the highest salary of RM12,000 include a Tribe Lead, where the person will require a few years of work experience. A Tribe Lead is valuable in a company as he or she spearheads a team in accomplishing certain objectives. 

#5 Sales And Marketing – From RM2,000: Sales Executive, Business Development Executive/Specialist 

Employees in this category stand at the front end and represent the company to the masses. The salaries for workers in the retail, sales and marketing sector range from RM2,000 to RM5,500. 

Employees earning a minimum of RM2,000 per month are Sales Executives and Senior Sales Executives. These are perhaps starting roles that require not much to less experience. 

At the top of the list earning a salary of RM5,500 are Business Development Executives/Specialists and Senior Sales Executives. Both roles share some similarities in that the end goal is to help the company grow its revenue and achieve sales targets.  

To be a Business Development Executive/Specialist, one typically has a background in Business or Marketing or in a relevant field in relation to the company you’re applying to. For a more senior position, you will also need to have experience in sales preferably in fields that are relevant and exposure in client presentation and negotiation. 

For Senior Sales Executives, applicants may be required to have an education background in Business or Marketing or a relevant field. They will also need to have work experience in sales in relevant fields. 

#6 Engineering, Manufacturing and Industrial – From RM1,500: Maintenance Technician, QA/QC Engineer, Civil Engineer 

This section is mainly divided into general manufacturing and construction or property and includes roles in engineering, manufacturing, and industrial. The salaries for workers in these sectors range from RM1,500 to RM8,000. 

Roles with a minimum salary of RM1,500 to RM3,000 include Maintenance Technician and Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Executive/Engineer. A Maintenance Technician possesses a background in Mechanical Engineering and does upkeeping works. A QA/QC Engineer has a degree in Engineering and ensures compliance to standards are met by performing checks and monitoring progress.   

Workers with RM4,000 to RM6,000 salaries include Civil Engineers with a background in Engineering who works in construction by coming up with engineering designs and following through execution of each project. 

This is then followed by a Senior Project Engineer and MEP Engineer in property and construction who earns RM7,500 monthly salaries. These positions help oversee projects and track them to ensure timely delivery. 

Both a Project Manager in general manufacturing and Contracts Engineer in property and construction have a salary of RM8,000. A Project Manager oversees projects to ensure compliance to standards, budget, and timeframe and requires few years of experience. Contracts Engineer lends his or her expertise in checking related documents for projects. 

Starting Jobs And How Much Can You Earn 

The Adecco Salary Guide reveals a range of salaries for young adults with less than five years of work experience by industry. Those in Finance and Accountancy as well as HR earn a base salary of RM4,000 – specifically, those holding job titles Accounts Payable/Receivable Specialist, HR Executive, and Recruitment Executive.   

Employees in O&G namely Field Technician, Maintenance Technician, and Chemical Analyst earn at least RM3,500 salaries. Meanwhile, positions in IT such as UI/UX Designer and System Engineer earn a minimum of RM3,000. 

Young adults in Sales and Marketing with roles as Sales Coordinator (General) and Sales Executive have a minimum base salary of RM2,000. Lastly, positions in the field of Engineering, Manufacturing, and Industrial such as Maintenance Technician and Shipping Clerk have a minimum salary range of RM1,500 to RM1,800.   

Do note that the salaries used in the article are collected from Adecco’s database for jobs in Kuala Lumpur and are base salaries only. 

Featured Image Credit: Adecco Malaysia

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