Abstract

This paper was designed to examine university graduates’ expectations and experiences of employment in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Northern States of Malaysia. A self-reported questionnaire data was gathered from 84 graduate employees. Graduates reported positive experiences in many areas. These often exceeded their expectations, and in general over-met expectations were much more common than under-met ones. The graduates’ work appeared to offer quite high autonomy, the chance to develop a wide range of skills, and to progress towards career goals, at least in the short term. In line with previous research, there were signs that pay; within enterprise career prospects and training were relatively weak areas. Taken as a whole, the results substantiated previous research done and challenge more negative images of employment in small enterprises, and also the preoccupation with under-met expectations in the literature on new entrants to enterprises.

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