Each year, students across Malaysia vote for the employers they most want to join, and their votes decide the winners.
Established in 2018, the Graduates' Choice Award stands as APAC's Most Authoritative Graduate Employer Branding Award, audited by a distinguished Board of Audit Members comprised of representatives from various universities. With an unwavering commitment to transparency, the award's results are 100% determined by the votes cast by university students, making it the definitive voice of the future workforce.
Every employer with a presence in Malaysia can be voted for. There is no application, and being voted for or winning costs nothing: students decide.
How It Works ↓Students at any Malaysian university, college or higher education institution, and graduates within 12 months of graduating, can vote. It is free, and takes 3 to 10 minutes.
Cast Your Vote → (opens in a new tab)Carried by national media since 2018, including Bernama from 2019.
Each gala is officiated by a Guest of Honour, most often from the Ministry of Higher Education, with university leaders in the room.
Universities from across Malaysia have sent delegations: public research, focus, technical and private institutions, represented by Vice-Chancellors, Deputy Vice-Chancellors and career services leads. In 2020 and 2021 the vote ran in full and winners were announced, without an in-person gala.
At each gala, the winners' trophies and certificates are presented by vice-chancellors, presidents, provosts and chief executives of Malaysian higher education institutions, public and private.
It is their honour to present them, and it puts the students' choice in the hands of the people who lead the institutions those students come from.
The Board has 38 career services practitioners from public and private universities across Malaysia. They review the vote before the results are published, and hold no voting rights.
Rules that have not moved since the first cycle. They are what make the register credible.
Results come entirely from student and graduate votes, reviewed by the Board and published as cast. The vote is the verdict.
The Board of Audit Members, now 38 career services practitioners from public and private universities, reviews the vote before publication. Its members hold no voting rights.
One vote per voter per cycle. Anomaly detection flags coordinated campaigns, and the survey is reviewed every two years at the Graduate Employability Bootcamp, alongside policymakers.
A place on the register is earned one way only: students voted for it. Winners receive their title, Seal and trophy, and may use them freely.
From 1 July to 30 June, students at any Malaysian university, college or higher education institution, and graduates within 12 months of graduating, pick the employers they would apply to.
Through July, duplicate votes are filtered out and the Board of Audit Members reviews every vote pattern. Its members hold no voting rights.
The register is published and the winners are celebrated at the annual gala, where the trophies are presented on stage.
Winners carry the GCA Seal for their award year, on careers pages, LinkedIn, recruitment material and career fair backdrops.
In ascending order, and each one decided by the audited vote.
Chosen within an industry category for the cycle.
The top employer within that category.
The 25 most-voted employers across all categories nationally.
Champion in the same category for 3, 5 or 10 consecutive years. One year without the top spot and the streak starts again.
Crafted from high-quality pewter and adorned with 24K gold, the trophy takes its shape from a scroll, an age-old symbol of wisdom, courage and knowledge. It is cast in black, a colour of power, authority and certainty, with the GCA insignia at its apex.
Its curves reflect the bond between future leaders and the organisations that foster them, and a fine line detail contours its exterior.
The GCA emblem, set in gold to mirror a seal of approval. It marks an organisation that students have made a most preferred graduate employer, drawing future talent and giving current employees a title to keep.
Its bold outline stands for the students' decision behind it. Where the trophy sits in the boardroom, the Seal travels: careers websites, graduate recruitment material, email signatures and career fair backdrops, for the award year shown on the mark.
Cast in pewter and adorned with 24K gold. All measurements are approximate.
Short films from each presentation gala.
2025 · 8th edition
Highlights
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2024 · 7th edition
Highlights
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2023 · 6th edition
Highlights
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2022 · 5th edition
Highlights
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2019 · 2nd edition
Highlights
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2018 · 1st edition
Highlights
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Students enrolled at any Malaysian university, college or higher education institution, public or private, whatever their nationality, and fresh graduates within 12 months of graduating. A personal email address is fine.
No. There is no application and no nomination. Every employer with a presence in Malaysia can be voted for: students choose, the Board audits, and the register is published.
No. Being voted for and winning cost nothing, and the title and the Seal are complimentary to every winner.
Eligibility is declared when voting. After voting closes, duplicate and repeated votes are filtered out, coordinated or automated voting is flagged and excluded, and the Board of Audit Members reviews the whole vote pattern before any result is published.
Voting closes on 30 June at 11:59pm, Malaysia time. The audit runs through July, and the register is announced at the annual gala.
A place in the published register, syndicated through Bernama; a moment on stage at the annual gala; the licensed digital Seal for careers pages and recruitment; the scroll trophy; and press coverage.
Yes, for the cycle in which you won: on careers pages, LinkedIn, recruitment material, booth backdrops and email signatures.
No. Individual votes are never shared, sold or matched to anyone's identity. Only aggregated results are published.
Your career services practitioners can join the Board of Audit Members, and your team can run campus voting drives. Both are free, and the secretariat provides what is needed.
No. It ranks employers, as chosen by students. It is not a league table of universities.