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A career exploration programme for Malaysian school leavers

Don’t justchoose a future.Test-drive it.

Real experiences. Real people. Real possibilities. Three days to explore, experiment and discover your next move.

Join the Next CohortSee the 3 days
  • Days3
  • Career paths8
  • Conversations with working adults8
  • Future Map1
Next cohort20–22 Dec 2026Kuala Lumpur

Start to finish

Before, during and after the three days.

We look at work as tasks, not job titles: what people actually do all day, and which of those tasks your child enjoys, struggles with or wants to try again.

Before: About 10 to 15 minutes, by voice or typing, after booking. Your child keeps only what they agree with.

  1. Day 1: three school leavers sort paper task cards into columns while a facilitator listens.01 · Discover

    Me and the map

    How work is changing, tasks rather than job titles, and their own strengths with real examples.

    Interests with examples, and a first map of opportunities

  2. Day 2: halfway through a task, the service owner holds up a new constraint and a pod rethinks its paper phone prototypes.02 · Experiment

    Try the work

    Practitioner conversations and a practical task whose constraints change halfway through.

    Their own work, linked to their map

  3. Day 3: a learner explains her Future Map on a board to the parents seated in front of her.03 · Decide

    Make the move

    Routes after SPM (university, diploma, TVET, work, enterprise), costs against returns, and a family conversation.

    Two options with reasons, and three dated actions

After

90 days of follow-through

They do the actions, add what they find, and check in at 30 and 90 days.

More than a workshop

A real-world experience for your next chapter.

First Move is a three-day career exploration programme where you step into real roles, solve real challenges and meet real people, so you can make more confident decisions about your future.

  • Do, then discuss

    Hands-on experience first, practitioner Q&A after.

  • Adults in the room

    Every learner holds eight short conversations with working adults, in small groups.

  • No verdicts

    Profiling tools open questions. They never assign you a career.

  • Parents are participants

    Families join at the start and the end, because they shape the decision too.

Start to finish

Before, during and after the three days.

We look at work as tasks, not job titles: what people actually do all day, and which of those tasks your child enjoys, struggles with or wants to try again.

  1. Before

    A short discovery conversation

    About 10 to 15 minutes, by voice or typing, after booking. Your child keeps only what they agree with.

    A first draft of their map

  2. Day 1

    Discover

    How work is changing, tasks rather than job titles, and their own strengths with real examples.

    Interests with examples, and a first map of opportunities

  3. Day 2

    Experiment

    Practitioner conversations and a practical task whose constraints change halfway through.

    Their own work, linked to their map

  4. Day 3

    Decide

    Routes after SPM (university, diploma, TVET, work, enterprise), costs against returns, and a family conversation.

    Two options with reasons, and three dated actions

  5. After

    90 days of follow-through

    They do the actions, add what they find, and check in at 30 and 90 days.

    A map that keeps changing, with the reasons

A task from Day 2

The missed appointment problem

A community service centre, made up for the exercise, has missed appointments, messages in several languages, little staff time and visitors with different access to phones. In a small team, learners recommend and prototype one change within a budget. Halfway through, the service owner adds a constraint: fewer visitors have smartphones than they assumed. Each learner then explains one decision in their own words.

See the map a learner leaves with

Career paths

Explore real opportunities across high-growth industries.

Eight career areas are on show. You do two hands-on tasters in depth and talk to a practitioner from every area.

View all career paths

How it works

Three days. A clearer you.

A hands-on journey to explore real careers, learn from real people and leave with a plan for what's next.

See the full programme
  1. Day 01Me and the mapDiscoverDiscover what you value, see the eight career areas and research the routes after SPM.
  2. Day 02Try the workExperimentTry two practical tasters and talk to eight people who do the work.
  3. Day 03Make the moveDecideRun a first-salary month, weigh the cost of each route and write your plan.

The programme

A real-world experience, not a traditional workshop.

Every day mixes doing, talking and reflecting. Here is how each one runs. Times are proposed and may change once the venue is confirmed.

Discover

Me and the map

  1. Parent and student opening

    A 45-minute welcome: what happens over the three days and how to ask for help.

  2. Who am I at work?

    Values, interests and strengths, with examples from things you have actually done.

  3. The eight career areas

    A common map of the eight areas, and the difference between a job, a course and a route in.

  4. Route research

    Compare routes on requirements, costs and alternatives, using sources you check yourself.

  5. A small practical challenge

    Make something small and notice how you like to work.

See the day in full

Why First Move

You're not the only one who isn't sure.

Choosing well at 18 matters more than it used to. Here is what published research says about school leavers and the world of work.

Figures come from the published research linked on each card. Photos are illustrative and do not show survey respondents.

A father listens as his daughter shows him her Future Map at the kitchen table.

For parents

Give your child a head start, with confidence.

First Move helps school leavers explore real-world options, build practical skills and make more confident decisions about their future. You join at the start and the end, because you fund and shape the decision too.

  • Real-world exposure

    Beyond the classroom

  • Practitioners, not lectures

    Working adults from many industries

  • Safe and structured

    Facilitated by Mereka

  • A plan, not a verdict

    Clear next steps for the next 90 days

Learn more for parentsTry 2 minutes of the interview

Mereka's partners

Mereka works with industry and education.

We're inviting employers, universities and practitioners to run job tasters and join the eight practitioner conversations. Confirmed First Move hosts will be announced here once their participation and permission to use their logo are recorded.

  • Corporates
  • SMEs
  • Tech startups
  • Universities
  • Social enterprises
  • Skilled trades
Become a host partner

Same curiosity.Bigger possibilities.

Ready for your first move?

Be part of the next cohort.

  • 20–22 Dec 2026
  • Kuala Lumpur
  • Ages 17 to 19, SPM or equivalent school leavers
Apply NowHave questions? Talk to us

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