Nine cycles. 700,000+ votes. One unchanging rule: students decide.
Talentbank was founded in 2010 to help Malaysian graduates navigate the job market. In 2017, our research team asked students a simple question:
Which employer do you actually want to work for?
The answers gave us a different perspective on what graduates really value in an employer. They also showed us that there was more to employer choice than the rankings we were seeing at the time.
Nine years later, the same question still drives the award, only now with far more students answering it.
These are the rules that have not moved since our first cycle. They are what keep the register credible.
The rankings come straight from university students. Their votes decide which employers make the list and where they rank.
Each cycle, more than 40 career services practitioners sit on the Board of Audit Members. They check the voting patterns before anything goes public, but they do not get a vote of their own.
Every voter verifies their student email, and can only vote once a cycle. We review the survey itself every two years, together with policymakers at the Graduate Employability Bootcamp.
Recognised employers receive the official GCA title, emblem and trophy to proudly share. There's no application or sponsorship involved. Employers earn their place through the votes of university students.
The dates for the two most recent cycles:
The 2026 official rankings voting period begins.
The voting period for the 2026 rankings ends. All votes are locked.
The Board of Audit Members convenes to review vote patterns and exclude anomalous entries.
The GCA Awards Gala Dinner is held, and trophies are presented to the 2026 Champions.
The official "2026 Graduates' Choice of Employer" list is published across media coverage.
The 2027 official rankings voting period begins.
The voting period for the 2027 rankings ends. All votes are locked.
The Board of Audit Members convenes to review vote patterns and exclude anomalous entries.
The GCA Awards Gala Dinner is held, and trophies are presented to the 2027 Champions.
The official "2027 Graduates' Choice of Employer" list is published across media coverage.
Every year, thousands of students tell us which employers they would choose to work for.