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HESWBL
12,3 The question of university
graduates’ employability:
are the students aware of the
588 employers’ preferences
Received 20 May 2021 Pambas Tandika
Revised 27 October 2021
Accepted 27 October 2021 Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, College of Education,
University of Dodoma, Dodoma, United Republic of Tanzania, and
Laurent Gabriel Ndijuye
Department of Education Foundation and Continuing Education,
College of Education, University of Dodoma, Dodoma, United Republic of Tanzania

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to university students’ awareness of the employers preferred
competencies and the educational level capable of readying them satisfactory for the demands of the world of work.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a qualitative approach exploratory research design, data were
gathered in an informal and unstructured manner, researchers identified undergraduate students’ awareness
of employers’ preferred competencies of the graduates.
Findings – Undergraduate students overestimated academic credentials while ignoring soft skills as
employers’ preferences. Nevertheless, they were worried about their capability to compete adequately when
seeking employment despite identifying university level of education as the most appropriate for developing
and enhancing their employability.
Research limitations/implications – The study involved mostly second-year students from one college of
the seven colleges constituting the University of Dodoma.
Practical implications – There is a need for university education to integrate and emphasize the non-
cognitive skills for adequately and holistically preparing future employees with adequate knowledge and skills
to thrive in the world of work demands.
Social implications – There likelihood that a lack of confidence would impact their participation in academia
and work/job. Hence, lower down their productivity and inadequately contribute to social and national
economic growth.
Originality/value – The value of these findings is that they identify, inform and can be used to enhance
university education programming for improved graduate’s employability.
Keywords Employability, Competencies, Employers, University students, Preferences
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Employability despite having no one agreed description is a set of achievements – skills,
understandings and personal attributes making graduates more likely to gain employment
and be successful in their occupations working for their benefits, of other fellow workers, the
community they serve and for the wider economic growth (Yorke, 2006). The concept has
increasingly become an issue deserving the critical attention of both higher education
institutions [HEls] (Nilsson, 2016; Deeley, 2014) churning out graduates and employers in the
world (Nganga, 2014). Defined as different kinds of skills and qualities that are important in
meeting the varying demands of a rapidly changing and dynamic labour market subject to
intense competition (Nilsson and Ellstr€om, 2012), employability depends on different means,
Higher Education, Skills and
Work-Based Learning
Vol. 12 No. 3, 2022
pp. 588-603 Researchers acknowledge the contribution of the university students who took part in this study. The
© Emerald Publishing Limited authors realize that without their readiness to participate in this study, it would be difficult to have
2042-3896
DOI 10.1108/HESWBL-05-2021-0101 attained study purpose.
with the formal education side being cited the most (Mitchell and Muysken, 2008). The other Question of
means for preparing an individual to participate in the labour market is the supply side university
characterised by the capacity of institutions, companies or agencies to produce job
opportunities (McDonald et al., 2019).
graduates’
Researches on the concept, employability, have documented extensively and intensively on employability
the graduates’ employability vs the needs of the emerging modern sector as well as the HEIs
elsewhere (McDonald et al., 2019) and in Tanzania (Mwita, 2018; Mbwanji, 2014; Mgaiwa, 2021;
Ngalomba, 2018; Nganga, 2014). The question remains whether students who are future 589
employees are aware of the employers’ preferences when hiring. Determining their awareness is
critical as students enrol in universities to facilitate their search for high employment
opportunities and as it is driven by the demand for social ascension through better employment
perspectives (Garrcia-Arail et al., 2018). HEIs serve many functions in the general public but
among is to prepare a workforce that meets the demands of stakeholders (Blackmore et al., 2016).
Specifically, universities are expected and should be promoting employment by providing an
educational experience that facilitates the acquisition of abilities, skills, competencies and values
needed for the improving social and economical well-being of the society (Azmi et al., 2018;
Pertegel-Felices et al., 2013; Sanga, 2019). Cole and Tibby (2013) add that universities should as
well focus on supporting students build their careers on top of preparing them to obtain
employment. Signed by 29 Ministers responsible for higher education (HE) in European countries
in 1999, Bologna declaration came to support universities in Europe on common European
problems including the employability of graduates and the shortage of skills in key areas
(European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2018) by improving the design of study programmes,
research strategies and the management of the Universities (Stiwne and Alves, 2010).
In Tanzania, HEIs, especially universities, have been implementing some initiatives to
meet the modern market demands. One of such is the five-year higher education development
programme – HEDP of 2010–2015 for enhancing relevance, equity and quality of education
(the United Republic of Tanzania-URT, 2010). At its core of reform, the URT aspired to have a
knowledge-based and technology-driven, semi-industrialized, internationally and regionally
competitive middle-level economy by 2025. National sectoral policies [e.g. both the Education
and Training Policy of 1995 that of 2014, National Higher Education Policy of 1997, Technical
Education and Training Policy of 1996, Education Sector Development Programme – ESDP
of 2008–2017] and the overall national policies [e.g. Tanzania’s Development Vision of 2025,
and the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty – NSGRP of 2005] all
advocate for HE to facilitate those enrolled in it complete their cycle of education with
employability skills needed in the society. Thus, the HE sector was considered a potential link
to the economy and required to review and update, or design a new curriculum to contribute
to the increased middle and high-level skilled human capital (Mgaiwa, 2021; URT, 2010).
Despite such reform through the HEDP that constituted institutional reforms, service delivery
and sustainability mechanisms; employers have for several years now claimed that most
graduates lack employability skills as they inadequately meet the needs of the world market
where different industries absorb graduates (Nganga, 2014). Lack of adequate preparations for
the expected workforce (Choi et al., 2019) and pressures exerted on the universities to meet
standards on employability (Suleman, 2016) are some crucial factors for the situation.
Though there are good and commendable initiatives taken by different stakeholders and
universities themselves on university students’ employability; Cavanagh et al., 2015; Garcia –
Aracil et al., 2018 insist on understanding first students’ perceptions of their dread of
employability as a crucial variable in preparing them for the world of work. Documentation of
and publication of the undergraduate students’ views is important as motivation and
commitment of learners (employees-in-making) is a prerequisite for effective learning
outcomes (Tymon, 2011). Indeed, this understanding of students’ awareness is crucial to
different stakeholders to contribute to the planning and implementation of plans aimed to
HESWBL improve the graduates’ employability. Moreover, documentation of students’ awareness of
12,3 employers’ preferences would serve as an important educational impact for boosting their
self-esteem (Pool and Sewell, 2007).
Though there are a plethora of research reports documenting concerns of employers,
voices of the employees-to-be (students) are also increasingly gaining ground because it
would place significant pressure on HEIs to develop degree programmes and instructional
modalities that adequately prepare them for the world of work (Blackmore et al., 2016).
590 Regardless of the importance attached to documenting students’ work readiness, there are
limited reports in East Africa and Tanzania on the subject as available studies on
employability in Tanzania have limited focus on undergraduate students’ awareness of
employers’ preferences. The available studies on employability in Tanzania are enhancing
university students with employability skills through career guidance and counselling
(Sikawa et al., 2018; Amani and Sima, 2015; Mabula, 2012; Mpehongwa, 2014; Shuma, 2017).
Kamuhabwa (2019), Sanga (2019), Mgaiwa (2021) and Fulgence (2015) focused on the
teaching and learning that enhances soft skills and its implication for employability.
Furthermore, Mwita (2018) assessed the human resource practitioners’ perception of the
Tanzania graduates’ employability. The available studies lack focus on future employees’
awareness of employers’ preference, hence such exploration of the students’ perspectives on
work-readiness is critical for informing curricula design and implementation (Caspersz and
Olaru, 2017; Jackson, 2019). Furthermore, lack of students’ voices as targets/beneficiaries of
any job-related education including in HEIs, denies HEIs and employers in Tanzania; not only
impacts designing and implementation of curricula, employees-in-making feelings, opinions
and attitudes to employability would not be heard and considered in the process. On their
side, students would make them aware and forge an identity (Daniels and Brooker, 2014) for
them to become employable and have a competitive edge.
The concept of student preparedness or readiness for the world-of-work is vital in
expanding training institutions’ roles and employers’ preferential skills and Bailly (2008)
argues that the quality of HE is determined by its output expressed in multiple ways one
being the belief and evaluation done by stakeholders’ (graduates and employers)
perspectives. Billett (2015) identifies three knowledge dimensions about readiness for
training institutions, employers and employees to consider and prepare sufficiently for
participation in the knowledge economy: Conceptual (what they know), Procedural (what
they can do) and Dispositional (values, attitudes and interests). In this regard, the knowledge
economy, as an outcome of the shift from a commodity-based industrial society is usually
characterised by increased demands for efficiency and productivity, new ways of organising
work and increased international competition outcome (Nilson, 2016). The Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development-OECD (2018) associates the three knowledge
dimensions (conceptual/discipline, procedural and dispositional) as characterising a future-
ready student. According to the OECD (2018), a future-ready student has a broad range of
skills (cognitive and meta-cognitive skills-critical thinking, creative thinking, learning to
learn and self-regulation); social and emotional skills-empathy, self-efficacy and collaboration
and practical and physical skills-using information and communication technology devices.
Hence a study was necessary to determine the undergraduate students’ understanding of
employers’ preferences and their preparedness for the world of work. Specifically, the study
sought to:
(1) Determine the university students’ understanding of employers’ competency
preferences in the world of work.
(2) Explore the students’ views on the educational institutional appropriateness for
enhancing world-of-work preparedness.
2. Methodology Question of
2.1 Study design university
The study employed an exploratory qualitative research design to gather data in an informal
and unstructured manner. The use of the qualitative exploratory research design was
graduates’
appropriate as undergraduate students’ awareness of the preferred competencies by employability
employers is an area that lacked research and that this study would lay a foundation for
future rigorous studies (Cooper and Schindler, 2006). Given the fact that exploratory research
design is not limited to one specific paradigm (qualitative or quantitative approaches), its 591
selection fitted the study’s intention that intended to generate or discover ideas that could be
potential not only to employers but also to instructors to properly design and facilitate
instruction that meets job market demands.

2.2 Sample and sampling procedure

The study used a non-probabilistic sampling technique to obtain 77 (40 Male and 37 Female)
participants based on their readiness to participate in the study and their convenience. Their
age range ranged between 28 and 47 years. The inclusion criteria were that a participant
should be in the second year of his/her study on reasons that they were at the mid of their
entire programme and hoped that the study would raise awareness and commitment for their
preparation. Since participants were included in the sample simply because of their readiness
to participate, the results of the study should not be generalized to the entire population. The
design was appropriate as researchers were not well-informed about the university students’
understanding of the preferred competencies by employers.

2.3 Instruments of data collection

An open-ended questionnaire and some in-depth interviews were deployed to generate
requisite data necessary to realise the study’s purpose. The two (open-ended survey
questions and semi-structured interview) are the most common methods of data collection for
qualitative data analysis. This study conducted data collection by supplying the open-ended
questionnaire to individual study participants who filled it based on questions ranging from
their basic information about their gender, ages, etc. to central questions of this study [e.g. as
a university student expecting to join the world of work, which competencies for your
understanding are mostly preferred by employers? What is their preparedness for the world
of work? Which educational level is appropriate in preparing youth for the world of work?].
Thereafter, researchers held face-face interviews with participants using an interview guide
for pursuing the meanings of central themes in the world of their subjects (Quad, 2016).
Interviews were conducted later with respondents as are useful to follow-up with individual
respondents after questionnaires to triangulate and get more explanations of their responses
(McNamara, 1999).
The approach tends to be more flexible than a survey, allowing a degree of freedom and
adaptability in eliciting information from the participants while still covering the same
general areas of information related to one’s research questions with each interviewee. The
open-ended questionnaire allowed participants to fully participate and concentrate (Adams
and Cox, 2008) in addition to giving them the freedom to express their views. Meanwhile,
semi-structured interviews used pre-prepared questions, and some were developed during
the data collection to maximise information generation.

2.4 Study area

This study was conducted at one of the government-owned universities in Tanzania as one of
the HEIs—producing graduates for the job market in the country. The university is honoured
HESWBL by different stakeholders—the Tanzania government, political parties, non-governmental
12,3 organisations, employers and the public—to contribute to the production of highly trained
and high-level manpower to improve the production and efficiency in Tanzania and across its
borders.

2.5 Ethical issues

592 This study was conducted between November 2018 and December 2018 and researchers
observed ethics during the data collection, analysis and reporting of data. Before the
fieldwork, researchers secured research permits from the relevant authorities in conducting
this study. It also observed informed consent where research participants were informed
about the purpose of the study and they voluntarily participated. They were assured that
their names would not be used when reporting the findings and pseudonyms would be used
instead. The study also assured the respondents of confidentiality and anonymity.

2.6 Validity and reliability of study findings

Regarding the validity and reliability of findings, the study employed triangulation of data
collection methods (semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire). During data
analysis, all the researchers engaged one after the other in data analysis to cross-check for
consistency in data analysis. Moreover, researchers ensured rich and thick verbatim
descriptions of the participants’ accounts to support the findings.

2.7 Data analysis

Data analysis followed Miles and Huberman’s (1994) three stages: Data reduction, Data
display and Conclusions (drawing and verifying). Data collected using interviews and semi-
structured questionnaires were reduced into meaningful data through summarization. After
summarization, data are displayed entailing organising and compressing the resultant
information in the form of text and graphical presentation. Finally, researchers drew
conclusions based on the findings.

3. Results
3.1 Students’ preparedness for the world-of-work
3.1.1 Awareness of the preferred competencies by employers. The study involved
undergraduate students drawn from various degree programmes of the selected university
to determine the university students’ awareness of their preparedness for the world of work
with a focus on the preferred competencies by employers. The study also determined the
undergraduate students’ knowledge of the preferred competencies by employers as an
indicator of their preparedness for the world of work. This study was conducted in June 2018
using an open-ended questionnaire survey supplemented by semi-structured interviews. The
data analysis is as summarised in Figure 1:
3.1.1.1 Good grades. As Figure 1 illustrates, good grades usually signalled by someone’s
ability to ponder over a problem and propose useful means of solving it was highly
considered by study participants as being mostly prioritised by employers. The proposed
answers to questions or problems posed in the university exams are the ones that make
students score well. Students added that since questions posed in university examinations
were real-life or work-based challenges made it possible that their capacity to propose
solutions and get good scores underscored their eligibility to deliver in a job.
3.1.1.2 Acting professionally. Good values characterised by punctuality for work and
attending to work matters accordingly and with professionalism were reported to be among
the competencies that students highlighted as important among employers when seeking or
 Question of
university
graduates’
employability

593

Figure 1.
University students’
knowledge of preferred
competencies by
employers

screening applicants for filling vacancies or work opportunities. Study participants gave
various explanations as follows:
Participant 1
Any work or job of a given profession has its ethics. Thus, abiding by and following such
ethics reduces conflicts and disputes amongst employees, or with the employers as well as
their immediate supervisors. Good values reduce conflicts with customers we expect to
interact with when offering services. So, any employer would tend to employ someone ethical
and respectful.
Participant 2
Some of us may go to work while improperly dressed as we ignore the dressing codes of the
respective profession and our culture. Such kind of behaviour would not be liked by either
employers or supervisors as well as by the societal members whom we serve.
In addition to the dressing codes, one respondent reported:
Some people tend to be harsher to clients than being kind. You find common misunderstanding
between the service provider [employee] and the service recipients [clients] because of irritating
language the employee uses that makes clients feel disobeyed and dis-valued.
Based on the views presented by the participants, it appears they are well-informed that at
work, respecting and valuing others and oneself is important to avoid being subjected to
several indiscipline cases that could endanger one’s job. Apart from being expelled from
work, the unruly behaviours could discourage employers from considering future work
applicants with similar traits hence, the decline of employability.
3.1.1.3 Hardworking. Furthermore, analysis reveals that language competence or ability to
communicate ideas well (35%) when serving clients or sharing experience with the
HESWBL supervisor for improving service provision to attract new and maintain old customers, and
12,3 confidence (33.7%) were among the competencies that future employees (students
participated in this study) considered to be essential for employability. Close confidence
and ability to communicate well; study participants did not treat hardworking as a crucial
attribute when seeking employment. In their views, they reported that it was difficult for an
employer to determine the job seeker’s hard-working attributes until he/she was given a duty
to perform. They did not consider hardworking as an attribute that employers could measure
594 and determine in the early stages, before being employed hence its reported low
consideration. One of the respondents said:
We used to respond to adverts for job positions by submitting a letter of application for the
advertised position. When applying, we include copies of academic certificates and curriculum vitae.
Employers could not easily identify a hard worker from these documents unless there is the use of
established indicators to gauge the attribute
3.1.1.4 Creativity and innovation. Though the study participants seemed to pay less attention
to confidence, ability to communicate well and hardworking, issues of creativity and
innovations were not mentioned at all. Lack of mention of such two salient competencies—
creativity and innovation—raises questions on awareness on the importance of such
competencies in increasing and improving the qualities of services and products in industries.
Alternatively, one could argue that they were less informed about such competencies as high-
valued attributes among most of the employers for their industries to compete in their world
market by offering good services that could later rank among good services providers.
3.1.2 Competency gap possessed by undergraduate students. On the other hand, the study
explored the competency gap that characterises study participants and its problems in
limiting their competitiveness with other applicants when seeking a job (see Figure 2).
Analysis of data indicates that though study respondents reported having good grades as the
most paramount feature among employers for employing graduates, they reported lacking
confidence (60%). Confidence was found to be low due to factors such as lack of intensive field
practice and engagement in work-related experiences that affected their capacity to transfer

Figure 2.
Students’ views on
competency gap they
possess
theories (university education) into problem-solving situations (practice). Yet, they Question of
considered themselves as potential employees who could compete with others with less university
assurance that they could secure the vacant job advertised.
As Figure 2 illustrates, though study participants indicated a lack of confidence being
graduates’
lacking to larger extent; their responses also hint at lack of good grades and field experience employability
as vital and could they willingly endure the mismatch of the opinions or behaviours that tend
to be uncommon (tolerant). Regarding the importance of time in work productivity and
efficiency, few of the study participants hesitantly reported that they could not manage time 595
properly. The study participants reported that they were able to observe time as time
management was not a challenge that could disqualify them from acquiring a position from
employers. In this regard, one of the respondents said:
I joined university education to become a professional. I, therefore, believe that punctuality and being
sensitive to time usage in the office is of great importance for me as a worker and to the job itself I
would be charged.
On the sensitivity to time management, the respondents reported is a good indicator of their
preparedness to meet the demand and expectations of the employers coupled with what their
job descriptions and plans decree. Responses in general regarding the preparedness of the
study participants for the world-of-work were found to be high, hence signalling that they
were ready to work and improve service provision.

3.2 Educational institutions appropriate for enhancing work preparedness

Due to the current trends of graduates reportedly being unemployable by employers and
researchers, governments have ended up producing guidelines stipulating the appropriate
educational levels for enhancing graduates’ employability. This study, therefore, explored
the respondents’ views on the appropriate educational level for developing employability
skills among youth. Their responses indicate that experiences beyond schools (lower and
upper secondary) particularly college education were crucial in enhancing an individual’s
employability skills, as Figure 3 illustrates:

Figure 3.
Educational level
preferred to enhance
student’s
employability
HESWBL In this regard, the respondents reported that college education and, in particular, university
12,3 education was the most preferable level as it builds and strengthens previous learning
experiences by linking theoretical background developed in secondary education with
specific job practical skills. At the university level, this theoretical knowledge is advanced
and integrated with field practices which strengthen work experience. It is, therefore,
apparent that the respondents trust university education to be capable of addressing the
employability challenges. The trust held by respondents poses a challenge to universities to
596 work towards improving and supporting individual students to realise their dreams and meet
the expectations of the nation of building a strong and competitive economy by producing
high-level competent manpower.
Towards supporting individuals, there is a problem of limited or poor preparation and
investment impacting organisations and their systems. The problem tends to undermine
the universities’ capacity to fulfil their critical functions of producing graduates capable
of delivering in the world of work to meet employers’ expectations. Furthermore, the
respondents indicated positive expectations as they treated the university as appropriate
in enhancing their employability by equipping them with modern technologies that are
essential in the employment process in addition to equipping them with saleable skills. In
addition to technologies, universities have personnel whose research and work
experiences inform curriculum design and implementation for producing graduates
with competencies that respond to the dictates of the world of work.
The university education was also reported to be appropriate as it enrols learners with age
beyond childhood and makes graduates eligible for employment as they would have
exceeded the age specified to perform decent work. One of the respondents said:
Employers need grown-up people/employees who can interact with customers of different ages and
experience, hence experienced and learned personnel is important and could be trained beyond
secondary education.
The workplace was also reported to be an important area for enhancing employability skills
with a view that fields have people with different experiences who interact with newly
employed staff to build their experience. However, they had some reservations that some
experienced staff tend to be unready to support others and nurture them; as a result, newly-
employed staff gained work experiences gradually and often late depending on their
initiative and creativity.

4. Discussion of findings
4.1 Undergraduate students’ awareness of preferred competencies by employers
Good grades as were highly identified by study participants as a crucial attribute that the
employers’ value the most when hiring someone. This view of the respondents correlate well
with the argument presented by Nilsson and Ellstr€om (2012) who shares that formal
qualifications and degrees acquired from higher education by individuals play a centripetal
role in enhancing an individual’s employability. Though study participants argued that
submission of the application for the call for job opportunity does not clearly give the
employer enough evidence for the qualifying worker and especially the hard-worker;
Humburg et al. (2013) report that elsewhere, grade point average (GPA) is given less
preference by employers as they mostly consider field experiences because it relates with
future job performance. Nevertheless, grades are important for recent graduates without
work experience. Humburg et al. (2013) and Pollard et al. (2015) give an exception for
graduates with average grades from a top-ranked university to be more likely to attract
employers as graduates with above-average grades from an average ranked university
(Schill et al., 1985).
 Moreover, in addition to consideration made on relevant work experience; the match Question of
between the field of study and job tasks greatly become crucial (Humburg et al., 2013; Dacre and university
Sewell, 2007). Experience shared by the study participants on preferred competencies by
employers by prioritizing good grades makes them deviate from the global trend of knowledge
graduates’
that field experience involving collaborators (employers and students) in hands-on training is employability
essential in increasing someone’s employability as it integrates personal and professional skills
relevant for employment (Williams, 2015). Some organizations or employers though not clearly
state, consider a job-seeker with several years of experience when hiring (Pollard et al., 2015). 597
To further boost their opportunities and capabilities for employability and general life
chances, Ndyali (2016) and Mwita (2018) advise graduates to strive and engage in developing
additional skills through training and experience. They should as well put equal efforts in
scoring high GPA with equipping themselves with demanded work competencies by actively
participating in learning by doing, working in teams and thinking creatively are of equal
importance (Brewer, 2013). Lack of innovation and creativity as was not considered by
participants of this study is an indication to many employers that less experienced graduates
are not expected to be innovative or creative enough. The situation facilitate some employers
associate being a recent graduate with a fresh perspective and new solutions to old problems
to contribute to the organization right away (Humburg et al., 2013). Given the fact that the
study observed lack of consideration among participants on the importance of the
hardworking in contributing to employability, Pang et al. (2019) determined that
hardworking and willing to take on extra work is among the five highest-ranked
competencies by employers in Hong Kong that fresh graduates should demonstrate for
successful employability. Probably, the low preference of employers on academic grades is
based on their understanding that academic grades are indicative of how much a candidate
has studied as opposed by intelligence test scores that reflect their actual ability to learn,
reason and think logically (Chamorro-Premuzic and Frankiewicz, 2019).

4.2 Competency gap possessed by students

Whereas undergraduate students involved in this study prioritised academic performance and
indicated lack of confidence as a barrier to their employability, Cinque (2016) identifies other
crucial skills and knowledge that could limit job-seeker to secure employment. Such crucial
skills are lacks of basic/fundamental skills [e.g. literacy, numeracy and using technology]; and
people-related skills [e.g. communication, interpersonal, teamwork and customer-service
skills]. Other crucial skills are conceptual/thinking skills [e.g. collecting and organising
information, problem-solving, planning and organising, learning-to-learn skills, thinking
innovatively and creatively, and systems thinking]; and personal skills and attributes [e.g.
being responsible, resourceful, flexible, able to manage one’s own time and having self-esteem].
Generally, communication skills and good values are attributes that the study
participants reported as important in boosting employability prospects. Humburg et al.
(2013) report that employers believe that interpersonal skills—the ability to work in a team
and communicate and co-operate effectively with diverse colleagues and clients—are almost
as important as professional expertise and could not be compensated even by the best grades
or the most relevant study field. In other words, those preparing for employment should
strive not only to have good grades but also to acquire other skills (interpersonal skills) to
enhance their employability.
Unlike experiences elsewhere as witnessed in Malaysia, the participants involved in this
study and those from the Chinese university were specifically worried about their
preparedness. Students in Malaysian universities were more positive about their
preparedness as they believed their respective university could develop their soft skills
(Teng et al., 2019). Jackson (2019) reports that programme delivery of up-to-date technical
HESWBL content and development prepares well the undergraduate students. Significantly, low
12,3 confidence as largely identified by study participants (refer to Figure 2) made the prospective
employees unable to transfer their skills in practical terms (Ravn and Churchill, 2019;
Jackson, 2016). Importantly, lack of confidence as reported by study participants is an
indication that they would inadequately fulfil occupational roles when in office as they are
inadequately prepared for a career through education (Bandura et al., 2001).
Ravn and Churchill (2019) note lack of confidence is among three common frustrations
598 experienced by young people during their job search. Others are employers’ expectations of
relevant work experience in the young person’s preferred occupation and being required to
apply for jobs not aligned with their career aspirations.

4.3 Appropriate level for preparing undergraduate students for the world of work
Contrary to Brewer (2013) who indicates secondary education as a crucial level of formal
education for preparing the competitive workforce, university education as was reported by the
study participants as an appropriate level for developing the workforce is important for
continuous learning and the development of the labour force (Nilsson, 2016; Tymon, 2013).
Universities were trusted by study participants because of their potential for supporting career
decision-making and job search, development of employability attributes as part of study
programmes and placements/work experience and personal development planning as a
complementary to the process (Knight and Yorke, 2002). In contrast to the findings of this study
regarding the appropriateness of the university education, experience in other places hints at the
necessity of strengthened support and cooperation between the university and the employer
(Artess et al., 2011; Helyer et al., 2011; Lowden et al., 2011; Rust and Froud, 2011). In addition to
engaging students in the cooperation between employers and universities, students ought to
develop an understanding that they have a primary responsibility towards enabling and
engendering their employability (Leong and Kavanagh, 2013; Tan and French-Arnold, 2012). In
other words, they need to be proactive in preparing for a changing world-of-work by actively
improving their knowledge and skills to meet the demands of the modern workplace (Bridgstock,
2017) instead of just blaming training institutions, especially universities (Tran, 2014) for failing
to equip them with requisite skills, knowledge and preparedness for the world-of-work.
Though study participants accorded low consideration on the role of the workplace to
develop them with required competencies, there are contrasting arguments on the factor in
contributing in increasing work experience of those employed. It is argued that employability
could better and more easily be developed outside of the formal curriculum (Andrews and
Higson, 2008; Ng and Feldman, 2009). Employment-based training and experience are cited
by authors with the belief that employers and employers’ organisations are probably better
placed to provide this work-based training and experience than it was in the past (Tymon,
2013). However, Jackson (2010) sees organisations being increasingly reluctant to invest in
developing the transferable skills to graduates due to economic pressures and beliefs about
the lack of commitment from those to be trained.

5. Conclusions and recommendations

Overall, the study participants were aware of some essential competencies preferred by
employers despite not prioritising attributes such as creativity and innovation as well as
communication. Secondly, the study found that teaching and learning in universities have
been more academic than professional-oriented with less attention being paid to soft skills
(teamwork, critical thinking, loyalty, the ability to adapt). In this regard, the study found that
field attachment (individually or through university collaboration with industries) is crucial
in increasing work-based experiences for improved employability prospects and awareness
of the authenticity and value of working experience.
 As such, the study recommends that though academic credentials are important, Question of
interpersonal skills need to be enhanced and inculcated by the training institutions through university
the active personal engagement of students. Secondly, training institutions mainly
universities should work to address employers’ concerns regarding the employability
graduates’
competencies of the graduates so that industries get required employees to effectively and employability
efficiently increase and improve productivity.
599
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Pambas Tandika can be contacted at: [email protected]

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