Company perception on the employability skills of industrial training students

Employability is the main concern for students and universities. It is one of the objectives of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to produce skilled, experienced and knowledgeable graduates to fulfil manpower needs with 75 per cent of the graduates employed in their relevant fields within six months upon graduation. This study was conducted to review the company perception on the employability skills possessed by mechanical engineering students in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka who have undergone their industrial training program in the respective company. Five elements of employment skills studied here are based on the generic student attributes (GSAs) established by MOHE, i.e. communication skills, teamwork skills, critical thinking, work attitude and lifelong learning. It is used to ensure the students will enrich themselves as a competent and comprehensive student after graduated. Questionnaire was prepared in three phases. Phases one and two are about the adaptability of students to their working environment and how the knowledge and experience in classroom is being integrating into real life work experiences. Phase three is about the professionalism and work ethics among industrial training students. The results show that most of the industrial supervisors agreed that the industrial training program is one of the vital contributors to employability skills.

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Employability is the main concern for students and universities. It is one of the objectives of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to produce skilled, experienced and knowledgeable graduates to fulfil manpower needs with 75 per cent of the graduates employed in their relevant fields within six months upon graduation. This study was conducted to review the company perception on the employability skills possessed by mechanical engineering students in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka who have undergone their industrial training program in the respective company. Five elements of ...  [+] Show more