Competencies for fresh graduates’ success at work: Perspectives of employers

Abstract

<jats:p> This article investigates Hong Kong employers’ views on graduate competencies that facilitate new graduates’ success in the workplace. The methodology involves the use of a questionnaire to elicit responses from business employers on the importance of specific competencies contributing to the success of fresh graduates at work. The findings indicate that all of the competencies examined are important to a degree. ‘Ability and willingness to learn’, ‘teamwork and cooperation’, ‘hardworking and willingness to take on extra work’, ‘self-control’ and ‘analytical thinking’ are the five highest-ranking competencies measured, although all are clearly necessary for success. Hard and soft skills are rated equally important by employers overall. Recommendations for developing competencies among university students prior to their entry to the workforce are discussed. As the competencies are of a practical nature, it is suggested that universities work together with industry to develop workplace-oriented programmes. This is the first research, to the authors’ knowledge, that approaches desirable graduate competencies from the perspective of the skills gap in the context of Hong Kong. </jats:p>

Effects of construction industry support for PhD projects: The case of a Swedish scheme

“…There is a longer tradition of studying how generic skills are added or reinforced by higher degrees (Gilbert et al, 2004). While there have been studies of industry's views on graduate competencies (Pang et al, 2019), and specifically for construction graduates (Ahn et al, 2012), less is known about the competencies added by doctoral training.…”

Soft competencies and employability of vocational school graduates – the perspective of employers from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

“…Both the subject literature and the business practice commonly apply the distinction between soft and hard competencies (cf. [Jacobs 1989;Skulmoski, Hartman 2010;Sisson, Adams 2013;Fattahi et al 2014;Holtkamp, Jokinen, Pawlowski 2015;Torres, Gregory 2018;Pang et al 2019]). In general, soft competencies are defined as "personal behaviour or attitudes" [Rosas, Macedo, Camarinha-Matos 2009].…”

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“…In 2010 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Romania and Austria the results of some studies, which analyzed the quality of the graduates' labor market and their ability to meet the needs of employers, were published (Andrews & Higson, 2010). Similar studies were carried out by Sisson and Adams (2013); Mardis et al (2018); Gale et al (2017); Balcar et al (2018); Pang et al (2018). In the study by Cobb et al (2015) they share the experience of creating an association of graduates who, during the first year after graduation from the university, realized at their first workplace that there were no soft skills formed during their studies, despite good substantive training.…”

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