Importance of Soft Skills for Industrial Training Program: Employers' Perspective

Industrial training is considered to be an effective tool to enhance graduates’ employability. This paper attempts to highlight four key soft skills that have been identified by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia in its move to enhance employability among students from three faculties. A questionnaire based on the basic employability skills was used to collect data. The study reveals a satisfactory level of students’ performance during the training. Teamwork skill and critical thinking were ranked as needing the most improvement by students. In conclusion, the findings illustrate that the employers agreed that industrial training program is one of the vital contributors to the employability skills. As an implication, universities need to equip students not just with intellectual capabilities but also applied practical soft skills which make them more “work ready”.