The Importance of Soft Skills for Employability and Career Development: Students and Employers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Soft skills are important for seeking jobs as well as for a productive, successful and fulfilling career. The main objective of this study was to investigate students’ perceptions of the importance of soft skills and their satisfaction with the level of skills possessed by them. In addition, the study also explored employers’ expectations and satisfaction with the level of soft skills possessed by fresh graduates. Two questionnaires were used to collect data from students and employers. For the students’ survey, 132 graduate students from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore participated in this study. In addition, 16 employers from different industries participated in the employers’ survey. It was found that the students were well-aware of the importance of soft skills in their employability and career development. Soft skills considered important by them were positive attitude, oral communication, self-motivation and self-direction, and problem solving. On the other hand, the employers expected fresh graduates to possess skills related to positive attitude, teamwork, good ethics, and problem solving. However, the employers felt that fresh graduates usually possess less than satisfactory soft skills. The study suggests an integrated approach for teaching soft skills to students, where these skills should be embedded in the curriculum.