Needs of employability skill characteristics based on employers' perception

The purposes of this study were to investigate employers' perception on employability skills of undergraduate students in three areas: Personal Qualities; Core Skills; and Subject Knowledge; and to study supplemental opinions and suggestions. The population and samples of this research were 40 employers from four industrial sectors: Information Technology sector, Business sector, Engineering sector and Service sector. The instrument used in this study was rating-scale and open- ended questionnaire. The statistical values were the frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and content analysis. The findings suggested that the needs of employability skill characteristics based on employers' perception was at a high level. The highest needs was at Subject Knowledge, followed by Core Skills, and Personal Qualities. The suggestions were the enhancement of Work-based learning opportunities in the curriculum, the courses articulated with the needs of industrial sectors and a strong partnership with different organizations, and other personal qualities such as responsibility, self-confidence, self-control, social skill, good work attitude, well-groomed, self- motivated and self-management.