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stated that internships offer other additional benefits. For the academic, collaboration, communication and recruitment of more worksites were the additional benefits for them. The employers viewed internships as opportunities for identifying and grooming their future potential employees; there would be a pool of known graduates from which to draw their future employees. Students see the additional benefit of an internship as providing them with workplace experience that is needed when applying for jobs in the respective fields. Hence the purpose of internships includes core learning and secondary benefits that are linked to the stakeholders’ personal or sectoral needs.
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we deliver the course to the students, and they built up those students the opportunity to work.
They helped in the curriculum map and offered placement for students.”
From this quote, there seems to be a collaboration between academics and employers in designing the learning programme identifying what they need of a learning programme that will develop the knowledge and skills expected of a graduate for the world of work.
However, Academic ICT 4:
“The work environment is always dynamic, employers have high expectations, and we cannot change our curriculum as employers. We teach how it would apply to ICT as a whole. We work according to our curriculum. We will train students during the internship.”
This suggests that it is not always possible to meet industries' needs or aspirations. This academic believes that there is a curriculum that must be followed. Programmes often limit employability skills and knowledge to the curriculum scope, meaning that there are other spaces for learning to prepare graduates for the world of work.
Hotel Academic 5:
“There is an alignment, but what is more important for employers the difference we can make at the workplace. At university, we cannot create a proper working environment. We are more concerned with the concepts, the academic aspect of the occupation because in hotels they are practising the genuine thing there. So, there is an alignment for the content we deliver at the university, which is the basic and limited competences. We do not deny that, but the most crucial part is what you can learn at the workplace and how you can practice it.”
There is a recognition, from this quote, that university education focuses on generic learning conceptual. Such still needs to be internalised and implemented through practise within a worksite.
On probing further, academics argued that, for example, in finance, they “could not teach all the different prospects of dissimilar companies in diverse circumstances.” which supports the notion I focus university education on generic learning for the respective world of work. We, therefore, need more refined learning is therefore for employees to fit into a practical work environment.
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Employers have denounced that recent graduates lack employability skills when entering the world of work after graduation. Because of their diverse and useful work operations, employers have a mixed judgment of the competences they need. However, most of them consider
employability as the competences of soft skills that graduates learn and implement in an employment situation during their internship.
Hotel Employer 6:
“Employability is the competences of soft skills that graduates learn and implement in a company during their internship. It includes communication skills, problem-solving and other soft skills…
what we can give to the intern are the employability skills required for our enterprise... The graduates learn techniques and skills that will allow them to get a job.”
From this cite, employers focus on the employability skills of fresh graduates. They can train graduates with the skills that their organisation requires during interns’ internship. Still, they need to internalise and carry out these employability skills through practice within an enterprise.
On probing further, employers explained that they improve fresh graduates by providing them with practical suggestions and career development programme.
Finance Employer 1:
“We develop and train them for the eight-employability skill - communication, teamwork, problem-solving, self-management, planning and organizing, technology (ICT), lifelong learning, and initiative and enterprise skills.”
This advocates that graduates cannot meet industries needs at the university level where the programmes often lessen the employability skills. Thus, employers cooperate to develop recent graduates to get a job.
Fresh graduates agreed that it is during their internship in the company they learn employability skills.
ICT Graduate 3:
“Learning and gaining the eight preferred employability skills allow me to be in a stronger stand when competing for a job in a company. I have entered the internship programme to improve for
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this training. Also, I have a higher opportunity to get work experience and to have a post in a firm”
From this quote, a fresh graduate expressed his eagerness to undergo an internship and support that it is through an internship that he gained the precise training in employability skills. It assures him that getting these employability skills would place him in a favourable position to get a job.
Academics and employers organise internship for graduates to allow them to gain experience in employability skills. However, in some fields of study, an internship is mandatory in the curriculum and graduates scored credit when they take part.
Finance Graduate 1:
“It is imperative for the program I undertake this internship because it brings a reach of 3 credits and without that internship programme, I should not have got my degree.”
From this quote, it shows that in some fields, for example, in the finance sector, it is a prerequisite for fresh graduates to undertake an internship as part of their training programme as spelt out in the curriculum. They debar graduates who do not have experiences in employability skills in this from a degree.
Graduates understand that it would not be achievable for a university to prepare students for a specialised job in a specific field.
Hotel Graduate 1:
“We figure out that a university cannot equip students for a specific job in a specific field as claimed by employers. I notice that students on graduation, possess the academic knowledge in their field of study and that they could not gain a job. We need experienced and the soft skills that employers need; we have never been learning in a suitable workplace environment”
Graduates recognised that they were not exposed to a convenient work environment when they studied at university. I consider the employability skills introduced at the university level as broad and do not cope with the working model in an organisation. Thus, the demand for recent graduates to go through an internship by graduation. They accept that employers have high expectations from graduates.
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