Assessing the Gap of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSA) of University Students towards Workplace Skills and Competences

Employers often express concerns about the inadequacy of career planning and employability skills of the new graduate entrants into the job market. Therefore, there is a pressing need to close the gaps in knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) between employers and young job-seekers. In this study, a survey has been conducted to identify the top 3 most desired graduate attributes of both degree and sub-degree recent graduates in a Hong Kong university. The finding reveals that respondents tend to overweight the importance of interpersonal skills while overlooking presentation skills as the essential work-based skills, when we compared the data with employers’ expectations. Moreover, respondents with sub-degree qualification tend to value non-KSA factors such as job experience, appearance, and educational background as desirable employability attributes, whereas employers deem KSA attributes more valuable. This study provides valuable insights into the urgency of filling the gaps of desired competencies as perceived by employers and young job-seekers.