THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA

Modernising technology in the construction industry will create a changing demand for Quantity Surveying (QS) skills. As the number of QS graduates keeps increasing each year, competition for employability is high amongst graduates. Both hard skills and soft skills are extensively demanded in the jo...

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Published in:Malaysian Construction Research Journal
Main Author: Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Construction Research Institute of Malaysia 2023
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201189474&partnerID=40&md5=8297d2cf4898052d56e679096d51cf86
id 2-s2.0-85201189474
spelling 2-s2.0-85201189474
Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
2023
Malaysian Construction Research Journal
19
2

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201189474&partnerID=40&md5=8297d2cf4898052d56e679096d51cf86
Modernising technology in the construction industry will create a changing demand for Quantity Surveying (QS) skills. As the number of QS graduates keeps increasing each year, competition for employability is high amongst graduates. Both hard skills and soft skills are extensively demanded in the job industry. However, the job market is leading QS graduates to acquire competitive soft skills such as leadership, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Although soft skill competencies are acknowledged to increase graduates’ employability, the specific expectations of employers towards Quantity Surveying graduates remain unknown. This research aims to bridge this gap by exploring the employer expectations towards soft skills competencies of quantity surveying graduates. This research is carried out to determine the soft skills development in Malaysia, the employer expectation of soft skills amongst QS graduates and the challenges of soft skills amongst QS graduates. A set of questionnaires has been distributed to 132 registered quantity surveyor consultant firms in Selangor. The findings show that the most preferred soft skills are willingness to learn and integrity skills, followed by ethical behaviour and teamwork skills. Thus, the soft skills competency of QS graduates in Malaysia should be reviewed and improved to cater to the construction industry's needs. © 2023, Construction Research Institute of Malaysia. All rights reserved.
Construction Research Institute of Malaysia
19853807
English
Article

author Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
spellingShingle Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
author_facet Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
author_sort Sekak S.N.A.A.; Akbar A.R.N.; Junus Y.M.; Zolkafli U.K.; Sa’ad S.R.M.
title THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
title_short THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
title_full THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
title_fullStr THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
title_full_unstemmed THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
title_sort THE EMPLOYERS’ EXPECTATION TOWARDS SOFT SKILLS COMPETENCIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYING GRADUATES IN MALAYSIA
publishDate 2023
container_title Malaysian Construction Research Journal
container_volume 19
container_issue 2
doi_str_mv
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85201189474&partnerID=40&md5=8297d2cf4898052d56e679096d51cf86
description Modernising technology in the construction industry will create a changing demand for Quantity Surveying (QS) skills. As the number of QS graduates keeps increasing each year, competition for employability is high amongst graduates. Both hard skills and soft skills are extensively demanded in the job industry. However, the job market is leading QS graduates to acquire competitive soft skills such as leadership, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Although soft skill competencies are acknowledged to increase graduates’ employability, the specific expectations of employers towards Quantity Surveying graduates remain unknown. This research aims to bridge this gap by exploring the employer expectations towards soft skills competencies of quantity surveying graduates. This research is carried out to determine the soft skills development in Malaysia, the employer expectation of soft skills amongst QS graduates and the challenges of soft skills amongst QS graduates. A set of questionnaires has been distributed to 132 registered quantity surveyor consultant firms in Selangor. The findings show that the most preferred soft skills are willingness to learn and integrity skills, followed by ethical behaviour and teamwork skills. Thus, the soft skills competency of QS graduates in Malaysia should be reviewed and improved to cater to the construction industry's needs. © 2023, Construction Research Institute of Malaysia. All rights reserved.
publisher Construction Research Institute of Malaysia
issn 19853807
language English
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