Survey of Employability Skills Possessed by Undergraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria

Graduate unemployment has been a continual challenge in Nigerian society due to graduates’ inability to meet up with the current expectations of the labour market. These worries have been given serious attention in the present labour market. The employers, school authorities and policymakers continue to emphasize the importance of ‘employability skills’ in order for graduates to be fully equipped in meeting the challenges of an increasingly flexible labour market as these skills are rarely taught in the school. This study surveyed the employability skills possessed by undergraduates in Kwara state, Nigeria while the target population was undergraduates at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the level of employability skills, the perceived factors influencing the employability of undergraduates, the extent of self-development skills and job searching techniques as well as the interview skills possessed by undergraduates. Descriptive research based on survey design was employed. A sample of 353 students were drawn from a population of 4,362 students who participated as respondents. The Survey of Employability Skills of Undergraduates Questionnaire (SESUQ) was used as an instrument for data collection and the instrument's reliability coefficient of 0.82, 0.84, 0.86 and 0.76 were obtained via Cronbach Alpha. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were employed for analysis. The results obtained signify that the employability level of undergraduates at the University of Ilorin was at an average level. Among others, a recommendation was made that the University management should, as a matter of urgency, create a graduate employability programme that includes such employability techniques as interview skills, job searching skills, entrepreneurial skills and self-development skills.

AI-Enabled E-Recruitment Services Make Job Searching, Application Submission, and Employee Selection More Interactive

Personnel recruitment and selection is changing rapidly with the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. This chapter looks at how job applicants perceive AI in recruitment. The results show that AI tools encourage a larger number of quality application submissions and for two reasons. First, AI entrains a perception of a novel approach to job searching. Second, AI is perceived to be able to interactively tailor the application experience to what the individual applicant expects and has to offer. These perceptions increase the likelihood the user will submit a job application and so improves the size and quality of the pool from which to recruit personnel.

A Study on Analysis of Satisfaction for Engineering Convergence Subject

Our world is quickly moving towards the fourth industrial revolution including mobile, big data, AI, IoT, cloud computing, VR, etc. Recently, South Korea has been emphasizing convergence education to university. Thus, university has begun doing convergence education on their own by linking major subjects and liberal arts courses or linking different departments. In this paper, we analyzed learners’ satisfaction for operating convergence education effectively to increase education satisfaction and developed convergence curriculum and convergence skills required by society. for this study, a satisfaction survey is conducted for students majoring in engineering colleges. And the students’ experiences are collected through interviews and questionnaires for suggesting improved the convergence curriculum operation. We also did interviews and asked students about the meaning convergence education had for them, the impressions they had after taking the classes, and any opinions for further improvements. As a result of the analysis of student's satisfaction and satisfaction of convergence curriculum, it was analyzed as “approximately satisfied” with 3.6. Additionally, the correlation between student satisfaction and convergence curriculum satisfaction was analyzed, and the correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation with 0.732. In other words, it can be seen that students with high-student satisfaction are also highly satisfied with the convergence curriculum. Based on the result of the research and the student’s opinions, we would like to suggest that there should be subject development that is connected to careers or job searching for senior students, and additional research of practical educational methods are also needed.

Nine Mechanisms of Job-Searching and Job-Finding Through Contacts Among Young Adults

Since Granovetter’s seminal works, the influence of personal networks on the labour market has attracted widespread attention. This article analyses the role played by contacts in the context of the labour trajectories of young people in Spain, for whom the use of personal networks represents one of the most important job-searching methods. Using narrative data extracted from a life-history grid and ego-network generator, the analysis brings to light nine mechanisms in which personal contacts intervene in job-searching and job-finding in a sample of 90 young people living in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The article emphasizes that contacts play primarily three roles in these processes as informers, employers, or influencers. This distinction offers a renewed framework for the study of networks in the labour market, further complementing the debate on the strength of ties. Using this framework allows me to create a map of the mechanisms that shed light on personal networks as tools with which to deal with labour insecurity and unemployment among young people, thus providing resources that to a large extent reaffirm the objective character of class differences. The article offers innovative insights into how social capital operates in the labour market and helps understand how youth precarity, which is widespread in Spain, is experienced in a relational way.

Metaphoric Associative Cards – Tool for Career Counselling with Long-Term Unemployed

Topicality of the research is that a significant part of unemployed stay unemployed for a very long time even when the economic situation allows to get employed. This part of society abuses the social security system, misuse the State Employment Agency services. Typically, they are seen by society as less educated, less capable than other groups and they need special assistance in job searching process. The aim of the pilot study was to explore how more creative and skill-oriented methods can be used in career counselling with long-term unemployed. The methodology includes following steps: small group of long-term unemployed (8 women) were asked to reflect on their unemployment and answer 4 questions developed by the author. Questions are covering their opinions on reasons of being unemployed, what kind of a result they want to achieve, what resources they can use and how they are going to feel in case they become employed. Results shows that most participants of the group consider that they can’t find a job because of external obstacles. They mention the State Employment Agency and relatives (families) as resources to use. All respondents were confused answering question about their feelings and cannot name any feeling they might feel getting a job. The results and process of the session show that long-term unemployed have difficulties with soft skills and emotional intelligence.

Unemployment Experts: Governing the Job Search in the New Economy

In recent years, sociologists have examined unemployment and job searching as important arenas in which workers are socialized to accept the terms of an increasingly precarious economy. While noting the importance of expert knowledge in manufacturing the consent of workers, research has largely overlooked the experts themselves that produce such knowledge. Who are these experts and what kinds of advice do they give? Drawing on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork conducted at three job search clubs, the author develops a three-fold typology of “unemployment experts”: Job Coaches present a technical diagnosis that centers mastery of job-hunting techniques; Self-help Gurus present a moral diagnosis focused on the job seeker’s attitude; and Skill-certifiers present a human capital diagnosis revolving around the job seeker’s productive capacities. By offering alternative diagnoses and remedies for unemployment, these experts give job seekers a sense of choice in interpreting their situation and acting in the labor market. However, the multiple discourses ultimately help to secure consent to precarious labor markets by drawing attention to a range of individual deficiencies within workers while obfuscating structural and relational explanations of unemployment. The author also finds that many unemployment experts themselves faced dislocations from professional careers and are making creative claims to expertise. By focusing on experts and their varied messages, this paper reveals how the victims of precarious work inadvertently help to legitimate the new employment regime.

The Role of Emotion in Job Search Behavior Among College Students

Korean college students preparing to enter the world of work are going through a long-term process of job searching. During the process, individuals experience various emotions, which can motivate (or demotivate) them to keep going. The present study, grounded in motivational systems theory, examined the roles of emotions in job search behavior. A sample of 116 college students, who were seeking a job for the first time, participated. Using three-wave longitudinal data and multilevel modeling, within- and between-person-level associations were examined. The outcome variables were job search behavior and the number of resumes submitted. The results showed that individuals who experience more positive emotions and negative emotions were more likely to engage in job search behavior at both the within- and between-person levels. However, the number of resumes submitted was not significantly related to positive or negative emotions. The implications of the study were discussed.

Job Seekers’ Self-Directed Learning Activities Explained Through the Lens of Regulatory Focus

This study aimed to understand the role of regulatory focus for influencing self-directed learning activities during a job search. The authors surveyed 185 job-searching university students at two time points to explore the conditions under which regulatory focus (promotion and prevention foci) impacts self-directed learning activities and the number of employment interviews secured. Both promotion and prevention foci showed significant relationships with self-directed learning activities and number of interviews, and positive and negative affect partially mediated these relationships. The relationships between both regulatory focus strategies and self-directed learning were also contingent on self-efficacy. More specifically, prevention focus and self-directed learning showed a positive relationship for job seekers with high levels of self-efficacy but a negative one for job seekers with low levels of self-efficacy. This research extends the understanding of the role of regulatory focus in the context of self-directed learning during a job search. Implications for research and practice are discussed.