Graduate competencies and employability: The impact of matching firms’ needs and personal attainments

Professional competencies are a key factor in gauging how employable a graduate is. This paper demonstrates that individuals who have best developed the competencies which firms feel to be most important are more likely to be in a position to obtain a job. To this end, we have developed an indicator that measures the proximity between the relative levels of both importance and attainments. Results confirm the feeling among experts that the most relevant competencies in the labour market are predominantly of the systemic type, i.e. transferable personal competencies, to the detriment of more instrumental competencies related to capacities and graduate education. This paper clearly points to the fact that universities must change their traditional focus and make a special effort to help their students to develop those competencies that best foster employability.

► There is a mismatch between graduate competencies and those required by employers. ► Proximity between firms’ requirements and graduates’ achievements affects employability. ► Systemic competencies have a significant effect on employment.