The Nigerian employment market, places priority in employing graduates who possess the necessary skills that would enhance productivity in line with global practices and standards. These skills are referred to as soft, non-technical or generic skills. This paper is an attempt to identify and list those generic skills elements required by the Automotive Industry in Nigeria for the employment of automotive graduates from the Federal Polytechnics in the country. To achieve this aim, two objectives were set for the study. The data was gathered and analyzed using qualitative data techniques. The findings of the study revealed that the generic skills required by the automotive industry include communication skills, ethics and professionalism, adaptability, and teamwork skills amongst others. Recommendations suggested includes strengthening the synergy between school and industry as well as a review of the TVET curriculum to incorporate the generic skills into the automotive technology program of Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria.

Topics
Academic degree, Curriculum, Schools, Careers and professions, Industry, Review
1.
R.
 
Palmer
., “
Skills development, employment and sustained growth in Ghana: Sustainability challenges
,”
International Journal of Educational Development
,
29
(
2
), pp.
133
–
139
. 2009.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2008.09.007
Crossref
Search ADS
 
2.
Paryono
, “
The importance of TVET and its contribution to sustainable development
,”
AIP Conference Proceedings
,
1887
.
2017
.
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5003559
Google Scholar
 
3.
National Policy on Education
,
Federal Republic of Nigeria National Policy on Education
 
2013
(p.
56
). p. 56, 2013.
4.
K.
 
Asaju
,
S.
 
Arome
 and
S. F.
 
Anyio
, “
The rising rate of unemployment in Nigeria: The socio-economic and political implications
,”
Global Business and Economic Research Journal
,
3
(
2
), pp.
12
–
32
,
2014
.
Google Scholar
 
5.
A.
 
Nkechi
,
E. E.
 
Ikechukwu
 and
U. Finian
 
Okechukwu
, “
Entrepreneurship development and employment generation in Nigeria: Problems and prospects
,”
Universal Journal of Education and General Studies
,
1
(
4
),
88
–
102
.
2012
.
https://doi.org/10.3152/030234208X389701
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
6.
National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) Report, Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia Report
, June
2017
.
7.
M. Y.
 
Hussain
,
S. B.
 
Mokhtar
,
A. A.
 
Ahmad
 and
R.
 
Mustapha
, “
Importance of employability skills from employers’ perspective
.”
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences
,
7
(
2
), pp.
430
–
438
,
2010
.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.10.059
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
8.
A.
 
Idris
 and
M. R.
 
Rajuddin
, “
An assessment of employability skills among technical and vocational education students in Nigeria
,”
Archives Des Sciences
,
65
(
7
), pp.
392
–
400
.
2012
.
Google Scholar
 
9.
S.
 
Ismail
 and
D. S.
 
Mohammed
, “
Employability skills in TVET curriculum in Nigeria Federal Universities of Technology
.”
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
,
204
, November
2014
, pp.
73
–
80
, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.08.111
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
10.
J.
 
Young
 and
E.
 
Chapman
, “Generic competency frameworks: A brief historical overview.”
Education Research and Perspectives
,
37
(
1
), pp.
1
–
24
,
2010
.
11.
D.
 
Murdoch-Eaton
 and
S.
 
Whittle
, “
Lifelong quality improvement Generic skills in medical education: developing the tools for successful lifelong learning
.” pp.
120
–
128
,
2012
.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.04065.x
Google Scholar
 
12.
B.
 
El Mansour
 and
J. C.
 
Dean
,
Employability Skills as Perceived by Employers and University Faculty in the Fields of Human Resource Development (HRD ) for Entry Level Graduate Jobs
.
Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies
,
04
(
01
), pp.
39
–
49
,
2016
.
https://doi.org/10.4236/jhrss.2016.41005
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
13.
I. A. G.
 
Azmi
 and
R. C.
 
Hashim
 and
Y. M.
 
Yusoff
, “
The employability skills of Malaysian University Students
.”
International Journal of Modern Trends in Social Sciences
,
1
(
3
), pp.
1
–
14
,
2018
.
Google Scholar
 
14.
S. W.
 
Chan
,
M. F.
 
Ahmad
,
I.
 
Zaman
 and
W. S.
 
Ko
,
Employers’ perception on important employability skills in the manufacturing industry
. January
2018
.
https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i2.29.13311
Google Scholar
 
15.
S.
 
Ismail
 and
D. S.
 
Mohammed
, “
Employability skills in TVET curriculum in Nigeria Federal Universities of Technology
,”
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
,
204
, November
2014
.
73
–
80
, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.08.111
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
16.
D. O. J. K.
 
Ogundele
,
W. A.
 
Akingbade
 and
H. B.
 
Akinlab
, “
Entreprenuership training and education as strategictools for poverty alleviation in Nigeria
,”
American International Journal of Contemporary Research
,
2
(
1
),
2012
.
Google Scholar
 
17.
M.
 
Harper
 and
P.
 
Cole
,
Member Checking: Can Benefits Be Gained Similar to Group
 
Therapy? Qualitative Report
,
17
(
2
), pp.
510
–
517
,
2012
.
Google Scholar
 
18.
M. K.
 
Okoro
 and
I. A.
 
Ibiam
, “
Polytechnic education and human resources development in Nigeria : challenges and academic discourse
.
An International Journal
, pp.
1
–
9
,
2015
.
Google Scholar
 
19.
A. M
,
Idris
,
T. M
 
Saba
 and
A.
 
Mustapha
, “
The employability competences needed by automobile electrical system technicians in Niger state Nigeria
.”
Review of Education
,
25
(
1
), pp.
28
–
39
,
2014
.
Google Scholar
 
20.
N.
 
Rahmat
,
A. R.
 
Ayub
 and
Y.
 
Buntat
, “
Employability skills constructs as job performance predictors for Malaysian Polytechnic graduates: A qualitative study
.”
Malaysian Journal of Society and Space
,
12
(
3
), pp.
154
–
167
,
2016
.
Google Scholar
 
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2022 Author(s).
2022
Author(s)
You do not currently have access to this content.