The Relationship Between Labour Market Core Skills Requirements And University Graduate Soft Skills Competence
[A CASE STUDY OF NORTH-WEST, NIGERIA]

Studies on the skills needed from new grad¬uates have shown that employers seek generic skills that can be applied in a variety of jobs or industries, rather than skills that are job-specific. Thus, employers seek generic skills from graduates and the most recent research results have shown that the most important generic skills for employers are communication skills (Ngoo, Tiong & Pok, 2015; McMurray, Dutton, McQuaid & Richard, 2016); team-work skills (Adebakin, Ajadi & Subair, 2015; McMurray et al. 2016); cog¬nitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills (Collet, Hine, du Plessis, 2015); critical thinking and problem solving skills (Ngoo et al. 2015); information and communication technology, de¬cision-making, analytic and problem-solving skills (Ade-bakin et al. 2015); and interpersonal and adaptability skills (McMurray et al. 2016).    
    A number of researchers, Dabalen, Oni and Adekola (2000), David (2002); Akerele (2004) and National University Commission (2004), have revealed that apart from the qualifications that graduates possess, there are other attributes (non-academic skill requirements) which employers of labour emphasised. According to them, these attributes include analytical skills, good communication skills, good personal and social skills, technical and managerial skills among others. Boeteng and Ofori-Sarpong (2002), therefore in relating these attributes to experience, stressed that experience requirements are stated in terms of competencies and skills rather than years.  Employers of labour force are not only interested in those having higher education but also practical skills appropriate for job fulfillment (Abiodun, 2010).
Ismail and Mohammad (2015) outlined the combinations of core, soft and personal attributes of Electrical Technology Education (ETE) graduates in table 3 thus:
Table 3: ETE Curriculum Structure