The importance of acquiring critical skills for securing employment was emphasised at the event titled “An Evaluation on Employability Skills through Internship Programmes among China’s Undergraduate Students”, held on 30 July 2024 at UTAR Kampar Campus and via Zoom. Organised by the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) and the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT), the event featured Mr Lin Bing, an academic from Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College, China, who is currently a visiting scholar at FBF.

Mr Lin provided insights into the current situations faced by China’s undergraduates. He elaborated on the disciplines of Economics and Management as business majors within the Chinese context, revealing that graduates majoring in Business Administration, Accounting, Human Resources, Marketing and E-commerce are particularly valued by employers. He also pointed out that graduates with rich internship and social practice experiences have a higher success rate in securing job offers.

Highlighting the effectiveness of internships for employability, Mr Lin explained that internships improve graduates’ employability skills and competitiveness in the job market, form positive attitudes toward career development and work expectations, and prepare graduates for future employment. He also said that internships have a direct impact on developing entrepreneurship and teamwork skills. Furthermore, he highlighted the indirect impacts of internships, where employer engagement plays a crucial mediating role in enhancing self-management, communication, and problem-solving skills, demonstrating a positive relationship between employer engagement and internships.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Lin Bing recommended that higher educational institutions strengthen their collaboration with industry partners to enhance their curriculum syllabus. He also encouraged participants to view internships as an opportunity to improve their employability skills, thereby increasing their chances of securing employment.

The talk, which provided participants with valuable insights into practical skills that enhance employability and an understanding of how internship experiences shape career readiness, concluded with an interactive Q&A session.