Improving the fit between higher learning institutions and employers: Fuzzy set multifactorial evaluation

During recent years, the issue of unemployed graduates has received serious debates and attentions amongst government agencies and employers. The debates focus on the claim that these unemployed students are lacking in certain aspects of working skills, which deemed to be important to most employers when evaluating candidates applying for jobs. This paper attempts to address two key research questions. First, how do potential employers rate the relative importance of working skills that student should possess? Second, what is the level of quality of skills that the present student possesses? This paper also try to use a new alternative approach which call Fuzzy Sets Multifactorial Evaluation (FSME). The results show that five components could be required by students to operate effectively in working environment, Personal Skills, Personal Attributes, Leadership Skill, Technical Skills and Management Skills. The findings could provide important inputs for the management of higher learning institution in terms of ascertaining areas of improvement in their curricular with the aim at helping graduates to be more competitive in the job market