Abstract—The crucial problem in implementing Vocational Education on diplomas in Indonesia is the relevance of competence to industry needs, work culture, and sustainable career development. The industrial internship is one of the programs and subjects organized by Vocational Education to unravel the available chain of problems. However, the fact is that the implementation of industrial internships has not positively impacted students. This study explores industry and education practitioners' perceptions regarding applying work-based learning through an industrial internship for Vocational Education Diploma (VED). Fourteen expert practitioners were involved in data collection through semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically using NVivo 12. The findings in this study were grouped into two clusters or themes, namely the role of diploma education and the skills needed by students during internships in the automotive industry. The education sector must understand the mindset, internship orientation, program planning, career path orientation in industry, and mastery of case study competencies. Internship students must master the skills of observing, increasing efficiency, productivity, service functions and access to technology, and optimizing interactions with supervisors. The success of WBL-II is in the mutual interest of stakeholders and is integrated with the higher education curriculum. This study is an input for the professional implementation of WBL-II in the future. Index Terms—Industrial internship, vocational education diploma, link and match, work-based learning. I. INTRODUCTION Work-based learning (WBL) has become a severe discussion in various countries providing Vocational Education in the last decade, [1]–[3]. One of them is Vocational Education in Indonesia, held at the secondary, diploma, and undergraduate levels (educational and non-educational). The difference is the competence achieved according to the profile of the graduate. WBL is implemented in the industry according to the field [4]. The main goal is to gain work experience and form a network with the industry according to the field [5], [6]. So that post-study students Manuscript received March 8, 2021; revised April 19, 2022. Sutiman Sutiman, Herminarto Sofyan, and Zainal Arifin are with the Department of Automotive Engineering, Yogyakarta State University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (e-mail: sutiman@uny.ac.id, hermin@uny.ac.id, zainal_arifin@uny.ac.id). Muhammad Nurtanto is with the Department of Mechanical Engineering Education, Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa, Banten, Indonesia (e-mail: mnurtanto23@untirta.ac.id). Farid Mutohhari is with the Department of Graduate School, Yogyakarta State University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (e-mail: faridmutohhari.2020@student.uny.ac.id). have insight, knowledge, skills, and industrial culture, [7]–[11]. In this study, the term Industrial Internship is used because the program is implemented during the study period and is formal in Vocational Education Diploma (VED). Meanwhile, mutually beneficial cooperation will result if industrial internships are appropriately implemented. However, until now, the implementation of the industrial internship program has found many important problems, namely industrial internship participants, organizing agencies, and industry as partners [6], [12]. These problems include students' readiness for insight, culture, and basic knowledge about completing the work [12]–[15]. This condition impacts passive activities, and the industry cannot do much because the value of losses is high if damage occurs outside of planning [16]. Organizing agencies have limited collaboration with industry parties relevant to the field [17], [18]. As a result, students look for industry independently, even outside the industry standards that should be. In industry, they are not directly involved in learning activities to provide fundamental insight into what to do during industry internships. Considering the problems above and the absence of an effective industrial internship system implemented and adopted by Vocational Education in diplomas. The experience of the industry and the readiness of the organizing institution can strengthen complex industrial internships and unravel existing losses. Thus, the industry's perception regarding the implementation of WBL with an industrial internship pattern is important to explore and reveal how to prepare effective students. Finally, industry practitioners and education practitioners in the automotive sector uncovered the phenomena in industry internship providers. Industry internship programs that are well managed and synergize between Vocational Education, students, and industry will produce quality human resources in the future [19]. In addition, simplifying and summarizing financing because the prospective workers needed by the industry already have the competencies obtained during industrial internships [20]. Moreover, the technology used in the industry is more up to date than the university, and this is an excellent opportunity for the university to keep up with the latest developments. This qualitative study aims to explore the experience of industry practitioners from WBL activities to improve more effective industrial internships. Perspectives from Vocational Education practitioners are involved in discussing findings in the field and integrating them into Vocational Education activities. The study results are in policy recommendations for higher education authorities to carry out professional industrial internships. Industry and Education Practitioners’ Perceptions Regarding the Implementation of Work-Based Learning through Industrial Internship (WBL-II) Sutiman Sutiman, Herminarto Sofyan, Zainal Arifin, Muhammad Nurtanto, and Farid Mutohhari International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 12, No. 10, October 2022 1090 doi: 10.18178/ijiet.2022.12.10.1725