Enhancing employability through industrial training in the Malaysian context Stefanie Pillai • Mahmud H. Khan • Ida Syahirah Ibrahim • Sharmane Raphael Published online: 24 March 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract This study discusses the industrial training programme at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, specifically the issues that need to be addressed in order to enhance the employability skills of graduates. Findings from the feedback obtained from trainees and organizations in the 2008/2009 academic session were examined in terms of the extent to which trainees felt they were prepared for their training, and the extent to which the tasks given to them during their training were appropriate. Further, trainees’ self-rating of particular skills and industry’s rating of the trainees were also examined. The feedback is discussed in the context of the need to equip graduates with employability skills, an issue facing Higher Education Providers worldwide. The findings indicate that most of the students were prepared to face the world of work. However, there were several issues which needed attention. These included the need to address the possible mismatch between the tasks assigned to trainees and their areas of study, and the need to enhance English language competency and particular soft skills throughout their degree programme. Con- tinuous input from industry is also necessary to ensure that the training benefits all parties and contributes to the employability skills of trainees. Keywords Industrial training Á On-the-job training Á Employability Á Higher education providers Á University of Malaya Á Malaysia Introduction One of the key changes that higher education providers (HEPs) around the world have had to make is to sensitize themselves to the needs of employers in order to maintain a better fit between the graduates they produce and industry requirements (Valo 2000). As pointed out by Ryan et al. (1996, p. 375), there is increasing ‘‘pressure on higher education institutions to achieve greater integration between campus-based learning and learning in the work- place’’. This pressure has increased over the last few years as the economic slowdown S. Pillai (&) Á M. H. Khan Á I. S. Ibrahim Á S. Raphael University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia e-mail: stefanie@um.edu.my 123 High Educ (2012) 63:187–204 DOI 10.1007/s10734-011-9430-2