Page | 35 THE COUNTRYSIDE DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH JOURNAL Vol. 8 Issue 1 | 2020 An official peer-reviewed journal published by SAMAR STATE UNIVERSITY 35 I. INTRODUCTION The goal of every country’s education is to prepare students to be equipped with the 21 st century skills they need to be able to make informed decisions, solve problems, compete globally and succeed in the evolving society. However, to realize this goal requires an all- inclusive education program that will in turn produce competent individuals. It is for these thrusts that Philippine education system has to endure a major revamp part of which is the implementation of senior high school with work immersion program (DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2017). To help students keep pace with the changing demands of the society requires them to upskill, reskill and master relevant hard and soft skills. Schools play a significant role in developing these skills among students. The gaps between traditional education practices and the needs of fast-paced economy and society could be addressed by preparing students for lifelong learning (Bourn, 2001). Work immersion program is the Philippine education’s response to the need of improving the country’s education system to fully prepare high school graduates with the 21 st century skills needed for the demand of the ever- changing society and global competition. It is envisioned that through work immersion, essential soft and hard skills will be developed and enhanced in the students before they leave the school and be able to use the skills as they transition to a career or higher education after high school (DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2017) In the school level, students are expected to acquire the relevant soft and hard skills that they can utilize on their future careers either in employment or higher education. Every classroom scenario is expected to involve students in activities that will develop various skills; hence, teachers need to create diverse learning opportunities that equally expose students to different experiences for them to develop holistically. Since the main goal of education is to mold students and train them to become ready in their future career, it is therefore relevant to focus on how to achieve this goal. Therefore, it is vital for educators and schools to collaborate with the stakeholders such as the public and private work places to lay down their lists of expectations among the graduates. In this way, teachers could create learning experiences aligned to the skills highly valued by these Soft and Hard Skills Perceived Relevant by the Work Immersion Partner Institutions in the Countryside Vanesa B. Montes 1 , & Jennifer D. Paño 2 1 Carmen National High School, Carmen, Cebu, Philippines 2 College of Teacher Education, Cebu Normal University, Cebu City, Philippines 1 vanesa.montes001@deped.gov.ph Article Information History: Received: 15DEC20 Final Revision: 24FEB21 Accepted: 03MAR21 Keywords: Employability Hard skills Partner institutions Soft skills Work immersion Abstract: This descriptive research investigated the work-related skills required by public and private work immersion partner institutions among STEM senior high school students using qualitative and quantitative survey method design. It intended to develop a list of relevant soft and hard skills viewed significant by each institution to be found among students who will immerse in both public and private work place. It was conducted among the STEM work immersion partner institutions of a public secondary school. Checklist and standardized questionnaires on soft and hard skills were used in the study. Based on the findings both public and private institutions required various soft and hard skills to be found among immersion students and use these skills as bases for rating students as career ready or not. The soft skills required by the institutions include communication, teamwork, initiative/ proactivity, professionalism, and dependability/ reliability skills. Moreover, hard skills were also viewed equally relevant such as mathematics and numeracy, and ICT skills. Hence, it is vital for students to be trained by these skills in the school level so as to open wide opportunities for them to become employable right after senior high school or become productive even in higher education and in curriculum exit they would choose.