Agroeconomia Croatica, Vol. 14 No. 1, 2024.
Prethodno priopćenje
The Importance of Soft Skills and Possibilities of their Improvement for Future Agricultural Professionals – Perception and Attitudes of Students and Employers
Marina Vidović Krušić
; Veleučilište u Križevcima, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Hrvatska
Sandra Kantar
; Veleučilište u Križevcima, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Hrvatska
Kristina Svržnjak
; Veleučilište u Križevcima, Milislava Demerca 1, 48260 Križevci, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The aim of this research was to examine the perception and attitudes of students of the Križevci University of Applied Sciences—who are studying for the occupations in agriculture—and compare them with the perception and attitudes of employers—who have employed the University graduates in recent years—about the skills necessary for a better employability and competitiveness on the labor market. The research results demonstrated that the students have already acquired work experience during their studies and were familiar with the employers’ expectations on the labor market. They considered the soft skills and personality traits to be very important for employability, 89.2% of respondents thought it is important to highlight the soft skills in their CV, and the largest number of them would mention teamwork, communication, flexibility/adaptability, resourcefulness, and creativity. The students manifested a developed awareness of how each individual was responsible for the development of their own skills, but they also saw the greatest opportunity for the improvement of skills within the framework of formal education. The employers also considered the soft skills very important for future employees, and they rated communication, teamwork, organizational skills, mediation/negotiation skills, and planning skills as very important. What is more, 62.5% of the surveyed employers believed that employees needed additional training for the tasks they performed. Although a professional knowledge acquired throughout the studies is important for employability and success on the labor market, the ways of their application, the ability to adapt to the rapid changes, and the ability to relieve stress are becoming the increasingly important factors for the employers and their future employees. Higher educational institutions have an opportunity to help the students develop the soft skills within the existent courses or have an opportunity to introduce the new ones, as well as to organize the informal forms of learning such as the workshops, courses, or lectures delivered by the visiting experts. An important role can also be played by libraries, which are the ideal places for informal learning.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
319679
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.7.2024.
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