The Influence of Self-Efficacy, Soft Skills, and Career Planning on the Work Readiness of Students at KH. A Wahab Hasbullah University, Tambakberas Jombang

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the influence of self-efficacy, soft skills, and career planning on the work readiness of Faculty of Economics students batch 2022 at K.H.A. Wahab Hasbullah University, Tambakberas Jombang. This study used a quantitative approach with a survey method on 81 student respondents selected using a saturated sampling technique. Data was collected through questionnaires that had been tested for validity and reliability, then analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis techniques with the help of SPSS version 26 software. The results showed that partially, self-efficacy had a positive and significant effect on student work readiness, as did career planning which had a positive and significant effect on work readiness. However, soft skills did not partially have a significant effect on work readiness, even though students had soft skills in the good to very good category. This is suspected to be due to a high correlation with other variables, limited practical experience in applying soft skills in a real work environment, and the possibility of a gap between student perceptions and industry standards. Simultaneously, self-efficacy, soft skills, and career planning significantly affected work readiness with a very strong relationship, where self-efficacy contributed the most, followed by career planning and soft skills. This study proves that work readiness is a multidimensional construct that requires a holistic approach in its development to prepare students to face the challenges of the world of work.