Piloting an Islamic Employability Skills Framework for At-Tamayyuz Internship Programme

In an era dynamically changed by shifting demands on the job market, skills acquisition is increasingly vital in competing with other candidates within the job pool. Higher education continues to supply graduates yearly with macro credentials. However, what skills do they gain along the way? This study aims to pilot a new employability skills framework integrating four capital components that are timely to meet the needs of future of work. These include human, social, psychological as well as spiritual capital. The latter capital components play a role in equipping graduates with ethical skills that supplant the increasing use of artificial intelligence across all industry sectors. The pilot study uses SPSS to test the reliability of items to be tested for further study which comprise of previous cohorts that have undertaken the At-Tamayyuz internship programme. A sample of 82 students that had completed the programme were included within the sample. The results show that the At-Tamayyuz Internship Programme plays a significant role in enhancing students’ employability skills, particularly in professional etiquette, lifelong learning, management, communication, ethical awareness, and self-development. The reliability analysis shows the employability skills instrument for the At-Tamayyuz Internship Programme has excellent psychometric quality. The high Cronbach’s Alpha (0.984) confirms it reliably measures students’ skill development. Strong item-total correlations and stable alpha values validate the questionnaire items. These findings show the programme effectively develops holistic employability skills, preparing students for workplace readiness by fostering professional competence, adaptability, ethical awareness, communication effectiveness, and self-development aligned with employment expectations.

Employability skills, SPSS, Pilot Study

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