Soft skills and music graduate employability: between curriculum and the world of work / Assoc Prof Dr Ghaziah Mohd Ghazali.

In line with many other countries, in Malaysia the growing demand for more employable graduates from institutions of higher learning (IHL) has prompted the development of a blueprint for graduate employability (Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, 2012). The blueprint, which outlines desired graduate attributes for the year 2012 - 2017, hopes to inspire all IHLs to emphasise for each field and profession both the 'hard' or professional skills and the 'soft' or generic skills. Music programs at colleges and universities in Malaysia are not excluded from this blueprint; indeed, as the world of work in music is highly challenging and competitive there is increasing recognition that more effort is needed in order to prepare music graduates for careers in music. As a result, programs are under pressure to become more relevant to the conditions and characteristics of the music industry and to develop aware, marketable and employable music graduates. This study reports on an in-depth study with eight Malaysian music professionals, all higher education music graduates, who reported in detail on their process of transition from university to work. Their journeys towards and within the world of music work is shared with the aim of emphasizing the attributes necessary for music graduates to acquire and sustain work. Participants indicated that the development of both hard and soft skills is equally important to sustaining work in music.