A phenomenological study on career preparedness of final year students in post-pandemic

One of the major challenges university students often face before graduating is preparing to transition into the workforce, a task made even more demanding after the Covid-19 pandemic.This phenomenological study explores how final-year students describe their career preparedness experiences in the post-pandemic era. In-depth interviews were conducted with four final-year students at a Malaysian public university. They were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed five themes related to the students’ career preparedness experiences: expectations and realities, exposure to real work settings, promoting positive outcomes via preparation, development of professional identity, and acquisition of critical skills. The study recommends collaboration with selected secondary schools in exposing students to various client issues before practicum and internship training to further develop their counselling competencies and increase their career preparedness level.