International Science and Technology Journal

It’s been widely reported in the literature that new software engineering graduates are facing difficulties in transitioning from the educational environment to the work environment. The difficulties are mostly attributed to the lack of the required skills for entering the labor market. It’s also believed that software engineering students are not aware of these required skills during their educational period. To this reason, this research aims to review the related literature and uncover the necessary skills that employers desire when hiring new software engineering graduates. The research used a qualitative methodology to address the research objectives. The reviewed literature categorized skills to technical skills and non-technical skills. The findings show that employers desire software engineering professional practice and non-technical skills in general. They also give importance to certain activities and skills especially requirements engineering, design and testing. Specific areas of SE such as configuration management, SE models and methods as well as SE process need more attention by educational institutions, as well as, the importance of real-world examples in SE courses.