Purpose: Firstly, this study diagnosed professional competence amongst Chinese vocational students within a broad range of the manufacturing sectors; then, the authors examined how different types of P-E fit (job, organisation and vocation) and internship quality jointly shape the newly acquired professional competences of interns.…

Purpose: As competition in the graduate labor market intensifies, extracurricular internships have become increasingly popular among university students. This paper explores whether and how students' evaluation of the higher learning that they have received changes during extracurricular internships. Design/methodology/approach: We interviewed 47…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore US students' experience in for-credit, unpaid internships overseas with particular reference to their personal development, how they mobilised their knowledge across contexts, their learning as acquisition and as participation, and what they contributed. Students were thought likely to encounter…

Purpose: This research moves beyond a focus on employability skills and explores student perceptions of preparedness for graduate life in a more holistic manner. Design/methodology/approach: Final-year business students were asked to outline their concerns regarding graduate life and the personal and professional challenges anticipated in their…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore accountancy students' pre-employment decisions as regards pursuing a career after completing an internship. The paper aims to analyse the mediating effect of aspects of students' training experience in firms as direct/indirect factors which influence their career decisions.…