Career self-efficacy, maturity, and readiness are the three concepts often associated with career planning. The study investigates the relationship between career self-efficacy, career maturity, and career readiness among students undergoing technical and vocational education training (TVET) in Terengganu. A total of 500 students from five training institutes were selected purposively as a sample. This research implemented cross-sectional data with the ordinary least square analysis method. Data were collected using three sets of instruments, namely career factors inventory (CFI) to measure career readiness, career maturity inventory-revised (CMI-R) to measure attitudes and skills in career planning, and career decision making self-efficacy scale (CDMSE-SF) to measure the level of career self-efficacy. The results confirmed that career self-efficacy has a positive relationship with career maturity, while career maturity and career self-efficacy are unrelated to career readiness. A few ideas have been proposed to help all institutions.
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Malaysia is well on its way to attaining the status of a developed nation (Leong et al., 2010). High-skilled workers with appropriate employability skills are needed to fulfil the workforce demand of the country. Individuals who keep up with the current knowledge and have the competency to develop new expertise can survive in today's complex labour market (Thijssen et al., 2008). However, Malaysia is currently facing a shortage of skilled labour force among local graduates, mainly due to the lack of appropriate job skills (Leong et al., 2010). Concern exists that a large segment of today's workforce does not have the skills desired by employers (Clark, 2013). In addition, employers today are concerned about finding workers who possess not only basic academic skills but also higher-order thinking skills (e.g., learning, reasoning, thinking creatively, decision making, problem-solving), self-confidence, self-control, team spirit, health and safety habits, management skills, conflict resolution skills, and many more (Holmes, 2001; Shafie & Nayan, 2010; Smith & Kruger, 2008; Warn & Tranter, 2001). Employers give preferential attention to employability skills above specific occupational skills or technical knowledge (Abas-Mastura et al., 2013). Hence, Technical Vocational Education Institutes (TVET) play a significant role in meeting employers' expectations by producing graduates that attain the industry's requirements (Abas-Mastura et al., 2013; Robinson et al., 2007; Valo, 2000).
According to Bandura (1977), one can only be employed if he believes and has confidence in different possibilities to get employed, which is related to self-efficacy. In this context, career self-efficacy is the individual's judgment about their capabilities in performing their career behaviours (Anderson & Betz, 2001). Career self-efficacy was coined by Bandura (1977) through the Social Cognitive Theory. This theory focuses on human capacity concerning the environment, which includes the actions that must be done, the cognitive processes utilised to solve problems, the development of thinking, and effective communication. Each individual will give meaning to their experiences by structuring, organising, and providing a functional continuity bearing in the environment where they live. Betz & Hackett (1981) attempted to link this concept to a psychological career. Through this approach, they tried to understand how individuals make career decisions based on trust and confidence in themselves. It covered the aspects such as employment abilities, college course selection, effort, and perseverance in making decisions.
On the other hand, Super (1957) proposed the concept of career maturity and readiness in his career theory development. Career maturity includes readiness, attitude, and competencies to control tasks in career development effectively. This theory suggests the behaviour that should happen at each stage of career development. Youths need to master and complete jobs in the exploration stage of development. Individuals with high career maturity and readiness should be able to think, act and make informed decisions related to their careers. The person is more mature and prepared for career development if the behaviour can be expected or perceived. In line with this opinion, career maturity is defined as the level of professional knowledge in determining career choices (Supreet & Mamta, 2018). Based on the explanation, career maturity can be concluded as self-understanding and awareness in individuals to plan, prepare, make appropriate career decisions, and readiness to encounter possible various challenges along the individuals' life journey following their abilities.