International Research Journal of Education and Technology

Employment opportunities and employability tendency among undergraduates in Nigeria is a matter of deep concern across the nation. Every year, several schools produces graduates, many with little or no skills to fit into the labour market. Employable skills demands that a student have the required vocational knowledge and other possible experiences to fit into a particular job role.  Based on this, the study seeks to examine students industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) on enhancing employable skills of Library and information (LIS) students in Tertiary Institutions in Cross River State. Four research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted the survey design. A Purposive sampling technique was used to select 176 final year students of library and information science from two tertiary institutions in Cross River state, Nigeria: University of Calabar (UNICAL) and Cross River University of Technology University (CRUTCEH), Calabar. The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using one way analysis of variance. Findings revealed that the majority of LIS students understudied benefit from SIWES to a high extent. The employable skills enhanced through SIWES include; computer skills, cataloging skills, classification skills, time management skills, innovation skills, library management skills, leadership skills, and teamwork skills among others. Noticeable challenges facing SIWES include finance, students placements as a result of nonacceptance of students by some employers into their establishments, inadequate supervision of trainees as well as irregularity in the academic calendar of institutions among others. It was recommended that there should be serious monitoring of both supervisors and students, Organizations should always accept students for SIWES and students should be placed in their areas of discipline within the industry or office for training.

Keywords: Employable skill, undergraduate, library and information science, SIWES,