The Influence of Soft Skill on Career Anxiety With Social Support as a Moderating Variable Among Fresh Graduate in West Nusa Tenggara
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/kharaj.v8i3.12462Keywords:
Soft Skills; Work Readiness; Career Anxiety; Social Support; Fresh GraduateAbstract
This study aims to examine the effect of soft skill and work readiness on career anxiety among fresh graduates in West Nusa Tenggara Province, and to test the moderating role of social support on those two relationships. A quantitative causal-associative design was applied through a survey method, with data collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire distributed online to 100 fresh graduates in West Nusa Tenggara who were determined through purposive sampling based on the criteria of having graduated within the last two years, being domiciled in West Nusa Tenggara, and not yet employed, with the number of respondents referring to the ten-times rule for the largest number of structural paths directed toward a construct. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with the assistance of SmartPLS 4, covering the evaluation of the outer model (convergent validity, discriminant validity, and construct reliability) and the inner model (R-Square, F-Square, path coefficients, and moderation testing through bootstrapping with 5,000 subsamples). The results show that soft skill and work readiness each have a negative and significant effect on career anxiety, and that social support is proven to significantly moderate and strengthen both negative relationships, with the structural model explaining 46.5% of the variance in career anxiety (R² = 0.465), while the effect size of each exogenous variable falls into the small category (f² between 0.041 and 0.082). These findings imply that universities, families, and career development institutions need to jointly strengthen fresh graduates' soft skill and work readiness while also expanding access to social support, since the two internal resources are proven to be more effective in reducing career anxiety when reinforced by a supportive social environment. Future research is recommended to extend the model with additional variables, adopt a mixed-method or longitudinal design, and broaden the sampling coverage beyond West Nusa Tenggara Province.
References
Agustina, R., & Suryatni, M. (2026). The effects of soft skills, personal attributes, and work readiness on the employability of fresh graduates at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Mataram. Danadyaksa Post Modern Economy Journal, 3(2), 126–139.
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2020). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page.
Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat. (2025). Keadaan ketenagakerjaan Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat Agustus 2025. Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat.
Badan Pusat Statistik. (2025). Keadaan ketenagakerjaan Indonesia Februari 2025. Badan Pusat Statistik.
Bedoya-Guerrero, A., Basantes-Andrade, A., Rosales, F. O., & Naranjo-Toro, M. (2024). Soft skills and employability of online graduate students. Education Sciences, 14(8), 864.
Belle, M. A., Antwi, C. O., Ntim, S. Y., Affum-Osei, E., & Ren, J. (2021). Am I gonna get a job? Graduating students’ psychological capital, coping styles, and employment anxiety. Journal of Career Development, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453211020124
Chala, K., & Bouranta, N. (2021). Soft skills and employability: A conceptual review. International Journal of Human Resource Studies.
Chen, L., & Zeng, S. (2021). The relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and employment anxiety of graduates during COVID-19: The moderating role of career planning. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 694785. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694785
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310–357.
Dessler, G. (2020). Human resource management (16th ed.). Pearson.
Feng, Y. J., et al. (2025). Chain-mediated effects of career self-efficacy and career planning between social support and career anxiety in college soccer players. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1685011
Ghozali, I., & Kusumadewi, K. A. (2023). Partial least squares: Konsep, teknik, dan aplikasi menggunakan program SmartPLS. Badan Penerbit Universitas Diponegoro.
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Hiaruman, K. A. D., Pratama, M. F., & Ernawati, E. (2025). The role of social support and career anxiety in work readiness among final-year Generation Z students. Humanitas: Jurnal Psikologi, 9(3), 367–380. https://doi.org/10.28932/humanitas.v9i3.13005
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524.
Jackson, D., & Tomlinson, M. (2020). Investigating the relationship between career planning, proactivity and employability perceptions among higher education students in uncertain labour market conditions. Higher Education, 80, 435–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00490-5
Kautish, P., Walia, S. K., & Kour, P. (2021). The moderating influence of social support on career anxiety and career commitment: An empirical investigation from India. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 38(8), 782–801. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2021.1977765
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79–122.
Orr, P., Forsyth, L., Caballero, C., Rosenberg, C., & Walker, A. (2023). A systematic review of Australian higher education students' and graduates' work readiness. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(7), 1714–1731.
Peersia, K., Rappa, N. A., & Perry, L. B. (2024). Work readiness: Definitions and conceptualisations. Higher Education Research & Development, 43(8), 1830–1845. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2366322
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2019). Organizational behavior (18th ed.). Pearson.
Succi, C., & Canovi, M. (2020). Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: Comparing students and employers' perceptions. Studies in Higher Education, 45(9), 1834–1847. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1585420
Sugiyono. (2023). Metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan R&D. Alfabeta.
Tsai, C. T., Hsu, H., & Hsu, Y. C. (2017). Tourism and hospitality college students' career anxiety: Scale development and validation. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 29(4), 158–165.
Wang, F., & Qu, J.-G. (2022). A study of relationship between social support, work values and job search behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1021299.
Widyastuti, L. Y., Arista, P. D., Ria, R., Amanda, S., & Angkawaijaya, Y. F. (2023). Indonesian Work Readiness Scale development on contract employee. Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengukuran Psikologi, 12(2), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.21009/JPPP.122.04
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nurul Faradila, Mukmin Suryatni, Ni Wayan Adelia Mutiara Asri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. In line with the license, authors are allowed to share and adapt the material. In addition, the material must be given appropriate credit, provided with a link to the license, and indicated if changes were made. If authors remix, transform or build upon the material, authors must distribute their contributions under the same license as the original.
