The Influence of Perception About Working World Information Based on Student Work Readiness at SMK Negeri 1 Sumedang

Abstract

The unemployment rate for vocational high school graduates is very high. Initial observations show that not all of the Vocational high school graduates have the readiness and skills to enter the working world. It is also shown that Vocational high school students still have difficulty in determining the choice to pursue a career in the future. This study aims to determine the influence of students' perceptions of working world information on student work-readiness. A correlational quantitative approach was conducted in this study, utilizing questionnaires and documentation as data collection tools. The population in this study were x grade students of 1st public vocational high school of Sumedang in the 2019/2020 academic year. Involving 63 representative students from all study programs at 1st Public Vocational High School of Sumedang (SMKN 1 Sumedang), the sampling technique used was convenience sampling. The data analysis used in this study was a simple linear regression analysis. The result shows both students’ perception of working world information and students’ work-readiness is in the excellent category. The Perception of the working-world has a high impact on work-readiness among the students. Thus, vocational high school students should enrich themselves with various information about the working-world from trusted sources in order to conceive better work-readiness after graduation. Keywords—perception, working world information, student work readiness