Self-assessment of competencies of students and graduates participating in didactic projects - Case study

Aim/purpose: the aim of this article is to examine the opinions of students and graduates of the faculty of economics of a technical university as regards their selfassessment of their preparation for entering the modern labour market. All the respondents participated during their studies in didactic projects aimed at improving their competencies taking into account the expectations of potential employers. Design/methodology/approach: the study was quantitative in nature and was carried out using the CAWI method. In the analysis of the study results, elements of descriptive statistics were used, such as: mean measures, structure indicators, structure similarity indicators and tests for the significance of mean values. A comparative analysis was conducted between two groups of respondents - students and graduates. Findings: the conducted study shows that by organising additional training for students, the university contributes to supplementing their theoretical and practical knowledge in the area of competencies required by the labour market today, in particular within the scope of specialist and technical competencies which are becoming indispensable in the Economy 4.0. Research implications/limitations: due to the small size of the test sample, the results should be treated with caution, are not representative and constitute only a case study. Originality/value/contribution: the results of the research confirm the importance of lifelong learning as regards reducing the competence gap among university graduates. The tools used in the above-mentioned process include additional training activities, such as the presented didactic projects addressed to students, complementary to the curriculum of studies. They enabled the students to extend their competencies even before they left the walls of the university and, as a result, facilitated their entry into the labour market.