Abstract
The construction industry continues to be a significant part of the global economy and shapes the
built
environment and quality oflife for people around the world. It is an industry which is regarded as
uncertain and continuously changing, requiring the services of competent professionals such as
engineers, architects, surveyors amongst others, inthe execution of construction activities to
achieve timely results. This inherent complexity that characterizes the construction industry
requires, not only graduates possessing a strong academic foundation, but also the right skills to
meet up with the challenges. However, the construction industry has been plagued with a shortage of
skilled graduates in proffering solutions to emerging problems. This paper aims to identify
relevant skills that construction graduates need to possess in order to contribute meaningfully to
the future of the building construction industry. A review of relevant literatures was conducted
from journals and conference articles from databases including Taylor and Francis online, Springer,
Emerald, ASCE, Scopus amongst others. Various skills were identified in the literature which
further helped pinpoint the most important ones after a random study across further literatures
were conducted. Notable findings from this study revealed that communication, teamwork, technology
skills, problem solving skills, individual values, technical skills, leadership, numeracy and
adaptability are all essential to construction graduates ahead of the construction industry. The
study further makes recommendations to HEI's emphasizing the need to revise their curricula to
better prepare construction students for success in the industry. In order to ease the transition
from the world of the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to the world of employment, it is of
crucial importance for HEI's to provide university students with on-the-job skills to enable them
cope and meet the ever increasing, changing and challenging needs of the construction industry in
this 21"1 century and beyond.