Complementing hard skills, soft skills development in the 21^st century has been equally important in professional success for most graduates. For this reason, soft skills such as interpersonal skills, problem identification and solving skills, critical and creative thinking skills, work organization skills, workplace skills, and leadership skills, are gaining further emphasis in many Western countries regarding preparation for and providing future employability opportunities and human resource development required by graduates (HRSDC, 2003; ODPE, 2007).

In Vietnam many English language study program (ELP) objectives have emphasized graduates’ development of soft skills and professional knowledge. However, there have been few studies exploring soft skill development from the perspective of ELP graduates and employers. This study is aimed at investigating how graduates and employers have perceived the development of soft skills obtained from ELP and from the job requirements.

The study employs a qualitative case study approach involving ninety-eight ELP graduates from a Vietnamese university and twelve employers who have recruited ELP candidates. A descriptive survey questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis were used for data collection. SPSS descriptive and frequency statistics and content analysis (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2013) were chosen for data analysis.

The findings revealed that both the graduate and employer participants positively perceived the importance of soft skill development for ELP students. However, the ELP course objectives have insufficiently equipped graduates with the soft skills required in various job areas. Based on the result, the study team makes suggestions for soft skill development in the future ELP of this context.