Work readiness has become an essential aspect for university graduates in facing the increasingly competitive labor market. However, many graduates still lack adequate competencies, work experience, and soft skills, resulting in suboptimal work readiness. This study aims to analyze the influence of competence, work experience, and soft skills on the work readiness of Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik students from the 2021 cohort. This study employed a quantitative approach involving 266 graduates of Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik from the 2021 cohort. The sample was selected using purposive sampling with proportionate stratified sampling allocation. Data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using multiple linear regression with SPSS. The results indicate that competence, work experience, and soft skills have a positive and significant effect on students' work readiness. The research model explains 76.1% of the variance in work readiness (Adjusted R² = 0.761), while the remaining 23.9% is influenced by other factors not included in the model. The findings provide practical implications for higher education institutions to strengthen competency development, expand internship and practical work opportunities, and enhance soft skills development programs to improve graduates' work readiness. This study was limited to graduates of Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik from the 2021 cohort. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to broader populations.
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