This review examines how the Malaysian Vocational Diploma Program (DVM), particularly Welding Technology, contributes to the development of graduate competence and employability. The review focuses on the relationships among curriculum, practical training, industrial training, instructor capabilities, workshop facilities, pedagogy, assessment, and the transition to employment. The evidence indicates that employability rates are insufficient as the sole measure of program success because they do not explain the quality of competence, job alignment, skills utilization, or variations in learning experiences. Malaysian studies generally report high levels of technical competence but also identify weaknesses in infrastructure, communication skills, thinking and problem-solving abilities, career planning, and program alignment with employer requirements. In welding, the required competencies include proficiency in welding processes, safety, quality control, drawing interpretation, and the ability to work in industrial environments. The main challenges include inconsistencies in facilities across colleges, variations in industrial training experiences, inconsistent industry involvement, and reliance on perception-based measures. Existing studies predominantly employ cross-sectional surveys and localized samples rather than longitudinal designs or inter-college comparisons. These limitations constrain causal explanations of differences in outcomes across colleges and cohorts. A more meaningful program evaluation should integrate welding performance measures, implementation observations, employer feedback, and graduate tracking by college and cohort. Such an approach would enable evaluation to move beyond descriptive reporting towards an explanation of how institutional resources and learning experiences contribute to competence development and employment transitions. It would also provide a stronger evidence base for identifying whether observed differences reflect students’ prior experiences, variation in program delivery, or the demands of local labor markets.
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