The fibre of engineering education has evolved from knowledge to competencies. This is a logical consequence of the technologically advanced and multifaceted learning environment where engineers are expected to be technically acute along with a set of essential non-technical competencies. This change is referred to as a ‘paradigm shift’ in engineering education. Hence, the vision of learning is to immerse a progressive, learner-centric, and competency-based learning environment to face the uncertainties of the 21st century. There are various ways to improve the performance of learners by implementing the available competency frameworks, but the need is to initiate a set of essential competencies according to their nature and purpose that can endure across disciplines. In this paper, the evolution of competencies from the essential to the necessary is reviewed. Finally, the benefits of these competencies in relation to the performance of the engineers are discussed in detail through semi-structured interviews conducted with the engineers. MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis tool, is used to analyse the data. The findings will help the engineers in grooming their competencies according to the industries
