This paper covered aspects related to the landscape of the design industry in Malaysia and the industry’s expectations on the competencies of an industrial designer. The research aimed to understand the need of the industry and to serve as a reference for academicians in constructing the curricula for Industrial Design education. According to the existing literature, competencies of a designer can be categorised into three categories, namely design related knowledge, hard skills and soft skills. These items were then coded accordingly and used as a guide in constructing the questionnaire. In the selection of samples, 117 companies were selected from job posting platforms that were recruiting designer(s) and also companies who were awarded Good Design Award recognised by Malaysia Design Council (MRM). The questionnaire is then sent to the Human Resource Department and Design Department through email. Additional copies were also distributed during design exhibitions. In the questionnaire, companies were asked to select critical competencies considered when hiring new designers. As this study is limited to Malaysia companies that hire or plan to hire designer(s), a total of 31 valid responses were collected in the end. The results indicated that knowledge on design is indeed important as a designer. However, only knowing all the tools and methods for design without actual application or execution is considered zero from the perspective of the industry. Another skill that is considered crucial for a designer is the capability in coming out with original ideas and in this research it somehow showed conflict when problem finding is not as necessary. Besides, based on this research, having a sketch that is informative in showing the details on the functions and how to assemble a product is considered more necessary by the industry instead of just a pretty and impressive sketch.