Having skills count. But are they the only quality candidates and employees really need to guarantee abundant job prospects?
I’ve been reading this book lately that claims it will teach you about the one asset that people really need to win and keep the job they love. The first few pages make the reader jump into thoughts of what it takes to succeed in employment, secure a job in a company you like, and enjoy the work you have to produce. The authors put it down to a quality that is often overlooked by many in favor of skill set: mindset. Let me explain.
Skills are the tools people use to navigate through life . Certain jobs require specific skills that employers test during the interviewing process in order to make a hire. How proficient candidates are in their skill-set plays an important part in how likely a candidate is to land the job.
But relying entirely on skill can backfire. First, skill set can grow old. What I mean by this is that a computer expert in 2000 could not be a computer expert in 2012 if he’d not re-developed and/or updated his skill set since then. Second, from a candidate’s point of view, the recession has affected many businesses and there is a massive source of experienced candidates looking to work for a fraction of their previous pay as a result of being made redundant. So if a candidate relies solely on his skill set in hopes of landing employment, he or she is competing against a giant pool of other trained and skilled applicants. What it takes to distinguish each candidate from the herd is is the right mindset.
Mindset is what sets candidates and employees apart. A right mindset will be the tool that will enable a candidate/employee to move forward in employment and employability. It equips people with the ability to thrive where others fail, and allows them to continue competing and working hard when harsh realities and difficulties come to play. It distinguishes between the types of people who want to continue learning to improve their abilities and those that settle on the confined knowledge of their skill-set -which can get outdated or need further improvement with time. Mindset works in such a way that it acts as a lens through which people choose view the world and choose to act upon what happens inside of it. A person with the wrong mindset will choose to let the blur or defect in the lens confine his or her abilities to do certain things and will tend to give up when facing dead-ends, while a person with the right mindset will not let the blur restrain them from doing what needs to be done and rather try to work around the difficulties.
A little statistic to provide more food for thought: when employers are given the choice between someone with the desired mindset who lacks complete skill for the job, and someone with complete skill set who lacks the desired mindset, 96% chose mindset over skill set as the key element in the types of candidates they chose to seek and retain.
Interesting stuff, what’s your take on it?
Tobi Baker says:
I agree with you, I think that I why we see people that are unable to change and adapt being made redundant in the workplace.
The most publicly visible example of this would probably be the constantly moving music scene, the artists that were around 20 years that are still around today are far and few between. The ones that are around today and still at the top of their game are the ones that had the “mindset” to adapt and change to the new challenges and demands each year brings.
Sonal says:
It is true that mindset of an employee is really important however when you take the employee on the board it is very important to keep the skills of the employee updated with the changing market conditions.
This is the problem that many org face in todays world, What are your thoughts about how to keep the workforce updated with the relevant skills. Training of an employees does not always give expected outcomes.
Jobs in the City of London says:
Interesting stuff indeed. I hadn’t really considered it before. Thanks for pointing it out.