For career-changers, new graduates without job experience and any individual with limited resources, the pathway to good jobs can seem impossible to traverse. College has been frequently touted as the key to rewarding employment, but even that solution is coming under fire: It’s been one of the more publicized disappointments of the recent recession that degrees don’t protect against joblessness.
So what does? In a word, skills. Skills are the building blocks of every job, and they’re the currency of search, from both sides of the desk. The employer requests certain skills but will compromise the wish list to get the ones that matter. Meanwhile, the worker finds that skills are his or her main bargaining chip, more than specific training or education.
Except for licensed positions, the academic credential is not the make-or-break criteria so many have come to believe. It’s simply the most convenient way for employers to quantify a package they hope will include the skills they need. But when push comes to shove, you won’t find many managers who would choose a degreed person with no skills over a skilled person with no degree.
Simply put, companies hire people to do something, not to be something. That’s why candidates who promote their degrees or even titles (“I am a graduate of / I am an xyz professional)…” are not as eye-catching as candidates who promote their abilities and the results they achieve (“I can do x and y for you, resulting in z”).
When I make this case to job seekers, I’m usually met with nods of agreement, grudging or otherwise. Some tell me that’s the way they’ve made hiring decisions themselves; others describe times they were blinded by the credential only to encounter a lack of skills in the winning candidate.
Probably the most disbelieving are the new graduates, fresh from four or more years of classroom rigor. But when I ask them whom they would hire if the tables were turned, they also state a preference for skilled workers over those with only the credential.
Recognizing this reality of the market is not the same as saying that credentials are a waste of time. Not even close. But it isn’t hard to conclude that credentials alone won’t often swing an offer. Nor should we continue to press the mythology that skills alone are not enough for employment, or that degrees are the only pathway to a rewarding career.
As the economy continues its recovery we’ll likely see doors opening wider for both sets of “have-not” candidates – those with skills but no credentials and those with credentials but limited skills. Even so, I’d always put my money on the candidate who can demonstrate ability to do the job, regardless of credentials, over one who can’t.
For the job seeker, being the winning candidate comes down to a few basic steps: Know what skills are needed (not simply the wish list from the ad); know which skills you have and how to present them convincingly; make a plan to get the skills you don’t have.
And finally, understand that most jobs are not filled through online processes, but through direct conversations with department managers, usually before an ad ever appears. Which means networking and learning to describe your skills are much more important than worrying about key word optimization for an online application process.
Frankly put, if you’re one of the “have nots” in the view of the computerized system, you will not make the cut no matter how many key words you use. But if you meet managers before things advance to the online ad, you will have the opportunity to tell them precisely what you can do for them.
In next week’s column I’ll provide tips for filling gaps in skills you may have. Some of the ideas will involve formal training but most will not. To make the best use of this information and the process overall, you have some homework to do:
1. Decide what kind of work you want, including the industry and the job level or title.
2. Conduct whatever research you can in the next week to narrow down the five or 10 core tasks you would perform in this position.
3. Review those tasks and take your best guess at the skills needed to perform the tasks well – Use specific software? Operate specific machines? Communicate the company’s product information to customers?
4. Assuming a list of 10-20 core skills needed for the position, rank them in three categories: A for “I can do this;” B for “I’m familiar enough to learn this quickly;” and C for “Huh?”
Stay tuned – we’ll pick up the trail again in next week’s column!
