For decades, American professionals have been expected to have a minimum of an undergraduate degree to secure higher-paying, white-collar jobs. We’ve seen enormous transformations in the way people view work and education. It’s time to revisit these standards to evaluate how they apply to the current economic climate and job market.
Career analysts are now reevaluating how important diplomas and college degrees are in work environments and noticing a remarkable shift in thinking around what is needed to find gainful employment. They’re asking: what determines job market success?
Degree Inflation
Since the early 2000s, four-year college degrees have been one of the main requirements in most job listings—and it has become a rising trend to ask for these degrees for jobs that don’t necessarily need them. This phenomenon called “degree inflation” has been at the core of what makes for an ineffective and difficult job market, especially considering that only a third of the population has four-year college degrees.
What a Degree Means For You
Degree inflation becomes even more problematic when considering the student debt crisis. Some have to obtain graduate-level degrees to enter seriously competitive markets. Some will never be free of debt. Think about what degrees you obtain vs. the job fields.
According to a study conducted by Liberty Street Economics, at least 62% of graduates hold careers that require degrees, and just 27% of them have jobs that relate to the focus of their degree (their major). What companies and job-seekers alike need to face is that we need to step away from relying on four-year college degrees to determine qualifications.
Since the pandemic found many employers desperate for workers, many have already done away with degree requirements. And while this may be temporary, HR executives are finding experience and skillsets, not degrees, are more vital determinants of high performance in workers.
Meaningful Experience
While you can go to a college or university to study and master a field of study (a field you would presumably enter for your career), it’s crucial to understand how you should also master meaningful experience. Employers now tend to value relevant internships and volunteer experience to understand better the kinds of skills a candidate brings to the table. You’ll see that even the student who had an average (or even less than average) GPA in their studies might be more desirable as a candidate when they have had experience outside of the classroom.
These experiences will equip candidates with a proper understanding of what it means to be in the workplace. Most internships, for instance, will allow you to observe workplace culture and expectations. This experience, among others, is considered soft skills—the kinds of skills that determine how you work and not just what you do in a position.
Today, it takes even more than just strong communication and written skills or time management—the skills on resumes that hiring managers have seen thousands of times before.
Which soft skills should companies prioritize in a candidate?
Emotional Intelligence
Someone may have a high IQ and be a top-level expert at Excel, but how do those factors determine how they can manage their emotions? Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is as or more valuable than simple communication skills. An employee with a high EQ will communicate better and respond rather than react.
Improving your emotional intelligence will help you understand yourself and others to help overcome workplace challenges and quickly resolve conflict. This soft skill is especially pertinent for managers, who need to be able to empathize with their peers and their employees effectively. Emotional intelligence also involves self-awareness, understanding your strengths and your weaknesses. Self-aware people know how their behavior affects others and the environment around them. Emotional intelligence is one of the most important soft skills in maintaining a positive, non-toxic work atmosphere.
Leadership Skills
This should come as no surprise, but you don’t have to be a manager to be a leader. The most valuable employees are the ones who aren’t afraid to step in and help delegate or voice what they know to be creative solutions. Leadership skills are markers of workers who will influence and motivate their teams. They can share ideas and model positive behavior for others. If you don’t consider yourself a born leader, you can train to be one. Ask your employer for professional development opportunities around building these leadership skills.
Diversity and Inclusion
Now more than ever, hiring teams and employers are looking to make their workplaces more diverse and inclusive. And D&I doesn’t just mean differences in race, gender, ability, orientation, age, etc. It also means making the workplace more inclusive and cohesive. That means ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard and that everyone feels they have some level of involvement in major decisions.
Respecting D&I practices, adhering to them, and even helping to promote them, is another soft skill you should work to have if you don’t already. It also means developing your knowledge and understanding of cultural diversities and being open to self-identifying any implicit biases you may have. It takes an open mind to practice respect. And if hiring managers can see that you already have experience in workplaces that are diverse and inclusive, even better.
Critical Thinking Skills
If you’re currently on the job market, how can you demonstrate your critical thinking skills during an interview, whether on your resume or during an interview? What are definable achievements you’ve made that required necessary thinking skills?Workers who have critical thinking skills see the work environment as an opportunity for engagement. The highest performers can think analytically and about the big picture with flexibility. They’re just considering their tasks, but they’re evaluating trends and best practices that can help the overall organization. These team players can foresee problems and provide solutions before they even happen.
Adaptability
Finally, adaptability is probably the most important soft skill to have in 2022. The dust has not even begun to settle for the pandemic that started just two years ago. In 2020, both workers and their employers were forced into chaotic, last-minute decisions and changes.
This year, as companies and organizations tentatively accept hybrid work as a long-lasting circumstance, candidates should also ask themselves how adaptable they are and embrace the changes within organizations and worker standards.
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April 12, 2022 at 02:54AM
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Prioritizing Soft Skills Over Outdated Hiring Requirements - Forbes
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