Getting a job can be hard enough when you’re doing everything right. It’s especially challenging when the rules for job searches are changing. There’s significant concern that AI is making hiring harder for most people. What if even having the right credentials is no longer enough? A new editorial in Inside Higher Ed sums up the challenge in its headline: Looking Good on Paper Won’t Cut It in Job Searches Anymore.
The author, Chris Smith, notes that advances in technology, especially AI, make it easier and easier for job candidates to appear the same “on paper,” which makes it harder and harder for companies to know who they’re hiring and for job candidates to stand out in a crowd. Smith is talking specifically about academically advanced fields – graduate students and post-docs – but the same premise increasingly applies to most workers in most fields.
What cannot be as easily duplicated by technology, Smith says, are “cognitive skills (critical thinking, problem-solving, lifelong learning); interpersonal skills (communication, teamwork and collaboration, emotional intelligence); and self-management skills (adaptability, emotional intelligence/regulation).” People have agency, and how they use their time and how they connect can make a big difference both in how one gets a job and whether one thrives in it.
“(H)ow you interact with and relate to others has always been important for your personal and professional success, and will become increasingly more so in the years ahead,” Smith wrote. “Bottom line: Those human and interpersonal skills … are needed to successfully navigate any professional job search and succeed in the role, whether that be in academia, industry, government or the nonprofit sector.”
This is borne out by research, with surveys showing that even in very technical fields, human-centered skills make the difference for getting and keeping a job. So-called “durable skills” or “soft skills” represent 8 out of the 10 most commonly listed skills in job postings.
The Skills Workers Need To Get And Keep A Job In The New Economy
Smith says that after working to support post-docs in their job searches over several years, he’s determined that there are seven key skills to getting a job in the era of AI:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Adaptability
- Teamwork
- Emotional Intelligence
- Problem-Solving
- Lifelong Learning
This is in line with contemporary research, and so it’s not an accident that Calbright’s career readiness curriculum, which is integrated into every Calbright program, focuses on nine durable skills that are very similar:
- Critical Thinking And Problem Solving
- Oral Communication
- Written Communication
- Collaboration
- Emotional Intelligence
- Growth Mindset
- Intercultural Fluency
- Integrity and Relatability
- Digital Savvy
Accounting for synonyms and the fact that Calbright has a focus on both “oral” and “written” communication, instead of just “communication,” the lists are virtually identical.
Technical skills are important, but they are also the skills companies are most comfortable teaching employees on the job, and the most replicable by advances in AI. These durable skills, on the other hand, endure from job to job, career to career, and across technical advances.
Use Your Human Agency – Calbright Will Help
Perhaps the most important thing people can do to develop their careers, Smith wrote in Inside Higher Ed, is to take charge of their career development –to find and use their human agency.
“There is no “perfect” set of attributes or accomplishments that make you automatically hirable in any role. Rather, employers – be they academic, nonprofit, government or for-profit organizations – look for someone who ideally takes initiative and ownership of their projects and deliverables. They are looking for high-agency individuals.”
“This agency can be defined as the capacity of individuals to act independently, make their own choices and intentionally shape their own lives and the world around them.”
Calbright teaches that – it’s part of what “growth mindset” means – and the College offers strong support to students looking for jobs with a career services program that helps with everything from networking to mock interviews.
But this kind of agency is also what Calibright students demonstrate by signing up and completing their programs. With no cost to Californians and flexible, student-centered classes, Calbright is a no-risk, all-reward way for adults to show potential employers that they are life-long learners who know how to take on new challenges.
That makes a difference.
That’s what Richard, an older worker who needed to demonstrate his ability to use new technologies, found. He said:
“These certificates from Calbright serve as a contemporary shorthand, immediately signaling to employers that I possess up-to-date skills in modern technology and data management. It bridged the gap between my extensive learning and experience and the current demands of the workforce, demonstrating not just my willingness, but my proven ability to master new digital tools and systems.”
And that’s what Cintia, who worked in restaurants for 10 years and wanted a new career, found. She said:
“When you have a certificate like this, people will see you with different eyes. Whether you have a bachelor’s degree or not, whether you went to high school only but then go through Calbright’s IT Support program or Data Analysis or Medical Coding, the skills you gain are valued. That’s something I didn’t know until I had this certificate. Because I know for sure after getting my certificate at Calbright, it’s been completely different. People treat me like I know so much more, which I do. You get opportunities and into spaces you wouldn’t have gotten into if you didn’t have the program.”
Very different students, in very different walks of life, find the same truth: Smith is right. The act of taking charge of your career search, of going out of your way to learn new skills, of showing agency and a growth mindset, is already a significant step forward to finding good jobs in a digital age.
Calbright is a force multiplier for people like that, taking their drive and desire, and giving it the right tools and training to succeed.
