Improving your employability is like going on a diet to get ready for summer. Starting a month before bathing suit weather and then letting go of all your good resolutions come September is pointless. With so many potential employers on the market, growing your employability needs to be a daily and a year-round practise! If you want to see results, that is…
While it’s rather late in the season to start working on your bikini body, summer is the perfect time to go on an employability retreat. The summer lull actually offers a welcome break to think about yourself and your journey, as well as your desire for change. It’s the perfect time to take a step back and analyse your own ability to generate eagerness within your work environment.
Figures vary depending on the sources. But one thing is for sure: many jobs will have changed significantly five years from now. Some will disappear and new ones will emerge. This is something we see on a daily basis: we aren’t hiring the same profiles as we were ten or fifteen years ago. New skills are being required every day.
It goes without saying that the digital revolution is having a profound effect on the employment sector. A broad network and an excellent CV are no longer enough. The digital environment and its requirements are forcing employees (as well as employers and recruiting agents, for that matter) to cast a fresh eye on their career path. You need to adapt to a constantly changing world. You need to be deft. You need to pitch in. You need to work together and in a different way.
The ability to learn new skills is becoming the driving force of employability. Indeed, being able to gain new skills, to evolve and to add new feathers to your cap is vital if you want to remain competitive in an increasingly fast-paced professional world.
However, the question of employability goes beyond that of professional training. In addition to acquiring new insight and updating your skill set, your employability also involves your attitude, i.e. the way in which you use your assets. Along with having a good technical understanding and knowledge of a topic, employers often sit down together and define a set of abilities which they want from an employee.
Every experience is a victory, and there is no better classroom than your daily work environment for acquiring new expertise, diversifying your skills and improving upon your existing assets.
Staff members need to take on an active role in their career paths, which is far from easy: it requires stepping out of your comfort zone and facing new knowledge and new experiences.
As for the question of how to increase your appeal on the job market… The answer is both simple and complex. Simple because it’s all about defining your own employability profile; and complex because offering a consistent profile requires time and the ability to move skilfully through this highly competitive world.
While each individual is responsible for their own employability, companies can play a part in supporting and encouraging their staff’s development. This joint effort often results in both the employees and the employers coming out stronger on the other side.
* CEO and founder, Brodard Executive Search
