phomanagers

· 03 Apr 2022

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Route to Employability

Route to Employability

In a world with increasing economic activities transcending local boundaries and socio-cultural constructs that hitherto stood as barriers, it is expected that there would only be more job opportunities. Even while this is expected, it is also envisaged that as the global world evolves with the leverage of technology, some jobs are bound to phase out while some others phase in. This is evident from several reports from studies that have been carried out by reputable organisations. In a report by Business insider, it was identified that several jobs that employed thousands of people in the 1970s have dwindled in popularity or completely vanished. The typist who was once most sought after is no longer needed because everyone now owns a keyboard. The ice cutter who used to be very prominent for providing ice for freezing is now a  word that a gen-z's ear might have never heard since birth. Same with the word processor and many others. Thanks to robotics and automation, a number of jobs that are still available today would be long gone in a few years from now. For example, the General Motors' exhibit of self-driving cars in 1939 only put a date to the extinction of the job of drivers. So in years from now, there would be no vacancy for a driver role, since every car would find its way safely to any location its owner intends. The use of accounting softwares that could be error free, fast and efficient only puts a date to the end of the job of bookkeepers. In the same light, as these jobs are bound to pass away, new jobs are bound to arise. In-demand jobs like the block chain engineers, social-media influencer, big data scientist, among others were non-existent fifteen to twenty years ago. That is to say that there are yet many jobs not in existence  that would certainly surface in years to come. All these point out that the route to Employability might be quite complex and dynamic, for the route that could have succeeded today might fail for tomorrow. The one who is employable can suddenly become unemployable because of a groundbreaking discovery in technology.

Context | Background
The Oxford Learners' dictionary defines a route as the way that is followed to get from one place to another. A route signifies the path that brings one from one point to another. While the meaning of the word is context specific, in whatever context it is used, it must connote that which brings one from one point to another. In our context, it references that which brings one from a status of unemployability to an employable status. And because of the earlier identified complexity and dynamism of employability, the route to Employability would be better defined as not only that which brings one from a status of unemployability to Employability, but also the one which keeps one employable. This is in tandem with the definition of Employability which  refers to the attributes of a person that make that person able to gain and maintain employment. With this background of Employability, it is only obvious to state that the route to Employability is first the path of relevancy. Every employer is on the search for employees that could be seen as assets and not liabilities in human form. The success of their organisation depends on it. Therefore, the only person that would be certain to get an employment offer is the one who is considered to possess the relevant skill set that is needed for the discharge of the function the employer wants him/her to perform.


The Path of Relevance
The path of relevance could only be described with generics and not specifics, because an attempt to do otherwise would be a disgraceful ignorance of the complexity and dynamism of today's world. What is relevant is never static. So in Plato's words, "Heraclitus, I believe, says that all things pass and nothing stays, and comparing existing things to the flow of a river, he says you could not step twice  into the same river". The path of relevancy can be summed up in the submission that the one who is employable is the one who has wholeheartedly embraced change. Such that as the World evolves and as skills sets phase in and phase out, he/she changes with the world. And this must happen throughout one's lifetime as long as one wants to stay employable. The irony of change is that it would all lead us to the point of unemployability at some point in time because a time would come when we can no longer change to stay employable. Even if for no other thing, the constant of death nods a yes to this. That aside, to embrace change would mean  to stay abreast of information because information is the wind of change. The good thing here is that the information needed to stay employable stares right at our faces and it's really what we breathe in and out, day and night. Thanks to technology, the little rectangular box that we all carry around is all we need to gain insights into our changing world. This is really what the path of relevance is. The path of relevance compels us to be aware of arising economic and social constructs and then we are left to make use of whatever we come to know. So, it doesn't stop with knowing. It actually starts with knowing which is just what we have discussed.

Being Intelligent
In the words of William Pollard, "information is a source of learning. But unless it is organised, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden not a benefit." It would be no difficulty trying to agree with William Pollard. While we have accorded much glory to technology for readily making information available, it is not without the awareness that sometimes, we are provided with too much information, much of which are out of our 'relevant net'. However, we have no need to blame technology really, because the onus to make do with the information lies with us; how we do that and what we get from it is a function of our intelligence, dedication and hardwork. This leads to our next juncture on the path of relevance. The path of relevance in the route to Employability demands that one is intelligent; intelligent to process and make decisions with information that one is now exposed to. Intelligence is making the best of the information available. If information exposed to one is that a particular skill set is phasing-out while one is bound to become a 'hot cake' in years to come, intelligence is taking decisions backed up with actions to possess such a skill set. The problem with this form of intelligence is that it is against the widely accepted conceptualisation of intelligence. Being intelligent oftentimes, by many is seen as maintaining the status quo, maybe however in a better way. Why attempt to change the status quo when it would make you odd? Indeed learning a skill set that is projected to be in high demand can be daunting and demotivating because while everyone is busy learning the skill set that is gradually phasing away, you are learning the one that is yet to arrive in full.

10,000hours Rule to Expertise.
The route to Employability which we have defined to be the path of relevance is characterised by investment. Only those who invest in themselves  are bound to stay employable. In the words of  
Roy T. Bennett, "there is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. It is the best investment you can make; you can never go wrong with it. It is the true way to improve yourself to be the best version of you and lets you be able to best serve those around you". In a world where everyone sees investment as buying securities, assets and what a view, the route to Employability on the path of relevance essentially requires that there is a renewed perception of investment. The reason why one could be employable today can be attributed to the fact that some investment has happened over the years. Now, while this investment would one way or the other include money, it also includes time and other resources, as well. For example, if one is deemed fit to be employed as a pilot or a soldier, it's not something that happened overnight. They are skills that were learnt right from childhood. Right from childhood because if one did not attend elementary school,  one can't get into high school then the college or aviation or army school to be trained to a point where one is considered employable. Therefore, investment is a function of time and resilience. The route to Employability requires a continuous investment in self, so that even while one is considered employable today, one is yet seeking ways to invest in self because the investment that is paying off today might not pay off tomorrow. Investing time is no easy task because to gain expertise, then a considerable amount of time should be given. For instance, Malcom Gladwell in his book, “Outliers: The Story of Success", identified the 10,000hours rule to expertise. The second chapter contains the story of how the 10,000 hours rule helped the Beatles become world famous musicians by having the opportunity to perform live as a group in Hamburg, Germany over 1200 times between 1960 and 1964 because they were able to accumulate more than 10,000 hours by playing non-stop at strip clubs. Throughout his book, Gladwell repeatedly refers to the “10 000-hour rule,” asserting that the key to achieving true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practicing, albeit in the correct way, for at least 10 000 hours.

Everyone would easily agree that investing over 10,000 hours to develop a skill set is quite much. But really, that's only the case when we see it from the view that it is 10,000 hours. 10,000 hours really can be the summation of the consistent 1-hour daily. Over the years, it would surely accumulate to become that wholesome and dreadful 10,000 hours. Then, like earlier mentioned, the route to Employability is that which demands consistency and resilience. To follow a chosen path of learning consistently over a long period of time.

know-How Not Enough
Now, while we have examined the route to Employability strictly from the perspective of having a relevant skill set, it is important to note that not just technical skills can do the drill here. Of course, employers want to employ people who have the right technical skill but much more they want to employ people who have relationship skills, people who can relate well with others because the world is built on a network of relationships and nobody, business or organisation gets anywhere without leveraging relationships. Staying employable therefore requires that one consciously builds relationships with different calibre of people across different industries and sectors. Relationships are built on communication, so essentially staying employable is being able to communicate well. Communication fosters our market prospects because the end goal for developing technical skills is to have a skill set that can be sold. If it must be sold, then one must be able to market oneself well to gain the enticement of a buyer. So, it also involves our marketing/sales skills. The world is built on the principle of sales. I sell something in exchange for value which is person-specific. So, it's a case of selling or risking to be sold (dismissed as unemployable).

#Thoughtprovoking
In conclusion, the route to Employability is generic and can only be described by principles to follow because Employability in today's world is complex and dynamic and only a concurrent approach can work to keep one employable. It is a function of having the right information, using that information, which is what we have called intelligence and then investing time and resources while not neglecting to communicate to build relationships. If these things are done repeatedly, then, the final destination of Employability is assured.