Tag: job skills

Evolving world of work sparks a call for ‘new collar’ workers

No one denies the world of work isn’t what it used to be. Employers and employees alike struggle to keep up with the dizzying pace of change shaking up an array of industries. With technological advances and changing economics creating opportunity for some while leaving others behind, “skills gap” has become a term recruiters understand […]

skills

Interactive Map Fills Information Gap Between Job Openings and Qualified Candidates

Aspiring Minds (an employability assessment company) has launched a first-of-its-kind, free, interactive platform that links job qualifications to job vacancies and compensation. “The U.S. Skill Map fills a huge information gap between job openings and qualified candidates,” said Varun Aggarwal, cofounder and chief technical officer of Aspiring Minds. “Continually refreshed with new data, it connects […]

Apprenticeship getting more attention as way to bridge the skills gap

It’s a familiar lament coming from employers: They struggle to hire people with the skills they need even when jobseekers line up at their doors. The skills gap has been a worry for years, and employers, educators, workers, and government officials have long touted apprenticeship as at least part of the solution. But the concept […]

‘I was not told there would be math’

Saturday Night Live has made invaluable contributions to American humor, but the best may be the show’s political parodies. Chevy Chase was famous for mocking Gerald Ford’s clumsy reputation (undeserved, for sure, considering Ford was a standout athlete). Dana Carvey practically built a career mimicking George H.W. Bush, and Phil Hartman had Bill Clinton down […]

What makes a good employee: education, experience, or something more?

It doesn’t seem to make sense: Employers complain of a lack of suitable applicants despite being inundated with a glut of highly educated jobseekers. Applicants are confused, too. A recent study from McKinsey & Company’s Center for Government found that 44 percent of young U.S. jobseekers included in a survey weren’t sure that their postsecondary […]

Beach Day Revisited

Companies that use pre-employment tests to screen applicants should, at the very least, make sure that the skills being tested are those skills that the position requires. Holding a Survivor-like contest to determine who will be recommended for a promotion to regional manager does not pass this test. Not even a little bit. Indeed, tests […]