Not like the movies but true grit and a new magnificent 7 are worth a look

It is funny how the same topics seem to suddenly show up across different sources I am reading or people I am talking to, but it happened again this week as I watched the GPA and Test Scores video from the Self-Blended Learning Movement course. I have often cited Laszlo Bock's comments about GPAs not being the best determinants of good hires. I use his comments for the same reason others do. People know Google and associate it with bright, talented people. They must be doing something right with their hiring, so people pay attention. Today, I added Work Rules! to my reading list.

Another thing that resonated for me within Bernard Bull's video was the talk about the seven traits for workplace readiness identified by Koru. These are: grit, rigor, polish, curiosity, impact, teamwork, and ownership. Having worked with many recent graduates in the workplace, I can definitely second this list. What caught my eye, in part, was the inclusion of grit. It was the second time recently that I had encountered that word, one which isn't used that often in conversation. My previous experience with it was over at Jay Cross's Aha! Project. There are several great links regarding GRIT, including a video of the Grit Scale inventor, Angela Duckworth, on the Aha! Project site. You can also download the Grit Scale questionnaire here.

Going back to the Koru 7, however, that led me to dig into their website a bit and I came across a blog article about the real questions that interviewers are asking in an interview. One of these is whether you are a cultural fit. I'll admit that this one is not always fully understood by managers. We recently had a situation at my office that shows the difference of managerial styles and awareness. One of our senior managers has always been in the "hire for attitude, train for skill" camp. However, when we tried to hire a consultant recently one of the other departmental managers dug her heals in about the person not being strong enough technically. Other managers tried to remind her that we need balance on the team and while she may not be the fastest or most experienced, she provided emotional balance to the team. Highly skilled people are often high maintenance and having all super stars on the team can actually be counter-productive. This person could bring other important traits to the team. Using the seven trait above, for example, I would rank this new employee (yes, she was eventually hired) very high particularly in rigor, polish, and curiosity.

We all have a lot to learn about what learners need and what employers need and how to mesh the two. One final article I will share for now comes from Forbes, which also looked at What Employers Are Looking For When Hiring Recent College Grads. The bit that really caught my attention was the following disconnect:

"Fifty-eight percent of students said college should adequately prepare them for a career, according to McGraw-Hill Education’s 2015 Student Workforce Readiness Survey. However, only 20% of students at the time of graduation felt very prepared to join the workforce."