Tom Friedman's take on "How to Get a Job"

Great NYT column this week on the changing job market.  Employers continue to be swamped with applications but have difficulty finding people who are ready to add value.  Colleges are not preparing students with many of the skills they will need to be successful in the workplace.  Demands for Excel expertise have ramped up a lot (better know how to "Pivot Tables"), as have the more traditional issues associated with writing and speaking.  Employers are developing their own tests to determine if applicants have the skills they really need AND know how to apply those skills. 

Friedman's advice:

People get rejected for jobs for two main reasons, said Sharef. One, “you’re not showing the employer how you will help them add value,” and, two, “you don’t know what you want, and it comes through because you have not learned the skills that are needed.” The most successful job candidates, she added, are “inventors and solution-finders,” who are relentlessly “entrepreneurial” because they understand that many employers today don’t care about your résumé, degree or how you got your knowledge, but only what you can do and what you can continuously reinvent yourself to do.