Employability is called the set of skills and talents that make an individual capable of getting and keeping a job . The notion also refers to what allows a subject to grow and develop in the workplace .
The potential
It can be said that employability is a person's potential . Thanks to their employability, a human being has more or less chances of being hired by a company and, once there, of progressing or then moving to another company that offers better conditions.
Employability, on the other hand, is linked to adaptation . With the passage of time, the demands and needs of the labor market change, forcing workers to adapt to new realities. That is why employability implies the constant updating of knowledge and skills .
Components of employability
Training , both academic and practical, is a central element of employability: men and women who want to advance professionally have to have the necessary knowledge to work successfully. In any case, employability also includes other attributes, such as the way you relate to colleagues, the ease of working in a team, responsibility and resilience , for example.
Another component of employability is professional experience , although we cannot force it or acquire it in a short time. Unlike training, this arises naturally through the use we give to our knowledge. For this reason, it is important to find a work environment that values our efforts and encourages us to grow in all possible aspects.
In this framework we must also mention the attitude , which is reflected in the energy with which we arrive at the office, carry out our tasks, communicate with our superiors and our colleagues and also in the frequency with which we give our opinion on issues. relevant to the company.
External and internal
It is interesting to note that there are those who differentiate between external employability and internal employability . External employability is associated with the skills required by the labor market in general, while internal employability is related to the specific skills demanded by the company where the employee works.
This tells us that the preparation of each person with a view to obtaining a professional position must be very flexible . Firstly, once we have identified our vocation, we have the option of training academically, that is, by attending a college or tertiary training center, or we can study on our own, to become self-taught professionals. The second path may present more difficulties when applying for certain jobs, but companies that value skills and talent more than degrees will give us a chance.
In this framework, external employability weighs, since our initial training must be oriented to the demands of the market in general . We can take this for granted in an academy, since educational programs are updated to stay in tune with the requirements of companies, but when studying on our own we must not lose sight of this aspect, always choosing the most up-to-date material. and consulting with people who already work in the field that interests us.
Internal employability can be a difficult threshold to cross at first, because despite all our training, having prepared ourselves to meet the needs of the current market, each job may require specific skills or knowledge that are new to us. That is the first point in which they test us to see if we are capable of adapting to our environment and succeeding in challenges , like good resilient professionals.