{"id":41569,"date":"2021-07-07T10:42:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T14:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=41569"},"modified":"2021-07-12T17:29:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T21:29:03","slug":"how-to-be-more-employable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Looking for advice about how to be more employable? How can you get the job you really want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cschools of experience theory\u201d is all about how to improve employability. If you want to know how to be more employable, you should learn to apply this theory to your own career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out how to be more employable today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to Be More Employable: Focus on Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When businesses hire people, especially for key positions, they often prioritize talent: They look for people with the \u201cright stuff.\u201d But when people succeed, it isn\u2019t because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-deliberate-practice\/\">innate talent<\/a>, but because they learned to handle pressure and setbacks through experience. Employers make better hires when they look for the right experiences rather than promotions and awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This \u201cschools of experience\u201d theory of hiring can help to guide your career. <\/strong>The key is to seek out jobs that provide key experiences relevant to the job you ultimately want. Similarly, in your family, create experiences for your children that build key skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Improve Employability With Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1979 book <em>The Right Stuff<\/em>, Tom Wolfe described the competitive world of test pilots, where those who were chosen had a unique combination of talent and fearlessness: the \u201cright stuff.\u201d NASA adopted the formula for choosing the first astronauts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, many companies look for the right stuff, or innate talent, in hiring key executives. They look for candidates with a string of successes and an upward trajectory. However, talent doesn\u2019t predict success\u2014it\u2019s common for executives who were successful in one company to fail in the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A better approach to hiring decisions is the \u201cschools of experience\u201d theory developed by Morgan McCall of the University of Southern California and described in her book <em>High Flyers<\/em>. This theory can help you find out how to be more employable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The model focuses on process capabilities\u2014whether a candidate has handled situations like those he would face in the new position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Successful leaders develop their abilities through \u201ccourses\u201d they take in the schools of experience: failures, challenges, or experiences doing something new. For example, Nolan Archibald, CEO of Black &amp; Decker, decided early on that he wanted to become a CEO. But instead of seeking a fast-track executive training position, he started out working in an asbestos mine. Throughout his career, he continued to ask himself what experiences and problems he needed to master so he\u2019d be capable of becoming a CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Build Your Career<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-build-your-career\/\">build your career<\/a> the same way by \u201csigning up\u201d for important experiences, instead of looking for jobs with pay and prestige or a fast track to promotion.<\/strong> Determine which experiences you\u2019re likely to need in the future and master those \u201ccourses\u201d before you need them. This advice can help you to dramatically improve employability and achieve your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-dream-job\/\">dream job<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking for advice about how to be more employable? How can you get the job you really want? The \u201cschools of experience theory\u201d is all about how to improve employability. If you want to know how to be more employable, you should learn to apply this theory to your own career. Find out how to be more employable today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,30],"tags":[411],"class_list":["post-41569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-work","tag-how-will-you-measure-your-life","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\"},\"headline\":\"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\"},\"wordCount\":482,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"How Will You Measure Your Life?\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career\",\"Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\",\"name\":\"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature. Growing up, she enjoyed reading fairy tales, Beatrix Potter stories, and The Wind in the Willows. As of today, her all-time favorite book is Wuthering Heights, with Jane Eyre as a close second. Elizabeth has branched out to non-fiction since graduating and particularly enjoys books relating to mindfulness, self-improvement, history, and philosophy.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/rina\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-shaw\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything - Shortform Books","description":"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything","og_description":"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Shaw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rina","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Shaw","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Shaw","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4"},"headline":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything","datePublished":"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/"},"wordCount":482,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","keywords":["How Will You Measure Your Life?"],"articleSection":["Career","Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/","name":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-07-07T14:42:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-12T21:29:03+00:00","description":"Do you want to know how to be more employable? What steps can you take today to improve employability? Find out here.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-be-more-employable\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Be More Employable: Experience Is Everything"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4","name":"Elizabeth Shaw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-profile-picture.png","caption":"Elizabeth Shaw"},"description":"Elizabeth graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature. Growing up, she enjoyed reading fairy tales, Beatrix Potter stories, and The Wind in the Willows. As of today, her all-time favorite book is Wuthering Heights, with Jane Eyre as a close second. Elizabeth has branched out to non-fiction since graduating and particularly enjoys books relating to mindfulness, self-improvement, history, and philosophy.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/rina"],"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-shaw\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/dream-job-secret-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41829,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41569\/revisions\/41829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}