What is Employability: the importance of employability

What is employability? Why is employability important?

On the
Youtube channel “Café con Talento”
I had the opportunity to discuss together with
Isabel Álvarez Serón
, (CEO of
Polishing Talent
) and
Sergio Ibáñez Laborda
, (Head of Employment and Labor Guidance of
Ceste
) and
Juan Martínez de Salinas,
the importance of
taking care of employability
throughout our professional career.

I would like to highlight some of the reflections and ideas that were generated in that debate that I think are very interesting:

What is employability?

According to
Sergio Ibáñez
, employability is “how attractive you are to a future company, or how valuable you continue to be to the company where you work”. In other words, we are interested in developing employability both for a new company we are looking for and to promote in the company where we are.

What phases should be taken into account to improve our employability?

Isabel Álvarez stresses that in the case of young people especially, it is vital that they trust themselves, that they maintain a positive attitude, that they do not doubt their abilities. I think that this idea that Isabel raises is fundamental in anyone, especially in those people who are immersed in an active job search, since that attitude is transmitted very quickly in any selection process and companies are always looking for people with a positive mentality and a good attitude to join a new challenge and a new team. This attitude facilitates the ability to adapt and learn in new environments of uncertainty and is something generally valued by organizations.

It is important to remain interested in seeing what moves, to continue recycling, to train continuously, Isabel Álvarez

Do not throw in the towel on employability

Sergio also highlights the importance of knowing the “rules of the game“, knowing the market, the sector and the company in which we show interest is necessary to facilitate our way. It is also important to know yourself, to know what your strengths are, our areas for improvement, and to have a realistic goal. From there Sergio spoke of putting an action plan in place, maintaining, as we said before, an adequate energy and good attitude. Sergio also pointed out resilience, which is that ability not to “throw in the towel” in the face of adversity, to keep trying even when the result is sometimes not what we hope to achieve.

We learn by reflecting on what we have done, not just doing things, Sergio Ibáñez

Reinventing yourself in employability

In the debate on what employability is and its importance, we talk about
“SMART” objectives
(specific, measurable, achievable, challenging and defined with a date), and how to act when time passes and they are not achieved. It was commented that when we have set a goal and we see that time and the planned date pass and we have not achieved it, perhaps we can reflect on what the obstacles have been, what we have learned from that journey and perhaps change the strategy, be flexible to adapt what we have observed so that we can achieve what we want.

When we consider a change of career, or we want to “reinvent” ourselves, as Isabel commented, it is interesting to analyse what “you already have and that is transferable”. That is, what you can take advantage of your knowledge and the skills you have developed so far and that can help you achieve your new approach. As Sergio pointed out, we are not only talking about the professional experience that you already have accumulated related to what you are now planning to achieve, but all those experiences or situations, (they can be in personal areas, such as interests, hobbies or volunteering, for example), in which you have put into practice qualities that can now be very interesting for your new stage.

How do you find the balance between what companies offer and what people are looking for?

Isabel used the expression “maintenance gymnastics”, with the idea that even if I am not actively looking for a job at the moment, it is interesting to “be aware”, to continue to keep up to date with what is sought in the market. Sergio talked about keeping the “switch in on mode”, not leaving it “off” when I am no longer looking for a job, but always in “on mode”, even if it is idling, so as not to be disconnected in the future when I really need to look for or change jobs.

I find very interesting these ideas that both Isabel and Sergio contributed, that competencies are not only developed, of course, in the work environment, therefore before a selection process we must reflect on what experiences we have had, both at work and outside of it, that have allowed us to develop competencies and qualities that make us “employable”. Isabel commented that companies highly value the ability to work in a team, creativity, commitment, tenacity and communication, being a person who does things that enrich them, who looks for “extra” activities, who is eager and “hungry” to continue learning.

It is not only important to know where I am going and what I am good at, but also to know how to tell it, Sergio Ibáñez

Always be proactive in employability

Sergio also stressed that in many cases companies are also going to be interested in how we manage emotional intelligence, our interest in technologies and why we know how to do, beyond our professional lives, what level of initiative and curiosity we show in our day to day.

Let’s continue with maintenance gymnastics, even if we are not looking for a job now, Isabel Álvarez

I like many reflections that have arisen in the debate, personally I believe that employability is a quality that we must take care of, promote and keep awake, we do not know at what point it will be most necessary for us, and it is related to our ability to learn continuously and adapt to the environment. For me it has to do with being proactive and being clear about where you want to go and drawing up your roadmap to achieve it.