Recruiters Should focus More on the Adaptability Quotient (AQ)

”The truth of every Job Seekers is in the Adaptability Quotient (AQ).” – Gaile Sweeney.

Take it or leave it. Been a job seeker, I realized that, the résumé doesn’t represent everything about the job seekers. That is, only information like accomplishments and successes are mostly found on it leaving out some interesting information about job seekers’ rollercoaster ride during the job search journey that is highly commendable.

The next application or subsequent interview with no real commitments can never be overlooked. The trials, their lows or challenges that no one knows about.

Note: The trials to land a job is equally important as much as the accomplishments on the résumé.

During hiring exercise, recruiters or hiring managers always place their emphasis on schools attended, the accomplishments attained at a particular place or time, the intellectual ability to handle situational and organizational problems and how past-behaviours can predict future-behaviours for the job.

Remember that, Hiring Managers, no matter how brilliant or intelligent, name it, can never know the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) of job seekers. Not even a résumé will tell you about it.
Yet the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) remains one of the key factors in determining how a job applicant can fit into a dynamic work environment. It also shows how capable they are able to adjust to changes and embrace more forward-thinking ways of working in technological innovations.

The fact that a job seeker can cope with weeks, months or years of unemployment, is down to having a strong ”Adaptability Quotient” (AQ). The Harvard Business Review described it as, ”the new competitive advantage.”

During the interviews, recruiters are more interested in the past of a job seeker in order to determine or forecast if he/she can be an asset to them in the future.
The real past includes: a career gap, accepting a lower position or title, or taking a lower pay.

Adaptability Quotient can be cultivated to reap significant rewards. A job seeker should use the period of unemployment as the time to take a risk and build courageously. According to a Clinical Psychologist, Meg Jay, she refers to this as creating “Identity Capital.”

She defines “Identity Capital” as a collection of personal assets—a repertoire of individual resources that are assembled over time, basically, how we build ourselves—bit by bit, over time.

The fact remains, some identity capital goes well on a résumé – while others are more personal. For example, where a job seeker comes from, how he solves problems, how he redefines the kind of work he does to make ends meet, or taking on a lower paid job and the lowering of self-worth.

“Job searching is not where you lose yourself but rather where you find yourself.” – Gaile Sweeney.

A quick question for hiring companies;
Does the job seeker have the adaptability nature to fit into your organization?

Remember, employers change, new employees come on board, and some work activities will shift in a continually evolving work environment, but an organizational AQ remains a natural by-product of individual AQ.

A quick question for job seekers also – Are you willing to redefine your current career path for what is essential for your future career?

Learning to adjust to life without work may be one of the most crucial phases of your life.

Let’s face the truth without mincing words. Jobseekers, your real story is your AQ.
How far are you going with the trend?

It’s time the hiring managers put more value in the adaptability quotient above every other thing.

Get your CV well written and structured at www.gailesweeney.com

*Drawn from a post by Gaile Sweeney