Does Curiosity kill the cat?

Well, a few days ago I had published an article about relevancy. Thought I would continue on the same lines and pen down a few ideas I derived from the changing job scenario. Having been in this industry now for a few years I have been able to see a beautiful mind shift in Hiring Managers (HM) and their Hiring Patterns. 

With the advent of Automation, AI and Machine learning, it becomes super critical for all of us to remember that mediocrity will not be in any form tolerated. How you up the ante will determine your chances of success. All great leaders who are able to foresee this changing shift have been sending us warning signals for quite some time now. If it is we who pretend we cannot see it then who really is to blame? I have for sure been witnessing many a candidate walking up for an interview without sharpening their tools and without a clear preparation and a thought process. This is all hinging on the hope that in my CV I have represented a great picture of myself and with all that jazz 'I will be able to crack the interview'. Think again, does a CV stand as a true representation of someone?

Be warned, that this psyche does not have any place in the world we see today, least talking about tomorrow which is going to be a far more competitive one. So what does the HM really want? One of the few things that have been adorning JDs for a few years now, however have a bigger significance today - Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Let us look at a closer examination of these. What is Critical Thinking? Look up the World's best university and you will find - "Problem solving and critical thinking refers to the ability to use knowledge, facts, and data to effectively solve problems. The ability to develop a well thought out solution within a reasonable time frame, however, is a skill that employers value greatly." Simply defined, the ability to wriggle out of problems with your own mind. Life throws a myriad set of problems at you, and you are expected to come out battle scarred or unscathed. Similarly a project that you will be hired for would have the same kind of peaks and troughs. Would you be able to solve those, or would you want the easy way out. Would you be able to contribute something to bring a team out of tricky surfaces or would you succumb? These are questions that can help you find out if you have these skills. If this has been demonstrated by you, battle won. So again - I am reiterating that it is not just the skills that you use that will help you, A critical thinker will always want to go deep for problem analysis since the problems at most instances will help you find a great answer. Always yearn for more and more and try and find out the reason for the project. The Business Objectives, the reason why these tools and technologies are being used and you should be able to get the crux of the project.

In a changing world we have to understand that combination roles are going to be a reality. When resource costs are taken into consideration during annual budgetary exercises, all T-Rexs will be gone. Strongest will emerge and those will certainly not just be because of their strong skills, it will be because of the above mentioned skills of Problem Solving and Critical Thinking. So remember the old saying - Curiosity killed the cat.. Well it actually might have in the past however today it certainly does not, for in today's world it merely changes it to saying that it does give the cat a real good chance to live the promised nine lives.