“He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”
Yesterday I highlighted the 11 areas where there is most demand for hiring and education. But, what are employers asking for as it relates to skills in the workplace? This is what the National Association of Colleges and Employers found from the Job Outlook survey on priorities for hiring (in top 10 order):
- Ability to verbally communicate with persons inside and outside of the organization
- Ability to work in a team structure
- Ability to make decisions and solve problems
- Ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work
- Ability to obtain and process information
- Ability to analyze quantitative data
- Technical knowledge related to the job
- Proficiency with computer software programs
- Ability to create and/or edit written reports
- Ability to sell/influence others
Anyone of us who ever hired someone right out of college, knows that much of this just isn’t taught in college in a way that a graduate can express and show that they are proficient in these areas. So, we end up teaching it on-the job and it comes in a trial and error way, which as we know isn’t all that efficient. But, it is what it is. We can train all of this if we are willing to take the time and effort to do so, or we can choose to pay up for a couple of years of experience and hope that someone else did the training. Either way, we are paying for what we expect would already be learned.
I was reflecting on the list and thinking about how to be good workers to expand the Kingdom for God that we would be well served to also be good at many of the skills on the list. Of course, God works through us without any of this, but when we think about the jobs that we do each day and want to bring glory to God through our vocations, that we are better prepared to influence others about the impact that Jesus has had on our lives if we are striving to be as good at the work He has given us, as we can be. For us to use less than all of our talents is to possibly send the message to others that we just aren’t grateful, or worse yet wasteful.
Reference: Matthew 9:37 (New Living Translation)