The current job market demands creative thinkers. A recent study titled “Tomorrow’s Most Wanted” (conducted by Global Learning Institute Hyper Island and Edelman in Stockholm, Sweden) suggests that creativity, among other personality traits, is more important than technical skill sets.
Most applicants have a specific technical skill set related to the positions to which they are applying. However, the unsettling piece of this (at least for those currently looking for jobs) is that it can create a false sense of confidence in applicants. Did you ever submit an application to a job (that you were qualified for) with the utmost confidence that you will receive a phone call, only to be left hanging?
Think of it this way. Every job opening receives an average of 118 applications. The majority of these applicants have the technical skills necessary to complete the job requirements. How do recruiters narrow down the application pool if there are that many qualified individuals? Once the applicant pool is narrowed down to individuals who have the technical skill sets, employers look to your personality traits such as creativity.
Creativity can be learned.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s infamous TED Talk, “Your Elusive Creative Genius,” shares the idea that instead of someone “being” creative, we all “have” creativity within us. Humans are born with the ability to be creative. This does not mean you have to win the genetic lottery in hopes of being creative – instead, it can be learned and taught.
We’re not saying you need to invent the next iPhone.
People often mistake creativity with innovation. Innovations are often creative; however, creativity doesn’t necessarily need to be innovative. Creativity can be used to transform mundane, repetitive jobs into something enjoyable (for the employee) and efficient (for the company). A common example is creating scripts to automated repetitive jobs.
Promoting creativity during the application process
Many candidates have it all: technical skills, experience, and the perfect personality traits. However, their resume only shows the first two, which brings us back to square one. How do you show employers that you have the creativity they are chasing? Answer: use a creative resume. Creative resumes are up-and-coming ways of showing employers that you have the technical skills required to complete a job, but also have the creativity to take on challenges and adapt quickly to situations.
Take the time to develop your creative resume, avoid having your resume tossed in the trash, and ultimately, sit down for the interview. As the late Steve Jobs famously said, “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”
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