Talent: Determining Talent (Post #2 of 4)
This is Post # 2 from a Series of 4 Posts
Previous post in the series: Talent: The education system Funnel! (Post #1 of 4)
Continuing from my earlier post, let us now take a closer look at Talent;
Say, a student Anita scores 95 marks out of 100 in Physics in her 10th-grade examination. What would Anita's talent be?
Option #1: This is the default option of our funnel system. Anita possesses the talent to be a Physicist in the future.This is not all, there are more options in my opinion;
Option #2: Maybe Anita possesses an exceptional memory, she does not forget what she reads - isn't that a talent for Teaching or Research?
Option #3: Maybe Anita possesses the unique talent to review the question papers of the last 10 years and is able to accurately predict what type of questions are likely to come in the upcoming examination! - isn't that a talent for Data Science or Analytics?
To determine talent, we must expose students early on to various activities, closely observe their actions, study their behaviors and then if the student continues to spend time on a certain task or activity for say a few years (shows their interest in the activity), then the teachers and parents must guide the student to effectively channel their energies in the right direction going forward. It is necessary to understand that the student learns and evolves over time so she may switch activities as they progress as and when something new incites interest and motivates them.
I don't say that the funnel system is bad, but the fact of the matter is that the students are expected to gain a hands-on experience of applying their learning through one or two projects in the entire curriculum. What usually happens is that, after many years of going through the grind, the students are wired to focus on the grades they wish to earn after they finish their project. Unfortunately, a focus on learning is just not there.
I am a product of the same education system and luckily I was always the first few to exit each funnel. I got my first job from my college campus. After that, each career choice I have made has just taken me closer to my true aspiration of guiding young minds to make career choices that are right for them. I intended to accomplish my aspirations through blogs initially and writing a book eventually (my eBook, Deconstructing Career Success is now available on Amazon).
As a hiring manager, I had the opportunity to interviews hundreds of entry level candidates (usually Engineering Graduates).
One of my favorite questions is, "What is your project work all about?" --- They passionately explain their project to me.
And, then I ask, "What is the real-life application for your project?" --- In the last 15 plus years of interviewing candidates, I have got satisfactory answers from very few candidates, in fact, I can count them on my fingers.
My next question is, "What was your role in the project?" --- Most candidates claim to be "leader of the team" and claim that they have directed the effort of all their team members to complete the project successfully. On deeper cross-examination, I find that they are unable to provide sufficient evidence to support their claim.
One thought did cross my mind, "maybe my organization did not possess sufficient brand equity to attract the best talent". But, that is usually the case with most small and medium-sized enterprises. The cream usually gets absorbed by larger and better-paying organizations much earlier. Those candidates who fail to get hired, unfortunately, are left struggling with options that neither align with their aspirations nor their talents. And, then the employer is left to decide the candidate's career path.
One thing I have learned from my experience is that when I have observed a certain talent in the candidates, shared my findings with the candidates and noticed that they are convinced with my findings, they have usually aligned with my choice of their career paths and have done fairly well for themselves over the years and more importantly they have chosen to stay on in my teams. I am very proud of this accomplishment. I did this because I felt I owed the candidate for having shown the interest in working for my company and also for having spent the effort to get hired. I'm not sure if it feasible in the first place and that is just because of lack of time available to the interviewers these days.
In cases where an individual's inborn talents are identified early on, they tend to be sure of what they want to do later in their lives (from the professional standpoint). Meaning, each funnel is chosen by them and the future funnels only help to direct the individual closer to their career goals.
When one plays with your strengths, they usually win!
My next post contains my view of an ideal Talent Based Education System.
Next post in the series: Talent: Talent-based education system (Post #3 of 4)
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