I’m good at everything but I’m not great at anything💡

We have been taught the old way and we haven’t been shown reality. “First go to school, then choose a degree on what you want to do and once you graduate, you’ll work on what you really love”. Bullshit.

The fact that our education system is obsolete has no room for discussion anymore: it just is. We are taught tons of worthless data which prepares us for a world which no longer exists. We study lots of theory which we forget because we don’t use it on a daily basis or it’s just outdated information. You finish your degree with good or bad grades — by the way, no one cares anymore — and start applying for a job you think you’ll like. But you get no answer. Already, entry-level jobs are asking for experience, more than one language, Excel and the whole Office Suite looks insulting if you try to add it in your CV… but maybe you receive a call and you get a job. If this is the case, you will go to your desk and start getting ready to work. But what do you know? You know a lot of theory but you DON’T KNOW SHIT.

No one has taught you how to properly communicate by email — but we all know how to write a formal letter or an essay — or how to organise your week based on events, meetings and tasks. You have never seen the tools and programs you’ll be working with because you were solving financial problems on a paper with formulas you already forgot. Or maybe you don’t know how to make an impactful presentation because all the options you were given in your classes were one: PowerPoint.

Nowadays, the requirements have changed, and the education system is not ready to provide. You should know more than one language, and I’m not only referring to spoken ones: you should at least be familiar with coding. You need to be tech savvy and stop using the mouse to copy and paste. You should know the basics of labor law so that no one can take advantage of you.
No one is going to come to you with all this information and solve all your problems. It depends on you.

All the tools you need are available for you in the internet. There are many platforms with free — and paid — courses that can take you a long way, and it will be the guide to a successful career path. But you have to work hard for what you want. Employers now care about skills, and that’s what makes a CV something. If you are looking for a job, find the skills needed and master them — I’m sorry, but in here you cannot just add a Snapchat filter to make it look better — . Then go get that job and forget about the rest. Specialists are needed, and soft skills will come natural with time or maybe you already have them by defect.

If you want to cross the entry-level barrier, you have to do it yourself. The competition is getting tougher every day, and we can’t just wait for better things to come. Companies rely on specialists, and well-rounded candidates will stay as mediocre employees.

-- I previously wrote this article in my Medium profile, here's the link: https://medium.com/@jaimepichardogarcia/im-good-at-everything-but-i-m-not-great-at-anything-42874bf601c7 --