A few days ago, the New York Times ran an article with an eye-opening title: Not Leadership Material? Good. The World Needs Followers. Also recently, the Bank Negara Malaysia Annual Report 2016 stated that 'Employers continue to cite significant skill gaps among new recruits' - what's being taught in curricula are not what companies want when hiring. So what DO they want?

Is It Leadership? Not really...

One of the most valued qualities in colleges and universities is Leadership, and graduates believe that their experiences being President of such-and-such society, or Captain of so-and-so club, will sit nice and shiny at the top of their resumes. They're not wrong, but they ARE mistaken on one thing:

So if higher education institutions (Ivy League schools included) are admitting students based on 'leadership potential', then priming students to be the tomorrow's leaders... but in fact most companies don't think leadership is all THAT important, then where is the mismatch? (It seems employers also think MBA's are overrated too)

We'll be looking at research released earlier this year by Jeff Kavanaugh, a Senior Partner at Infosys, titled Are Students Getting the Most from MBA Programs?

What's Important to Recruiters vs What Students THINK is Important to Recruiters

From the chart above, it's clear that in order of importance, these are the top skills companies want:

1. Professionalism
2. Critical Thinking
3. Teamwork
4. Communication
5. Creative Thinking
6. IT
7. Leadership
8. Career Management

It seems that teamwork is more important than leadership! It makes sense; after all, companies will always need more doers than leaders, more people to execute instructions than those to give it.

How Good Students THINK They Are vs How Good They Actually Are

It's funny to note that students overestimate themselves in every skill except IT skills! It IS true that most older folks depend on the younger ones for tech help. Because they lack real work experience, it's not unexpected that students' estimates are off the mark. What's scary though are the HUGE discrepancies in Leadership and Professionalism/ Work Ethic; no wonder employers have so many complaints about millenials' attitude in the workforce! Whatever ideas students have about performing at work is VERY different from reality and employers' expectations.

How Do We Close the Skills Gap?

As both Kavanaugh and Bank Negara Malaysia recommended, internships or industrial training is a good way to give students much-needed real-world working experience. Colleges and universities need to emphasise more on soft skills and communication skills, and teach 'followership' instead of just 'leadership'.

Students, learn how to be a good team player! Service above stature.