Quiz: Are You Smart Enough To Get A Great Job?
Employers today often complain that they're having a hard time filling great jobs. They give lots of reasons, but surveys show that when asked what skills they most want in an employee, hiring managers cite reasoning skills such as interpersonal skills, problem-solving abilities and creative thinking.
In other words: intelligence.
Intelligence means the ability to learn quickly, analyze situations and solve problems. In a hypercompetitive job market, intelligence might not be everything, but it sure helps.
More: Study Finds Intelligent People Take Less Sick Leave
Brainpower may be partly hard-wired but not completely. There are things you can do to boost yours without going for a Ph.D.Are you doing enough to boost yours?
True or False?
- I spend a lot of time with people who are smarter than me: clear thinkers, interested in analyzing problems.
- I draw my political views at least as much from experts such as David Gergen or Charles Krauthammer as from political comedians like Stephen Colbert or Dennis Miller.
- I spend at least as much time reading The New York Times or Wall Street Journal as People or Sports Illustrated.
- I'm at least as likely to read Life Lessons of Great Leaders as to see a "Twilight" movie.
- I'm at least as likely to pursue intelligence-building recreation such as debating issues or attending a book club or public affairs forum, as to play sports, video games or party til dawn.
- I'm less likely to accept religion on blind faith and more likely to ponder hard questions such as, "If God will provide" how come one-third of the world is starving and billions die in agony?"
Scoring Key
Obviously, the more "trues," the more likely you're optimizing your brainpower. Might your answers make you want to do at least one thing differently?
Of course, even some people who score zero decide not to change. They derive so much pleasure from, for example, the new pot decriminalization laws to care much about optimizing their brainpower.
But you make your choices, you take your chances. In our ever more competitive economy, the path to viability may not include a daily ritual of bonging while watching "Simpsons" reruns.
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Marty Nemko
The San Francisco Bay Guardian called Dr. Nemko "The Bay Area's Best Career Coach" and he was Contributing Editor for Careers at U.S. News where he now also blogs. His sixth and seventh books were published in 2012: How to Do Life: What They Didn't Teach You in School and What's the Big Idea? 39 Disruptive Proposals for a Better America. More than 1,000 of his published writings are free on www.martynemko.com. He posts here weekly.
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