In addition to the technical or professional skills, education and years of experience, research has shown that specific performance competencies are necessary to enable career success in a particular profession.
Engineering as an example
The SuccessFinder competency model (refer to the image below) is made up of 26 competencies that are organized into five broad categories of performance. As I spent my career in engineering and lead large engineering organizations for 15 years, I will use engineering as an example. The same approach applies to all professions. However, performance competencies are different. We work with associations to make this powerful analytics available to young people considering your trade as a career. Through our CareerSuccess program, we also make this analytics available to students and new graduates as they embark on their journey to career success and satisfaction. We encourage this journey to start before considering your college major. Most don't, and 80% of college students change their major!
When the SuccessFinder Researchers benchmarked the performance competencies of engineers against the full range of skills, the researchers found ten dominant competencies that high-performing engineers demonstrate in the workplace.
Competency | Description |
---|---|
Reasons Critically | Demonstrates the ability to tackle difficult problems by using logical, quantitative reasoning to identify patterns relevant to problem-solving. |
Builds Consensus | Enjoys working as part of a team. Emphasis is on appropriate compromise, demonstrating tact, maintaining emotional control and interpersonal tolerance rather than making demands. |
Demonstrates Character | Honors interpersonal commitments, maintains the courage of high-minded convictions, values living rightly and plays by honourable rules. |
Thinks Conceptually | Demonstrates the ability to comprehend theoretical concepts and be curious about the broader "why?" or holistic perspective on problems. |
Strives for Excellence | Demonstrates a desire to produce the best quality products or service and conscientiously tracks and double checks the accuracy of work. |
Overcomes Adversity | Demonstrates an ability to persevere when pursuing difficult challenges and responds positively to adversity in the face of failure. |
Maintains Accountability | Demonstrates an attitude that is defined by taking responsibilities and loyalties very seriously, by assuming a sense of personal accountability of one’s results, as well as co-workers’ actions without seeking to blame or provide excuses for failures. |
Establishes Alliances | Establishes friendly relationships, enjoys expressing one’s views and participating socially with others in a manner that reflects genuineness and interpersonal intimacy. |
Initiates Independently | Demonstrates a preference for taking action, pursuing high risk and initiating projects independently of prior approval or requests. |
Focuses on Results | Prepared to make the personal sacrifices or expend extraordinary dedication to one’s work when frequent overtime is required to complete assignments. |