I recently discovered a sentence that I love and would highly recommend to anyone, especially those starting out on their career ladder.
As many who are regular readers will know, I’ve pretty much been a self-employed, have-a-go-Harry my whole life. Occasionally, though, I have also worked for others. And I wish I’d known this sentence when I’d done interviews back then.
One thing we’re often asked is “Can you do… x?” Often, we stumble around, usually saying “no,” or “I know about it, but…” etc. None of these answers instil confidence and can even make us look rather incompetent. Recently, I discovered the perfect answer to that question: “Yes (and with a wry smile) I just haven’t learnt it yet!”
As an employer myself, for me, what that says is: this person is confident, isn’t afraid of a challenge, is open to learning new skills, (and has a sense of humour). Qualities I would find very alluring.
I have spent my life doing jobs I have no idea how to do at the outset: songwriter, radio producer, scriptwriter, and even gallerist! But I said yes to them all, then knuckled down and learnt how to do them.
I’m not suggesting we will all be experts at the things we try, I’m certainly not. But by using the sentence above, what we’re saying (as much to yourself as to a potential employer) is: I’m going to give it my all, and I’m open to discovering new things. At the very worst, we’ll know what we can’t do. But I’ve found that the a hungry fighter learns more about themselves by simply doing new things with gusto, than any other way. And for any employer, it’s an attractive quality in a recruit.
So, whatever you wish to do; sport, be healthy, create art, or fly a jet… remember I believe you CAN. All you have to do is learn how!