Job applicants should focus on these core skills.
Where you went to college may soon matter far less than it once did. Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey & Company, argues that AI is fundamentally reshaping how companies evaluate talent. Speaking recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sternfels said employers should prioritize real-world experience over traditionally prized credentials like alma maters.
Instead of fixating on where candidates went to school, Sternfels suggested companies look at tangible proof of skills, such as a developer’s GitHub portfolio. “Let’s actually get to the content,” he said, “and could that actually start meaning that a wider set of people can enter the workforce with different pathways?” This, in turn, might open doors for people who previously might have been overlooked.
Sternfels urges companies to focus on three core skills in applicants:
- Aspiration
- Judgment
- Creativity
These traits, he argues, are “uniquely human capabilities” that cannot be replicated by AI. To illustrate this point, he used space exploration, noting that the desire to go to places like Mars or the moon is a purely human aspiration.
