Article published on LinkedIn.com: March28, 2023

COMPETENCE

Why prepare for interview questions that you are a candidate or an employer?

Obviously, this preparation helps interviewees and recruiters to assess correctly and avoid potentially costly failures.

To fully understand the meaning of the word « competence, » it is necessary to focus on two elements, namely psychological competence, and technical skills. One does not go without the other.

Often, we focus on technical skills and neglect psychological skills for fear of creating an atmosphere of instability in the moment.

A person is psychologically competent as long as they can understand the rights, responsibilities, risks, or benefits of decisions and the potential consequences of what they decide. Also, she or he has the ability to understand or communicate with others, verbally or otherwise.

Technical skills are the abilities and knowledge needed to perform specific tasks. They are practical and often relate to mechanical, computers, mathematical or scientific tasks. Some examples include knowledge of programming languages, design programs, mechanical equipment, or tools to accomplish tasks.

Whether you're an employee or a boss, well-defined psychological and technical skills can help foster a strong company culture to build a better-aligned workforce to establish key competitive differences. They also help ensure consistent performance standards and a good working atmosphere, which can help with employee recruitment and retention.

Psychological skills, or mental skills, are tools for the mind. This includes skills such as positive self-talk, confidence building, goal setting and achieving the most productive mindset along with many other skills. Improving your psychological skills can improve your job results and your overall well-being.

Psychological skills commonly examined in social and work settings are motivation, self-reliance, positivism, realism, being calm and relaxed in the heat of the moment, ready for action, high energy, determined, alert, focused, confident and responsible.

To achieve success that it is the employee or the employer, one needs to evaluate the value of degrees received and the knowledge obtained in the workplace by comparing programs of study of degrees simply, because from one school to another, they could be differences in content that could affect decision-making.

The basic education received in primary, secondary and university schools inculcates basic knowledge, theoretical knowledge, which must be used to help us accumulate even more expertise once in the labor market.

This education received, makes it possible to possess a wealth of theoretical intellectual information. However, it must be avoided that the student on receiving his diploma can state that he has the « competence » to place himself on the path to success.

Here, the meaning of the word in the field of work should not be confused:

a.     Recognized competence: being, the legally recognized ability of an authority to deal with a question, to judge it, to perform an act, according to determined methods. For example, a doctor who has obtained an official certificate to practice medicine.

b. Competence accompanied by experience: being, a thorough knowledge, a recognized experience in a field, which gives the quality to someone to judge, to decide. For example, an employee who demonstrates great skill acquired in the field. The skill of a plumber, electrician, carpenter, teacher, accountant, etc.

Therefore, the newly graduated student must acquire « experience » for a certain period of time, which may even be several years, for example, doctors and engineers.

Knowledge, know-how, expertise, skill, experience, aptitude, and professionalism are the qualifiers of the « competence » designation.

Go even further in your thought and remember Andrée Maillet, « Nowadays, competence is not enough, genius even less; you have to sell yourself. »

Education is most important for success and should be continued throughout life. A person may think that he or she no longer has to study or get information, but for this person failure will creep in.

There is the school system, but there is also autodidacticism. A person who learns by himself, who teaches himself without the help of a teacher or an educational establishment.

Find out more about « competence » with My Success Is Your Success. The book through questions, quotes and reflections provides the necessary elements to explore yourself so to shape your success and help those around you do the same. Remember that success is all about team efforts!

This book is the result of forty years of experience acquired with local and international organizations and companies and during consultancy, change management, transition and marketing services. This 404-page personal development book was published by WebTech Publishing and is available online in English, North American French and European versions. For more information and to view the flip book, visit webtechPublishing.

About the Author In addition to writing, Germain Decelles acts as Change Management Strategist. He has over 40 years of business and consultation experience with local and international markets, including sectors such as retail trade, distribution, information technology and communications, transportation, manufacturing, financial services, and government organizations. Other publications: ISO Pour Tous – Le manuel d’information ISO – Le guide de préparation ISO – La gestion du changement en affaires – La gestion de projet d’affaires – Le changement POUR TOUS – Change your future, now! – Mon succès est votre succès. Press Contact Germain Decelles, o.s.j. WebTech Management et Publication Incorpored

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