Cognitive Skills for Vibrant Career

Ranjan K Baruah

The entire world has seen the importance of a skilled youth force. There are many young people around the world struggling to get a decent job. In spite of having academic qualifications many youths do not get sustainable jobs as they lack skills. We have published about the importance of skills in our last edition where we have mentioned one of the important skills called cognitive skills. The development of skills can contribute to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and labor productivity and helping countries to become more competitive.

There are huge gaps in basic literacy and numeracy of working-age populations, as 750 million people aged 15+ (or 18 percent of the global population) report being unable to read and write, with estimates being nearly twice as large if literacy is measured through direct assessments. Large-scale international assessments of adult skills generally point to skills mismatches as well as large variation in the returns to education across fields of study, institutions, and population groups. Employers in many developing countries report that a lack of skilled workers is a major and increasing bottleneck for their operations, affecting their capacity to innovate.

To be successful in the 21^st century labour market young people must possess cognitive skills which encompass the ability to understand complex ideas, adapt effectively to the environment, learn from experience, and reason. Foundational literacy and numeracy as well as creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving are cognitive skills.

Though there is no fixed number of cognitive skills but the main skills are as follows:

 

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: Foundational or fundamental literacy refers to the skills and strategies involved in reading; speaking, writing and interpreting one's own thought and numeracy is the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts. Basic numeracy skills consist of comprehending fundamental arithmetical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

 

Creativity: It is a valuable skill because it can be a useful tool for developing new ideas, increasing efficiency and devising solutions to complex problems. Creative people are always ahead of others.

 

Logic and Reasoning: It can help one to solve problems and generate ideas. One may use logic and reasoning skills when you identify the needs and go through a process of brainstorming and problem-solving to meet those needs.

 

Critical thinking and Problem-Solving: It can help one to evaluate information and conduct quick, logical thought processes. These skills often let one analyze situations and apply good judgment. Problem-solving skills may help us to find solutions to problems that do not have an obvious or straightforward answer. T

 

Abstract Thinking: Abstract thinking can allow us to see problems from multiple viewpoints, evaluate them objectively and find the best solution that suits us. The ability to abstract data can allow us to process information so we can come up with new solutions efficiently. This skill is often important, because many jobs involve making distinctions between similar situations or objects under different conditions.

 

Strengthening our cognitive skills can help us perform better in almost every aspect of your job. These skills would also help us to be selected for different jobs and interviews. We must improve these skills from an early age to remain ahead of our peers and face the challenge of a competitive world. There are many activities through which we can develop these skills.