There has been a lengthy

There has been a lengthy discussion today on the UKbloggers mailing list about what it takes to get a job, with comments from recruiters and recruitees.
For me, it seems that it comes down to the old marketing principle of “exchange”. The employee has to offer what the employer seeks, and the employer has to offer an appropriate something (pay, working environment, flexible work patterns, etc.) in exchange. From an employees point of view, the most important thing is to offer an employer what they want – not necessarily skills or knowledge, as they are things that can be learned, but more likely an ability to solve problems and to learn, coupled with enthusiasm and an appropriate personality. These are things which (it could be argued) are harder, though probably not impossible, to learn, but if you can gain the right qualities in these areas, I reckon you are going to have an advantage over other applicants for a job.
At least I hope that that is the case, because I like to think that that area is one of my strongest, stronger than my academic record for sure.