Thomas Friedman wrote an interesting Op-Ed in today’s NY Times about the new job market “untouchables.”  He is referring to employees that cannot be fired by their employers.  In the recent past, the untouchables were the lawyers, the engineers, and the accountants.  When our current economic trouble hit, these were some of the first jobs to go.

Why?

Two reasons.  First, part (certainly not all) of the job duties for these types of employees were able to be outsourced.  And secondly, some of these employees had a strong sense of entitlement and were not bringing new ideas to the table.

If you missed the first part of this blog, click here to read about the necessity of being creative in your current job, or realizing that your job duty is going to be outsourced and learning a new skill set.  To obtain this new skill set and new way of thinking, Friedman writes about the central challenge (italics mine):

Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive. Therefore, we not only need a higher percentage of our kids graduating from high school and college — more education — but we need more of them with the right education.

The right education will be critical.  I look back at my master’s degree training and 95% of my courses taught me how to thrive in a corporate setting.  I learned the intricacies of corporate finance and accounting.  These are all skills I could have learned on the job.  Anyone can be taught how to reconcile a balance sheet.

But there was only one course that taught me how to think.  This was Jim Beach’s Entrepreneurship course.  I believe in The Entrepreneur School because the new skill sets necessary in the world these days are critical thinking and innovation.  All this mixed with a personality that makes you able to communicate your ideas.

These skill sets can be learned, but most likely not in your typical college setting.  That is why a new method of thinking entrepreneurially is what will set you apart in today’s job market so that you become an untouchable.

And take a look at this article from today’s SiliconIndia.  Companies within India are now adding tests in the hiring process to determine if the candidate is an innovative thinker.  Doing the job alone is no longer going to cut it in today’s economy.

 Dude, where's my job? Part II [2:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download