Employers say, “Attitude is Everything”

Attitude. The right attitude is a rung on the ladder to success while the wrong attitude can completely derail a career. Without question, more people I know are terminated from their jobs because of poor attitude and not incompetency. In fact as a manager I think incompetency coupled with the right attitude is fixable. Competency coupled with the wrong attitude is not good enough.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Nick Schultz “Hard Unemployment Truths About ‘Soft Skills’” highlights the importance of attitude over hard skills. And at Per Scholas we hear from our many employers that a command of “soft skills” or “life skills” as we call it, is more important to job retention than anything else. That’s why we’re taking a hard look at our life skills curriculum and adjusting accordingly.

Last week I met four near-graduates of the Per Scholas program. Each one of them knocked me over with their authenticity, their empathy, their grace. I didn’t know a thing about how they were doing in class but I knew right then and there that Janea, Vincent, Luis and Mario will land jobs because they have the right attitude and the drive to succeed.

Four current Per Scholas students speak to visitors from Barclays