Life's Tool Belt

I once had a professor who liked to compare a skill set to a tool belt that you wear around your waist. As you acquire more skills and knowledge through classes, work, and other life experiences, an increasing number of tools get added to your belt. As you go through life, your tool belt is always with you and whenever needed, you can reach into it to grab the tool that the moment calls for.

A tool belt is a great analogy for several reasons. First, it captures the fact that skills can be both gained and lost, similar to how tools can be added or removed from your tool belt. Like tools, skills must be continuously honed and sharpened in order to keep in good condition. If you neglect a certain skill for a long period of time, it will begin to rust. Secondly, it is important to know when and how to apply each skill, just as you must know when to use a screwdriver rather than a wrench.

One of the most striking similarities is the fact that skills are only meaningful if they serve a purpose. For example, knowing how to loosen and tighten a screw with a screwdriver is useful, but what makes this skill truly valuable is the ability to build or fix an object, whether it is a piece of furniture or a toy. This is especially important to keep in mind when job searching. Often, when employers post job descriptions for open positions, they tend to list numerous, very specific skill requirements. In today's competitive market, these requirements have only gotten longer and longer. However, before you dive in trying to acquire or improve these skills, it is important to take a step back and think about what these companies are really looking for. For example, a position that requires in-depth knowledge of programming implies that the company is looking for someone who can built high quality, innovative pieces of software that customers will want to buy. What's crucial here is not only knowing how to program, but to be able to use this skill to create successful products.

In summary, skills are only a means, not an end. Skills should be learned and developed with a purpose (or several) in mind that looks beyond just the skill itself. Of course, you may not always know exactly what you will do with a skill as you are learning it, but it is important to think about the possible applications of the skill. After all, the tools sitting in your tool belt are of little use unless you can use them to build extraordinary things.