By Dr. Vishwajeet Vinayak Gaike
In an age when technology can shortlist candidates in seconds, the human element of employability has never been more critical. Degrees open doors, but personality keeps them open. Career coaches today stand at the intersection of skill, behavior, and self-awareness—helping graduates not just enter organizations, but evolve within them.
From Placement to Employability: Where Coaching Truly Begins
For years, “placement” meant the end of a college journey. But in reality, that’s where true coaching begins. Getting hired is only the first milestone; the ability to sustain and grow within an organization defines employability.
A student who lands a job through strong technical skills may still struggle without the right behavioral foundation. This is where personality awareness—especially around agreeableness and openness to experience—comes into play.
Agreeableness builds cooperation and reliability, essential for teamwork and trust. Openness fuels curiosity and innovation, critical for adapting to new challenges. Career coaches must help students understand these traits, track them over time, and channel them into workplace behaviors that ensure stability and growth.
Building Organizational Behavior through Personality
The modern workplace is dynamic, multicultural, and psychologically demanding. Gen Z employees, though energetic and talented, often lose interest or creativity once the novelty fades. The issue isn’t a lack of intelligence—it’s a gap in behavioral endurance.
Career coaches can bridge this by focusing on organizational behavior traits—adaptability, ethical conduct, and emotional regulation—supported by regular personality check-ins. These assessments are not labels but mirrors; they reveal how one reacts to pressure, change, and teamwork. When coaches link these reflections to professional goals, students transform from job seekers into mindful contributors who grow with their organization, not apart from it.
Work Ethics and Employability Skills: The Silent Power Duo
Technical proficiency might land the job, but work ethics and employability skills sustain it. Punctuality, discipline, and integrity remain timeless values, yet they now blend with digital communication, empathy, and creative problem-solving.
Coaches play a dual role here: cultivating tangible skills and nurturing inner discipline. Personality traits like agreeableness make professionals reliable partners, while openness ensures they remain curious learners in fast-evolving environments. The combination builds employees who are both stable and progressive—rare assets in today’s volatile corporate world.
The Future of Career Coaching: From Assessment to Alignment
Career coaching is shifting from mere guidance to continuous behavioral alignment. The best coaches will soon act as long-term partners in personal growth—conducting periodic personality assessments, measuring behavioral shifts, and offering corrective mentorship just like organizations conduct performance reviews.
In the coming decade, the conversation must evolve from “Are you job-ready?” to “Are you growth-ready?” Because sustaining employability will demand not just skills, but self-awareness, empathy, and adaptability.
Final Appeal
To every educator, corporate leader, and career coach reading this: let’s treat employability as a living process, not a placement event. Let’s make personality assessment a routine, not a rarity. Because when graduates learn to balance agreeableness with openness, ethics with innovation, and ambition with reflection—the campus-to-corporate journey doesn’t just produce employees. It shapes professionals who think, feel, and grow with purpose.
