Skillset vs. Mindset: Which Will Get You the Job?

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After reading this article, and thinking about the alternatives, here is my opinion: If you have the basic skillset, mindset is more important. It will affect how well you interact with teammates, how honest you are in your work, how you react under pressure and how much satisfaction and happiness you find in your job. This not only makes the job easier for you, but more pleasant for those around you. This is important and more productive for your company than a lot of tension in the workplace.
Just a note: reading the comments of the others here, I noticed quite a few grammatical errors. Edit your writing. You will be glad you did.

Patricia Iniguez of IA 9:32AM December 22, 2011

I think that they are both equally important. You can have the skills to do something but if you have a poor mindset it will only take you so far. Also you can have the mindset that you can do something but when it actually come down to doing the job then that can only take you so far. But in the future I would want to have the skills so that I actually know what I am doing in my future career

Dominique Gaddy of PA 10:50PM September 11, 2011

From reading the article it seems as skillset will almost always get you the job. Personally, to me, I would say mindset is better. Employers should hire employees with great mindset. Someone whose a fast learner, to learn that skillset. With a powerful mindset anyone could have the skillset needed. The thing about this article is that they basically make it seem as if the only thing you need or have to have for the job is the right skillset. This is unfair but sort of makes sense. Usually you are going to apply for a job where you have the skillset for it right? Mindset comes in when deciding that perfect job. This article lacks hope for those with Mindset but helps when applying for jobs.

Jenni Alex Collado of PA 10:12PM September 05, 2011

From my own perspective I would say that skill set is deffinatly the necessary tool one would need to be hired by the workforce they are applying for. They have all the required atributes that the workplace is looking for but also they would need to have a good mind set. But in most cases if somebody were to have the skills to recieve the job they must have a good mind set to achieve those skills of higher learning. So in order to get the job you would need both because whos going to hire an individual that dosen't have a positive mind set. This article was very useful and thought it was pretty interesting.

Jared Hollibaugh-Donley of PA 1:55PM September 01, 2011

This is a very interesting article, however, I'm somewhat confused. In the article it stated that most employers picked "A" (a person with the perfect skillset) but the article also states that employers believe "it is more likely that a person with the right mindset will develop the right skillset, rather than the other way around." Based on that statement, it would seem that employers would pick "B" instead of "A". Is there an assumption that individuals with the perfect skillset already have the right mindset? Am I missing something?

K. Albritton of GA 11:34AM September 01, 2011

My response to this article is that i would focus on skillset.
The reason is that i believe that you need to have the skill more than the mindset although you also need mindset too to be the ideal worker. I feel that for the career i want i need the correct skills for the correct job i want to contiue with.

Marilyn Glover of PA 11:12PM August 30, 2011

If I were thinking of this article as my future goals I would focus more on my skillset. The reason I suggest skillset over mindset is because my whole entire lifestyle I've always had the perfect mindset but lack certain skill in understanding concepts over other students. I believe if I were in the process of being in a job interview or just starting work the boss and other coleagues would focus on my skillsets rather than my mindset. I enjoyed this article because it informed on which topic could be more useful for my future.

Jalen Jackson of PA 4:14PM August 30, 2011

I think the mindset would be the best thing to have when it comes to looking for a job. The skillset will come when you are working within the work area of the field. When you have the mindset for the a job or career they look at it more because they you have the will to work hard to get the job. You can have all the skills in the world to do a job but without the mindset to fix problems, help other, or communication with people the skill will not help you.

Cordell Ratlff of PA 11:21PM August 29, 2011

"many jobs sit empty because employers can’t find candidates with the right skills"
Many times, employers don't know what skills the job needs, or at least the HR people don't. They may not even know what they're asking for, just that it sounds good.
Example: I saw one posting saying they wanted maximum cross-browser compatibility with extensive knowledge of HTML 5. Since HTML 5 isn't finalized, and some browsers still on the market don't support it at all, cross-browser compatibility is sketchy. The employer's request is mutually exclusive; the person posting the job description didn't know the job.
That kind of ignorance doesn't do the employer or the employee any good.
There are some postings out there that throw the entire alphabet of IT terminology into the posting. Despite immediately limiting the available pool of talent by over-reaching what is increasingly a field of specialists, they then offer a salary that is extremely below-par for someone who actually KNOWS all those technologies. So the job sits empty and the employer moans about the pool of talent lacking the skills. Screw them. Good luck filling that job, unless they don't really need all those skills, or quadruple the salary offered.
And Tess is right: that paragraph had conflicting data presented.

Rich of CO 6:44PM August 28, 2011

This paragraph is completely contradictory:
PGS: [Co-author James Reed and I] asked tens of thousands of top employers worldwide this question: If you were hiring someone today, which would you pick, A) the person with the perfect skills and qualifications, but lacking the desired mindset, or B) the person with the desired mindset, but lacking the rest? Ninety-eight percent pick A. Add to this that 97 percent said it is more likely that a person with the right mindset will develop the right skillset, rather than the other way around.
You say 98% pick the person with the skills then you say 97% said it's more likely a person with the right mindset will develop the right skillset. Befuddling.

Tess of KS 2:03AM August 27, 2011