How Ford can sell more cars in India or The transferable Skills of a sociologist

Transferable skills are determined by analyzing past accomplishments/experiences and using outside-the-box thinking to figure out where else you can apply those skills.

For example…

I was talking to an Insurance Salesmen who was looking to hire other salesmen for his practice. We started talking about the retail banking industry and how it is not as vibrant as it once was (think automated tellers). He felt that someone with teller experience would potentially be a good insurance salesman. The retail bank tellers have solid experience with customer service and up-selling other banking products during a transaction. He said that experience would translate very well into selling insurance products. To me, that is a classic case of transferable skills.

Personally, I like the transferable skill concept because it is liberating. It can help you switch careers/fields without going back to school. It helps an individual understand his/her market value.

While reading a Wall Street Journal article, GM Ford Struggle to Crack India's Market I started to think about the transferable skills of an Sociologists. The article talks about how the American car companies were trying to break into the car market in India.

In India until recently, GM and Ford focused mainly on the pricier sedan segment and bigger sport-utility vehicles, which haven't been as popular as inexpensive hatchbacks.

ONET defines the Sociologist’s work as…

Study human society and social behavior by examining the groups and social institutions that people form, as well as various social, religious, political, and business organizations. May study the behavior and interaction of groups, trace their origin and growth, and analyze the influence of group activities on individual members.(http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3041.00)

Wouldn’t GM and Ford be able to sell more cars in India if they had a Sociologists in their employ? They could have figured out what type of car people in India want? What to name the car? Etc.

The power of Transferable skills, right?

Reading the Wall Street Journal thru a Career Development lenses

 “Former Yale President will lead Coursea”

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are truly becoming a significant entity and it is exciting! EdX, Udacity, Coursea, etc. are all MOOC providers that can revolutionize higher education.

Will people’s perceptions change about MOOCs replacing traditional higher education? If yes, how long will that take? Can MOOCs ever completely replace traditional higher education? What about all the student services that come with a diploma? What about the built-in networking? Maybe a MOOC is cheaper, but will it help you land that job?

Which brings me to the next article…

 “Grad Student’s Loans Surge”

It was a short and provocative article about borrowing money for post-secondary education. They illustrated the piece with John Berg’s story who was 150k in debt because of his loans for a doctorate in psychology.  He got a gig at the VA, but it is hard to buy a home at $68,000/year and $1000/month payments.

I don’t believe you can plan out your career years in advance, but how does the cost of higher education factor into someone’s career planning? Is there a breaking point where traditional higher education isn’t worth the cost?