Career Guide US 2019

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6 Ag & F ood CAreer guide
understand all the
stakeholders when
you start a project or
initiative and they
will likely change
throughout the
“Finally, find your resiliency. Learn what
works best for you to work through
change and to have a healthy work-life
balance.”
Bent suggests putting yourself in
situations where you are out of your
element and need to work through a
challenging situation. He also shares that
being inquisitive and asking questions
can help build your ambiguity IQ. He
stresses that great question asking skills
are extremely important.
“In my opinion, it is a two-way street
when it comes to working through
ambiguity,” said Bent. “The person
assigning the task needs to create regular
checkpoints to minimize the risk of
misunderstanding. The person assigned
to the task has the responsibility to ask
for clarification when they are not sure
about something.”
HOW DO YOU LOOK FOR THIS
QUALITY IN CANDIDATES? HOW
DO THEY DEMONSTRATE THEIR
CAPABILITIES/EXPERIENCES TO YOU?
You do have experience with ambiguity.
Perhaps you just haven’t found a way to
articulate this in interviews.
Bent shared that he typically asks
interview questions around the thought
process that someone has gone through
when they have faced an ambiguous
situation. What were the results and
what did they learn.
“It isn’t so much what the outcome
was, but rather how they dealt with the
situation and what they learned,” said
Bent.
“Candidates who share specific
examples of projects (whether from work
or school) where they have been met
with changes in deadlines, owners, scope,
and more and then highlight how they
managed through these changes
demonstrates how they are able to
manage ambiguity,” said Warren.
“Candidates should avoid casting blame
on anyone else and instead share what
actions were taken to achieve a
successful result.”
Ambiguity is about change and your
adaptability to change. Another large
component to handling ambiguity is
problem-solving skills. Being able to
analyze changing situations and identify
ways to come to a resolution/action.
That is the thing with employability
skills – many of them are intertwined. A
lot of these skills will come with time but
recognizing them now and finding ways
to practice and communicate about them
will really UP your IQ, particularly when
it comes to ambiguity! AG
Bent
Warren
process,” said Warren. “Don’t let these
challenges prohibit you from moving
forward.”
It is easy to complain or to say you
couldn’t do it because you didn’t have
all the information, but those that utilize
their networks and still move forward,
come out on top, shared Warren.
Bent echoed these sentiments
saying that it is important for young
professionals to be okay with not having
an answer immediately to an ambiguous
situation. In many
cases there is no
answer to the problem.
“It’s about being
comfortable with
knowing a solution to
a challenge or problem will present itself,
in time,” said Bent.
HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR
AMBIGUITY IQ?
Employers continue to say that young
professionals haven’t figured out
ambiguity in the workplace. So, what can
you do to build and grow in this skill?
Warren recommends that you build
your internal and external network.
When you don’t have all the information,
you can rely on your network to help
you fill in the blanks.
“Identify coaches who can also
assist you in identifying your own
blind spots and weaknesses
when it comes to working in
a complex, evolving
environment,” said
Warren.
DEALING WITH
AMBIGUITY
Act without knowing all of the details.
Be confident — take risks.
Plan for the future
but remain in the present.
Communicate.
Embrace change.
Source:
career-development-skill-ambiguity