3 Ways to Demonstrate Your Learning Quotient

In a changing world, the ability and desire to pick up new skills is increasingly valued by potential employers. While IQ and EQ are central to the recruitment process, the concept of LQ has surfaced as another leading indicator of workplace success. If you can demonstrate your learning quotient during an interview, employers will fall over themselves to hire you.

LQ requires both the desire and ability to adapt to new situations and assimilate new knowledge. When a new challenge comes along, someone with a high LQ will work out a bespoke way of dealing with it rather than falling back on familiar behaviour patterns. The outcome will then inform their future decisions and actions.

Certain intersecting factors may determine an individual’s LQ. It will be a product of their social background, education, and age. Their innate cognitive ability and personality, while not entirely fixed, will also be strong predictors of their LQ. These indicators are easily tested. Motivatory factors also play a crucial role. Those high in LQ have solid self-esteem and embrace meaningful reasons for taking on new challenges.

If one factor changes (such as renewed motivation), they can take their LQ to the next level. Effective learning is all about positive reinforcement. Once you have completed one learning journey, you will undertake the next one with increased fervour.

Any job seeker needs to understand the value of their LQ to a potential employer but to demonstrate your learning quotient is another thing entirely. Few employers specifically assess LQ as part of their psychometric tests, so it is often left to the interviewer’s judgment.

How to demonstrate your learning quotient

Intellectual mental capacity to learn. Genetic factors determine intellectual capacity, but our cognitive abilities can also improve with practice. A positive attitude towards learning can create beneficial habits that kick in whenever something new comes onto the horizon. We can train our brains to learn more effectively.

Adventurous exploration outside the box. Much of learning is about being fearless. If you are not afraid of failure, you will more step into the unknown and see what you find rather than peeping around the door in trepidation. Have the imagination to think outside the box and the courage to then act on those thoughts. Learning will supercharge your potential.

Challenge the conventions of the status quo. If your sense of self is not tethered to your current circumstances, you will not be scared to change things. Adopting an attitude of continuous improvement will make for a fascinating journey in life. There will always be periods of stability (that isn’t a bad thing) but change big when you need to change.

Telling stories during an interview around these three things will show that you have the LQ to make the most of any new situation. Make sure that you don’t go overboard as employers equally won’t hire to hire an unstable maverick.

Demonstrating your learning quotient effectively during an interview could give you a critical advantage over the competition.

Which LQ career stories can you tell?

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).