“The Sinners” star Michael B. Jordan, who won his first Oscar at Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, said he had no idea how to act when he first started acting and learned mostly on the job.
he is not alone. As long as you’re agile and curious, learning on the job can be a healthy approach for many professionals in a variety of industries, says career expert Patrice Williams Lind. “Most careers will stall if professionals only take on roles for which they are already fully qualified,” says Williams Lindo, founder and CEO of coaching business Career Nomad. “A healthy version of ‘copy until you make it’ is actually ‘learning by doing.'”
Meanwhile, Jordan entered the entertainment industry at the age of 12 after a receptionist at her mother’s clinic encouraged her to attend an audition, which she immediately booked, she said during a Complex panel discussion on YouTube in April 2018. His first roles included appearances on HBO’s The Sopranos and The Wire and CBS’ Cosby. Jordan, now 39, said she then starred in the ABC soap opera “All My Children,” where she worked for four years.
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“So I learned a little bit of the craft, but up until that point I was just copying life (and) things that I saw around me,” Jordan said. “I’ve never taken any acting classes, I’ve never taken anything in a traditional way. I’ve always been learning as I go…and I was like, ‘When are they going to find out that I’m not really an actor? They’re just going to find out that I’m just a kid from Newark (New Jersey) acting well?’
Jordan eventually attended Newark High School for the Arts, a magnet public school specializing in visual and performing arts, where her mother worked. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as identical twins Elias Moore (nicknamed “Stack”) and Elijah Moore (nicknamed “Smoke”) in Ryan Coogler’s thriller Sinners.
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Williams Lind says you don’t necessarily need to know everything about a job before taking on it. Soft skills, a propensity to learn important hard skills, genuine effort, and a growth mindset can all separate those who learn and adapt quickly from those who are completely unprepared for the job from day one.
“In today’s visibility economy, people are not rewarded for pretending. They are rewarded for learning publicly and achieving results quickly,” she says. “Confidence may open doors, but ability needs to catch up quickly.”
According to a 2019 study by global staffing firm Robert Half, 84% of human resources managers said their organization is willing to hire candidates who can learn important job skills through training. Williams Lind says a lack of curiosity is far more harmful.
“If you pretend you know something, but avoid feedback, avoid questions, or aren’t actually building the skills behind the scenes, the gaps will eventually become visible,” she says.
If you’re considering whether to take advantage of an opportunity you’re not fully prepared for, ask yourself better questions, says Williams Lind. A “yes” answer means you could be on the path to career advancement, she says.
“Confidence may get you noticed initially, but it’s ability that keeps you influential,” Williams-Lind says.
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