If You Want a Job, Take a Course

Here is a way to get to the top of the job-hunting pack: take a course.

Think you don’t need one? Not surprising—especially if you are young, and a man. A new survey found that while 61 percent of employees believe there is a skills gap in the American workforce, it doesn’t apply to them. About 95 percent think they personally are qualified or overqualified for their own jobs.

The skills gap is the idea that employers are looking for people with skills that people who are looking for jobs don’t have.

“These findings indicate that despite a widespread recognition that the skills gap exists, American employees share an ‘It’s not me, it’s you” mentality,” said Dennis Yang, CEO of Udemy, which commissioned the survey.

Who are the most certain they know it all? Millennials. Fifty-three percent believe they already know everything they need to know to do their jobs, compared to 43 percent of boomers. As for the gender divide, 27% of men said they were overqualified, compared to 20% of women.

But even those who think they have skills for their current job might admit that they don’t have the skills for a higher-level or higher-paying one. About one-third of employees reported both that a lack of skills held them back from making more money and that inadequate skills caused them to miss a promotion or to not get a job. The biggest problem? Computer and technology skills.

The good news is that those skills—and any others—can be acquired. For those looking for a new job, learning an in-demend skill might help them get noticed. Most job seekers just don’t bother. In fact, 36% of people looking for a new job report taking no special action of any kind—including courses, networking events, or even talking to a recruiter–when looking for work.