You spent years earning your degree. You survived exams, group projects and at least one lecturer who seemed to think theirs was the only subject you were taking.
Your degree matters.
But when you start applying for jobs, employers want to know something else too:
What do you do when the answer isn’t in the textbook?
Because work doesn’t come with a marking rubric.
Things change. Information is missing. Technology moves. People change their minds. The first idea doesn’t always work.
That’s where cognitive adaptability comes in.
Gradlinc’s 2026 Adaptability Framework describes it as being able to change your thinking, look at a problem differently and use what you know in a new situation.
Basically: Can you figure things out?
You already have examples
You don’t need three years of corporate experience to prove this.
Think about university, part-time work, volunteering or even a side hustle.
Maybe you:
• Changed your approach when an assignment wasn’t working?
• Had to learn new software quickly? We all do (nudge wink Claude…)
• Took over when someone disappeared halfway through a group project? Classic.
• Used feedback to improve a bad first attempt?
• Found another solution when Plan A failed?
Those are examples of adaptability. The mistake graduates often make is telling employers what happened, instead of showing what they did about it.
If you’re asked in an interview:
“Tell me about a time something didn’t go according to plan.”
Don’t spend two minutes explaining the disaster.
Tell them:
What went wrong? What did you do? What did you change? What happened next?
That’s the part they care about.
Don’t tell me you’re adaptable. Prove it. Your CV probably doesn’t need another sentence saying:
“I am a hardworking, adaptable problem-solver.” Recruiters have seen that one. A lot. Instead, show evidence.
Rather than:
I’m good at solving problems.
Try:
When responses to my research survey were too low, I changed how I distributed it, approached relevant student groups directly and created a shorter mobile-friendly version.
Now I know something about how you think.
Before your next interview, prepare just three stories:
1. A time you had to learn something quickly.
2. A time your first plan didn’t work.
3. A time you had to solve something without clear instructions.
Your degree tells an employer what you know. Your examples show them what you can do when you don’t know yet. And for your first job, that may matter even more.

Ready to put this into practice?
The Graduate Career Accelerator by The Interview School gives you practical, recruiter-designed tools to improve your CV and LinkedIn profile, prepare for interviews and approach your job search with a proper strategy – not just another 47 applications into the void.

Explore the Graduate Career Accelerator: https://theinterviewschool.co.za/mydreamjob