5 Amazing Ways to Upskill and Boost Your Career
Professional and personal growth often go hand in hand, which is why employers and entrepreneurs alike are always on the lookout for new learning opportunities that can help them grow. Although practical work experience in specific professions does come in handy and represents your skills to a great extent, modern-day brands also like to see that their employees are eager to keep learning beyond their existing experience and knowledge.
Add to that, technology is quickly evolving, and so are businesses with it. Every business sector uses innovative methods and tools to become more efficient and its business entities to become more competitive. If you, as an individual, can contribute to that elevated status in the market, you’re a much better “catch” in that professional sense than any other candidate that applies for a specific position.
Learning helps you stay at the forefront of your field, and even more so, it lets you harness the power of that knowledge to advance your business. Here’s how you can upskill and learn to boost your own career in the months and years to come.
Learn a new language
Now that the pandemic is slowly coming to an end, and we hope to see more travel options soon, learning a new language has become a go-to strategy for many professionals working abroad, or those who wish to move and work elsewhere. However, even if the current health crisis postpones that opportunity for a while, you can rest assured that learning a new language can help you grow as a professional, no matter your field of work.
- Learning a new language as an entrepreneur makes it easier for you to approach clients from those new markets.
- Mastering a new language allows you to work with global partners and investors and present your ideas more eloquently.
- You can work in the same job but with new people – as a customer support agent, for example.
- A new language makes you a good candidate for a pay raise.
Leverage cloud computing
If you’re already working in the IT world, you are fully aware of how quickly new tech solutions and methodologies arise. These advancements help companies become more productive and competitive, but in order to use any new tech that appears, businesses need experts who know how to manage and make the most of it.
In the rapidly developing world of cloud computing, constantly upgrading your skills in popular cloud platforms like AWS allows you to create more efficient workflows and improve the overall infrastructure of your cloud environment.
For those who want such a lucrative and competitive position, taking up AWS courses helps you master the latest knowledge and skills related to the platform. Such jobs already demand ongoing learning and certification, so make sure you can meet the needs of your industry with regular training.
Social media management on the rise
Developing a career in digital marketing is a highly profitable way to grow as a professional, especially since digital marketing is a vast field with many different opportunities that work well together. For example, marketing encompasses everything from SEO, content creation, ad management, all the way to social media.
When you start out as a specialist in one of those fields, working on developing a set of new skills in a complementary field can help you boost your chances of landing a great job. In that respect, social media management is a great set of skills that also calls for ongoing development and learning.
Depending on the business you work with, you’ll need to know how to handle a multitude of different social media platforms, from Facebook, Twitter, to Instagram and Pinterest. It will make your portfolio more impressive, and your knowledge of the digital marketing sphere more comprehensive.
Mastering project management
While project management is often dependent on different tools, you know that every project needs a leader for it to succeed. For people with natural leadership skills and great communication abilities, taking the lead on any project can be a great career opportunity – but only if you also know how to put those skills to use in different environments.
- Learn the ins and outs of various PM tools such as Wrike or Basecamp to be able to work seamlessly with multiple teams.
- Take up a PM course to make sure you have the skills for the job in your industry. PM is different from one sector to another, so the skills you need to become a proficient project manager in IT and one in fashion will be completely different.
- Make sure your soft skills are primed for PM, since leadership roles demand plenty of patience, collaboration, delegation, and accountability.
Skills that are complementary to your profession
Depending on your current occupation, you might benefit from learning how to handle a new programming language, how to use a graphic design tool, or how to wield a physical piece of equipment that’s considered to be the latest in your work. However, you should also consider working on skills that can help you no matter the brand or the industry you come from.
Better negotiation skills, your ability to manage time and schedule, and your overall capacity to manage conflicts or resolve problems can be extremely useful no matter your profession.
Final Thoughts
The current state of the global workforce is highly competitive, enough so that it’s extremely challenging to land a lucrative job when you’re competing against a worldwide candidate pool. Aside from your education and the work experience you’ve accumulated so far, showing the willingness to learn makes you a prime candidate for many employers. It also allows you to tailor your own career and to find a job that is suitable for your preferences – so start upgrading as soon as possible and you’ll improve your chances of landing that dream job soon enough.