Polishing your skills is a great way to ensure you remain a sought-after employee and continue to grow in your career.
Are you searching for a new job without much success? Or maybe you’re looking for a chance to advance within your current company but not finding it.
Perhaps it’s time to look at your skills and make a bit of an effort to upgrade them.
It is easy to get comfortable in your job, get stuck in a rut and do tasks on autopilot, but there are always new developments in every industry and mastering them can benefit both employee and company.
Choosing to constantly learn and develop can be scary, but the rewards outweigh the regrets – or the possible setbacks if you don’t take action.
Many career seekers are overlooked for jobs, despite their great experience, simply because they don’t have the necessary skills or training. Potential employers frequently hire on the basis alone.
Here are five ways you can get out of your comfort zone and remain relevant.
1. Keep up with trends
Don’t limit yourself to what you know or be content with the skills you have. Industries change, new systems develop and technology improves at a rapid rate.
Not only do we find better ways to do things but some industries, such as medicine, insurance and accounting, encourage experts to be tested for competency. Staying abreast of innovation could even impact on someone’s life.
Read journals, make sure you understand new studies, keep up with changes in technology, and know what’s going on in your field, By staying ahead of market trends, you can compete on a higher level.
2. Be versatile
You will never take your career to the next level unless you step out of your rut, Modern companies need multi-skilled individuals, as opposed to people who are only good at one thing.
Help out in other departments, stand in for people who are absent and teach yourself how to do their jobs. Not only will this equip you with the skills you need, you will also become the shining star of your office.
3. Study further
Your dream job could be waiting for you on the other end of a new course. Studying further can give you a new set of skills that you might not have gained through experience alone.
For example, if you started off as a secretary in a finance company but you want to become a financial manager, a course in financial management will probably help. You are already one step ahead because you’re placed in the right environment, but certain positions do require certain qualifications.
Check with the training department to see if your company is prepared to pay for the course you have in mind.
4. Find a mentor
If you know where you want to go in your career, get people who are already occupying the position or have passed that level to mentor you.
Job shadow them, sit in on conferences, help by doing research for presentations, and so on.
Get the gist of what the job is all about and understand the different job levels you will have to go through before you get to the top. Knowing what’s required of you is vital to getting the job.
5. Join industry groups
Ask colleagues, mentors or friends who have similar work interests or experience to suggest groups you can join.
Sign up to university alumni organisations or find industry groups on LinkedIn, but make sure they are trustworthy first.
