There is no doubt that upskilling is a great way to help you improve your career prospects and earn more money in the long term. Paul Lewis, Managing Director of Pitman Training, believes that committing to self-improvement by learning new skills and taking courses that will benefit your job will show your employer that you have the dedication and ambition to improve.
Plan, plan, plan
Before upskilling, ask yourself: what is your goal and what do you need to do to reach it? Suppose you aim to get a promotion within your company. In that case, pay particular attention to the skills needed in your current position or included in your dream job description.
Once you have worked out the skills needed, develop a plan for skill acquisition around the job you hope to be doing one day so that when the opportunity arises, you have positioned yourself well to step into the role. For example, if you work in IT and want to climb the career ladder to become a team leader or manager, you may look to take a leadership course, develop your communication skills, or even take a computer skills course to ensure you are up to date with the new systems and software.
Learn a new skillset
Now you have a plan in place, the second step is to execute it. You can build many skills through your regular work activities, so before committing yourself to anything, check with your company’s management to see if they ever offer mentoring opportunities or corporate training. This way, you will save yourself money and time searching for a course and show your employers you are willing to take the next step. You could also ask senior members of your team if you can shadow them.
If your company does not offer training, you have the option to look for free courses online. These are great if you just want an introduction to a subject matter. However, free courses do not always provide course materials that are relevant to the skills you are trying to learn, and they are not always accredited, meaning that most employers will not recognise them if you put them on your CV. Another downside to a free course is that you are in it alone because there is no funding to provide additional student support. However, this is not the case when you pay for a course.
Improvise, adapt, overcome
Once you have developed a new skill set, it is important to flaunt it. Make sure you tell your employers about your progress and offer to share your new skills with your co-workers to showcase your knowledge. Employers will be impressed you have been proactive and taken the initiative to develop yourself. Remember, you are upskilling to increase your earning power, so once you have successfully demonstrated your new skills to the team, you could negotiate a pay rise in the future.
It is also vital to ensure you keep your skills up to date. In the ever-changing world of technology, where programs and systems are constantly evolving, you will need to keep an eye on what is happening in your industry and identify what skills you will need to stay ahead of the competition.
