The rise of upskilling: How women can advance their careers
In today’s fluctuating job landscape, it’s essential to be adaptable, especially as your job or industry evolves over time.
You can achieve this by upskilling yourself. Upskilling – or the process of improving or adding to your skillset with training or education – can help you keep up with changes in your industry as well as stand out or get promoted.
Whether you’re a young professional or have years of experience, upskilling lets you build on your current skill set and own your potential talent. Read on to learn more about this workplace trend and how to advance your career with upskilling.
What is upskilling?
By building on your current skillset, not only do you improve yourself, but also you can attract employers and even climb up the job ladder: It also helps bridge the skills gap.
Opportunities for upskilling can be offered by your employer or you can find them yourself. For example, examples include attending a virtual class or workshop to improve your soft skills and technical knowledge.
Six ways you can advance your career
Follow these six steps to improve your skills and adapt in your career.
1) Set goals
Take a step back and ask yourself where you want to end up in your career. Are you looking to obtain a promotion or change jobs? This can lead you in the right direction for learning as well as help motivate you to start upskilling.
2) Identify the right skills
Consider the skills you need to acquire along your career path. A great way to start is by looking at current job postings in your field. This lets you get an idea of what skills, certifications and other requirements are needed. Additionally, you can reach out to mentors or other professionals in your field for help.
In general, most employers look for workers who have desired skills such as creative thinking, public speaking, problem solving and data analysis, as well as soft skills including flexibility and curiosity.
3) Establish a plan for learning
Once you identify your knowledge gaps, you can start creating a learning strategy. Consider training, mentorship and online learning to meet these milestones.
There are even free online resources you can use to build on your current skill set. For example, check with the university you graduated from to see if they offer career development or continuing education programs for alumni.
Alternatively, you can try enrolling in online courses that offer high-quality learning materials and also provide you with a certificate, which, aside from giving you knowledge and skills, can be a positive addition to your resume when applying for a job. You can find many courses depending on your interest area.
For example, if you are interested in engineering, you can take the Audo AI engineer course and, similarly, for many professions you just need to find the relevant courses and get started. Moreover, many experts and professors offer individual or group studies, so you might need to do deep research to find the method most convenient for you.
4) Start learning
Once you have a plan, you can begin learning new skills. Be patient through the process and remember your goals. Stick to your plan and you are likely to succeed.
5) Use your new skills
When you finally obtain new skills, you can put them into action. Find opportunities to practice what you’ve learned whether it’s for a personal or work project. For example, if you acquired graphic design skills, try them out on a project at work. This can help show your employer how much more valuable you have become.
Additionally, you can list your new skills, online courses or certifications on your resume. You can also talk about how your upskilling experience in interviews, which shows potential employers that you enjoy learning and growing.
6) Keep learning
Upskilling is a continuous process. It’s important to keep learning new skills, especially as your job and/or industry evolves. It also enables you to adapt to any situation or task.
For more information on how you can advance your career, see the graphic below.
Nicole Marie is Senior Content Executive at Michael Page, an international recruiting firm. Before joining the recruitment industry, she worked in media and journalism. She now covers employment trends and insights in a variety of industries such as construction, technology and marketing.
