By Sam Ast, Re-Entry Workforce Development Specialist, Goodwill of Western Missouri & Eastern Kansas
There are several tactics available to increase your knowledge base and develop new capabilities that can elevate your career prospects. Additionally, it explores the ways in which various types of skills-building and professional development can not only benefit your current work responsibilities but also be utilized to further your career advancement in the future.
Improving Yourself in the New Year
Many of us have likely heard the common adage that, in life, one should strive for regular improvement. If you’re not improving, you are stagnating or declining. The need and desire to progress is almost embedded in our DNA. If there is something that we are not good at, we find ourselves asking why and contemplating whether changing that is important to us. This ethos of betterment could stem from the desire to correct or prevent the recurrence of past mistakes, from realizing your inability to do certain tasks or a recognition of areas where you might fall short of your goals and wish to improve.
In the professional sphere, this near-constant struggle for refinement is perhaps more pronounced as it relates to our earning potential and quality of life. While I don’t necessarily subscribe to the extreme notion that if you’re not advancing at every point in life, you’re regressing, I do believe that workers can think of their time and careers as a trajectory that should be moving in the direction that’s right for them.
Learning New Skills
There is not a soul on Earth who knows all there is to know. There is always more to discover and learn. No one can adequately grasp or utilize, for that matter, all existing concepts or competencies. However, this fact should not dissuade you from noticing opportunities to increase or learn additional talents. Increasing various aptitudes will equip you with the confidence needed to do your current job well while empowering you to apply these new capabilities across a wider range of functions and roles.
Many skills are marketable and useful in today’s job climate. For instance, familiarity with computers and technology, ability to operate heavy or complex machinery, being a good listener or being adept at organization can all put you above and beyond the next best. These are just a few competencies that may be prized by employers and hiring managers in today’s world, depending on the type of jobs you’re looking at.
How to Get Started
So, how should you go about vocational enhancement? What can you do to build your skills, and how can you sell these abilities to potential employers? To begin, keep an open mind and welcome the exploration of new ideas and possibilities. The things you learn might not always relate to your current job or life stage. In fact, this may be a good thing. Expanding your scope of interests can prepare you in unexpected ways for the future while also helping you in the present.
There are many steps you can take to further your knowledge, understanding and skills:
- Visit your local library and check out material related to cooking, accounting, business, marketing, politics, writing, teaching, musical theory, medicine, technology or any other topic you are interested in.
- Do an internet search or view YouTube videos if that’s more your speed.
- Find a class (online or in-person). Perhaps you’d like more structure or facilitation and find that classroom settings work best for you. This could include enrolling in classes at a local community college or university, hiring a tutor or taking advantage of online learning platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning.
Whatever the case may be, all the above are phenomenal options for feeding your brain, beefing up your résumé and remaining productive.
Advancing Your Career
Be it an internal promotion, the search for new work, a desire for more money or a general desire for improvement — the objective will not alter the ingredients necessary to accomplish such things. Try your best to stay motivated, and do not hesitate to ask for help or advice.
With hundreds of Career Centers providing essential resources and personalized support, Goodwill® can help you overcome any barriers and find meaningful work. Our career navigators are committed to supporting you on your journey to make your dreams come true with career guidance, résumé assistance, skills certification, application help, interview prep and ongoing support like financial assistance.
Remember, you are not alone on this journey. If you need assistance with career readiness, developing marketable job skills or overall counseling regarding any of your employment needs or questions, we are here for you! Please stop by a Goodwill career center to learn more about how Goodwill can help you.
