Upskilling–the time is now

July 7, 2020

Investing in your professional growth can do wonders for developing and advancing your career. In your current role, you’re likely to be continually learning, but specific upskilling can take that a step further. Identify a skill gap in your team or one where there is a shortage of resources and propose learning this skill to support you in your current role and the wider business in its objectives.

This may be taking a course to learn a new technology or methodology that would augment your existing role. Applying what you have learnt within that area and sharing your newfound knowledge with your team will be beneficial for all. It could lead to you becoming the expert on that subject within the team, making you more valuable to your employer. It also demonstrates your commitment, initiative and willingness to learn, so that when a new opportunity presents itself either internally or externally you are positioned well to apply for it.

For businesses, formal training can be instrumental in improving employee productivity and increasing responsiveness to change according to Monster.

Enhancing your CV

Upskilling can improve your chances of being hired in a competitive job market. When crafting a compelling CV, you want to show employers the best version of yourself. Having a combination of technical and soft skills pertinent to the role can be advantageous in demonstrating your value. Furthermore, having an extensive technical skill set and ability to demonstrate your proficiency in each area can broaden your career prospects by providing you access to more specialised roles.

Staying relevant in the market

Whether due to technological advancements, process improvements or competitive pressures, industries are constantly innovating and evolving to remain competitive, which may mean you need to also innovate and evolve. For example, take the impact of AI  and how it is reshaping the world of work. Allegis Group reports that whilst AI may have eliminated certain tasks, it has paved the way for new jobs and responsibilities, creating demand for new skills.

How to upskill

Opportunities to upskill include connecting with a mentor and attending seminars to online courses. Whatever you decide, it is important to focus on upskilling both your technical skills and your soft skills. When assessing your suitability for a role, employers look for both technical skills and your more transferrable (soft) skills to determine if you are the right fit. When deciding what to upskill, it can be helpful to read job adverts for the job you’d like to do next and identify the gaps on your own CV or have a one-on-one conversation with your manager to assess where there may be current skill gaps in the team.

Once you have decided what to upskill in, there are a plethora of options for online learning that can hone your technical and soft skills. Below is just an example of what is available.*

edX

edX offers over 2500 online courses from 140 institutions to sharpen technical skills. The platform has a combination of paid and free courses across a multitude of disciplines from business management and communications to data science and engineering and course lengths vary.

Google Digital Garage

Google Digital Garage offers free courses across data and tech and digital marketing. In addition to this, they also offer career development courses which focus on polishing up soft skills.

However you decide to upskill, make sure you are making the right decision for you and your personal and professional growth.

* Allegis Group EMEA and its network of specialist brands are not responsible for or does not endorse any of the content on these platforms.