Advancing your career with skill development

The concept of advancing in one’s career is baked into our culture, to the point that even a pandemic can’t sweep away the desire to move forward. But how do you manage that if you’re unemployed, or if your current company isn’t growing?

Last week, in part one of this series, we looked at a brief process for revising career goals to accommodate our current circumstances. Today, it’s time to look at the secret sauce of career advancement: skill development. Regardless of your current work situation, strategically adding skills (and promoting them on your resume) can bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

As a starting point, it’s helpful to clarify the concept of skill. When it comes to employment, this is a useful definition: a skill is something you can do. Whether you can do something well enough for specific jobs is a judgment best left to individual employers. For example, suppose you are adept with databases. One employer may need you to enter and access data, while another wants you to create reports from the data, while someone else requires the ability to reprogram and customize the database.

How do you handle the variation in employers’ expectations when they request “someone adept in using databases”? Since you can’t know in advance what individual employers will need, you work from your end of the equation by identifying what you can do — what you’re skilled at. Hence, your resume could include a skills category with a sub-heading for databases, and individual bullets for the primary tasks you can conduct with this tool.

And if your ability to work with databases is quite limited? If this skill is important for advancing your career, you’ve just identified an area needing development.

Identify career-specific skills to develop

Sometimes it will be evident which skills you need to advance in your career. For instance, your industry or your employer may have established guidelines with clear criteria. For the most part, however, you’ll be left to your own devices on this issue. To help avoid costly or time-consuming missteps, it’s helpful to talk with managers in your field, as well as career counselors, mentors or others who may have insight to share. Reviewing job postings can also provide ideas about employer preferences.

Upgrade universal workplace skills

In addition to the skills your profession may demand, there’s another set of skills to review: those that are universal to any workplace or job. Here are five to consider upgrading:

Writing. Whether it’s short emails, customer correspondence, incident reports, process documentation, marketing material or full-fledged white papers, every job involves at least some writing. Even if you don’t enjoy this task, you’ll benefit by improving at it.

Public speaking. This skill is fundamental to multiple workplace tasks, including training others, communicating with customers, and presenting to the boss.

Computing. Enough said — you already know you need to keep up with at least the basics of commonly used software.

Managing others. Supervising, coaching, mentoring, delegating, leading — whether your role is formal or more of a natural undertaking, this is a skill set that can open doors in your career.

Be creative in getting skilled

Of course you can enroll in a training program to gain the skills you need — provided one is available, and you can afford it. If that works out, it may be the simplest path to pursue. But what if you can’t find appropriate training, or can’t afford the time or price? Here are just a few alternatives to consider:

On-the-job training, if your current (or potential) employer is willing to assist.

Paid or unpaid internships, or apprenticeships, or volunteer roles that include training.

Equipment training, where you rent or borrow specific equipment and teach yourself to use it.

Online training, including YouTube tutorials and free or low-cost training programs.

Peer training, where you join an association or club that includes speakers and workshops.

Promote your new skills

Each time you add a skill, be sure to add it to your resume and LinkedIn profile. After all, if no one knows you can do something, they certainly can’t hire or promote you for it.

Next steps

Now that you’ve considered the skills you may want to upgrade, it’s time to put your plan into action. Come back next week and we’ll finish this short series with a set of 10 tips for moving forward in your career, pandemic or no.