Career Tips – This Recession, Upgrade your Skills
As the economy recovers, as an employee, you would have given more than a passing thought about shifting to a new job. I do not mean to say that every employee has been waiting for the recession to get over so that he could bid adieu to his employer – but then, as more and more jobs start getting advertised for, there would be more avenues to explore and definitely, new opportunities that would evolve. These opportunities would not have been visible in the past few months and employees are likely to have felt a bit constrained, no matter how much they loved their current organizations.
Now that there are new opportunities, how would you make use of them? There are two aspects to this question – one, is when you are bored and have had enough of your current organization and you really want to quit; and two, when you do not want to quit but would definitely use this recovery as the opportunity for your own personal and professional growth. In either case, there is a simple solution that would work wonders for your career growth and progression.
Reassess your skills: This is the right time to indulge in some introspection, to see where you stand in the eyes of your employees, how you fare when compared with your peers, and where you would like to be in the light of new developments in your industry and in your job market. You have been successful in your job and in your career so far and you have got a place for yourself where it matters. But, this is a new reality, where the economy is in recovery. There could have been changes in technology, competition and in the general industry landscape. Do you still have the same chances of success as you had a couple of years or so earlier?
Map your skills: Where do you want to be? Which would be the next higher position in your career? Which designation are you aiming for? Make a complete list of skills, knowledge and technical know-how that the position would require. Map your current skill sets against what you have just written down. Where do you stand?
Update your skills: Now that you know where you are in the larger scheme of things, update and upgrade. Whether you are looking for promotion or a new job or relocation, it would definitely pay to upgrade your hardware with the right software – you would never know when opportunity would knock – be ready for it, when it does.
