Great Skills to Speed Up Your Career Progression This Year
If you are thinking about making the most out of your career, you cannot just sit back and wait for the opportunities to knock on your door. You need to go out there, find out what potential employers are looking for, and how you can make your CV stand out and secure that higher level and higher paid job. You need to invest in your learning and development so that you can provide more value to your current or potential future employers. Below you will find a few skills you might want to improve to increase your career chances.
Administration
While there are loads of companies offering personal assistance and administration services, there are some tasks that employers would rather not outsource. In case you need to brush up your skills and learn new systems to aid your company in getting data, managing databases, or analyze financial records, you will be able to become a more valuable employee, and someone who can be trusted with important tasks. Several online courses will give you basic or advanced training in the field.
Business Management
If you always wanted to do an MBA but never had the time or money, you will need to think about taking on a business administration course online. The good news is that most of these courses are flexible, so you will not have to leave your job and compromise your earnings. You can devote a couple of hours to your learning at the weekend or in the evenings, and get a new qualification that your employer will value.
Leadership
Even if you studied leadership theories a couple of decades ago, you can brush up your skills and familiarize yourself with the latest trends. One of the main issues older employees face is the competition from fresh graduates, who are happy to settle for less money and have the latest knowledge of the industry and the theories. You can learn leadership online, in your current company, or enroll in a personal development program.
Marketing
Image via Max Pixel
In the competitive world of today, every business needs to do marketing to survive. However, not all companies have the resources or the money to employ an agency or a full time marketing professional. If you can improve your skills and add digital marketing and design to their talent pool, you are more likely to get hired by a company that is looking for diverse employees who can deal with more than one type of task. You can find loads of marketing courses online that will give you the necessary knowledge and an opportunity to progress your career.
Research
Information and knowledge is power for every company. No matter if your challenge at work is to create case studies or prepare a new product plan, you will need to be able to carry out essential research to present the facts. Research methods have changed in the past few decades, due to the improvements in information technology and software development. If you would like to improve your skills, you will find free and low-cost programs that will help you become more effective at collecting and analyzing data.
Team Management
One of the main challenges companies face today is making the most out of their employees’ productivity. Most managers only know the carrot or stick method when it comes to motivating employees. If you can showcase your leadership and team management skills that you learned through online or offline courses, you can become a team manager who will deliver better productivity and employee engagement for your employer, and you will have a better chance for a promotion, too.
Civil Engineering
One of the most in-demand jobs is civil engineering, and it can compliment every talent and skill you might have. Even if you are not planning a career change right now, you can enroll in an online civil engineering master by Michigan Tech right now and explore the different avenues you can go down after your graduation. You can use your new skills in urban planning, local government departments, and even get a job at a transportation firm. The good news is that your starting salary will be much higher than average and you will get the recognition and status you deserve.
Human Resources
Managing staff and saving companies money while maximizing employee productivity and output is an essential skill for all businesses. It is crucial that you make the most out of your time while studying the latest human resource management theories. At the same time, you should always put what you learned into practice and showcase your skills, so you can get the promotion or job you deserve.
IT Security
Small and medium-sized businesses don’t have the money or the resources to take care of database security and manage their data safely. If you get an additional qualification that will help them manage regulatory and legal risks, while making sure that the business continuity is provided through various systems, you will improve your own job prospects and could get a promotion for taking on extra responsibilities in the company that will help them achieve their long-term goals and protect their reputation.
Training
Image via Air Force Materiel Command
There are lots of benefits of providing in-house training for companies. If you are coming from the teaching background, or have some basic qualifications, you can become a coach inside the company or a qualified trainer who will pass on and share knowledge. Employee competency is one of the main focus areas of innovation-driven companies, and it is crucial that you get a formal quality degree to deliver the knowledge to employees they need to do their job better.
Customer Service
No company can survive a competition without providing exceptional customer service. While loads of processes are now automated, you still need to make the most out of the personal connections and the internal and external communication channels. Many companies have now introduced CRM systems to track customer orders, leads, and marketing activities. If you are not familiar with this software, you might want to enroll in a training course that will make you a competent user and help you improve your worth.
Negotiation
When you are aiming for a management position, it is essential that you focus on the skills you are more likely to need in the new role. You cannot wait and learn things as you go. If your employer sees that you are the person who takes the initiative and creates opportunities, you are more likely to get the promotion. No matter if you would like to secure a human resource management position or an executive role, you should improve your negotiation skills.
Strategic Planning
Planning for the future and being able to create an advanced SWOT analysis will help you get a seat at the executive table. You need to learn a lot about managing and addressing risks, and it might be a good idea to get trained in Lean organizational management. This will make you a valuable asset in your organization and help you achieve your career goals, possessing the skills that are the most in demand within the business world.
If you want a promotion or a better job, you cannot simply sit back and wait for companies or your employer to approach you. It is crucial that you assess the industry, employers’ needs, and focus on the skills that are in demand. If you can show that you can provide value for the company more than one way, you can progress your career quicker.
