The following article is a guest post from Artur Meyster.
Working is a vital part of every society. Unless you come from generational wealth, you have to work at one point in your life or another. It’s only natural that you evaluate your skillset to ensure that you remain relevant in your field now and in the future. After all, the world is changing and technology is right in the middle of this change. Having multiple skills is a good way to keep your options open and avoid being stranded in the event of sudden job loss.
When taking stock of your current skills to assess if they are enough for the future of work, keep the following questions in mind. They will help you figure out if you are on track to be a part of the future workforce.
1. Do I Have Computer Skills?
You probably already know that soft skills are essential in today’s working environment, but do you know that they will be key to employment in the future? How good are your computer skills? It’s not just about typing and creating excel sheets. You need to add coding to your skillset. There are different types of coding. You can dive into web development, web design, and any other forms of programming.
You can even decide to become a digital project manager who oversees projects in technology companies. The best part about a computer science career path or developing computer skills is that you can do it anytime and anywhere. There are several websites that offer affordable online training for people interested in soft skills. If you don’t have the money to pay, you can look for free online lessons and sign up to start learning.
2. Are There Any Skills I Can Learn to Boost my Position in the Office?
Everyone knows that soft skills are hot in today’s working environment. However, not everyone can be a software engineer, a web developer, or a web designer. If you’re not up for it, you can conduct more research to get insight into the most useful skill for the future workplace.
If you already work in an office, find out which specific skills will help you get ahead in your workplace. Will you be more useful if you are a social media guru? You can capitalize on that and add the title “social media manager” to your resume. Rather than simply learning every on-demand skill, research and compare these to your interest and job description. Don’t get passed for a promotion because you didn’t have social media navigation skills.
3. Am I Familiar With Social Media?
Social media is now a vital part of today’s digital life. We noted above that something as simple as social media navigation could boost your position in the workplace. Statistics from Emarsys reveals that there are 3.5 billion active social media users daily worldwide. This makes up more than 45 percent of the world’s population.
Facebook is the most popular social network and 90.4 percent of millennials have active Facebook accounts. Generation X (77.5 percent) and Baby Boomers (48.2 percent) aren’t left out either. Businesses across the globe are capitalizing on this market. Companies host social media campaigns as part of their digital marketing strategies so building your social media skills will definitely make you a better worker.
4. Do I Have Transferable Skills?
Transferable skills are skills that can be used across different professions without stress. They are always useful when it’s time to change career paths. Rather than learning an entirely new skill, you can apply your transferable skills to a new field or in a new way. These skills aren’t difficult to learn and they become a part of you forever.
Some of the hottest transferable skills that will come in handy in the future are:
- Critical and analytic thinking
- Project management
- Effective communication
- Problem-solving
- Adaptability
- Leadership
These skills never grow old and will never be out of date. Combining these skills with technological literacy will increase your value across industries.
Conclusion
Whether your job might be in jeopardy or not, learning a new skill is always a good way to improve yourself as an individual, not just as a worker. They prepare you for tough and unpredictable situations like a sudden loss of employment due to a pandemic. A typical example is the coronavirus pandemic that is currently reshaping industries. It has left many people without jobs while presenting others with a rare opportunity to get online job training.
