Why Upskilling is Important in Career?

We are all aware of the fact that change is the only constant in life. In recent years, a lot of factors such as the pandemic, advancing technology, and a shift in perspectives have brought about a drastic change in our professional lives and the way we perceive it. Gone are the days when we were okay with working endlessly to climb the ladder of success at work. Smart work is the new and effective way of hard work now. 

Upskilling and reskilling come in handy when we are looking to work smartly. Let’s first understand what these terms mean. Upskilling refers to the process of learning new skills to help individuals improve their skill set. Reskilling refers to the process of learning new skills to do a different job altogether. In simple terms, upskilling helps an individual to perform better in the same career path while reskilling helps an individual to shift careers. 

In the current scenario, individuals as well as the employers are looking at upskilling as a way to ensure that they stay in line with the dynamic working environment and give their best in the competitive world. Let’s now understand why the importance of upskilling has grown manifold in recent times. 

Boosts Productivity: Upskilling helps individuals improve their skill set by adding on to their knowledge. This helps you in performing their tasks more effectively and efficiently. 

Boosts Confidence: Upskilling gives a better sense of confidence to individuals. Since you acquire more knowledge through upskilling, it helps you go about a task more confidently and take proactive steps to attain the desired result. 

Creates a Culture of Learning: It is rightly said that as humans we get to learn one thing or the other everyday. Sometimes, with all the workload and a set routine it becomes difficult to learn new things. But, upskilling helps in overcoming this issue. It reignites the urge to learn new things and keep in pace with the changing times. 

Makes it Easier to Handle Changes: As we grow older, some of us tend to grow rigid and defiant to changes. However, once we step into the journey of upskilling we realise the need to adapt ourselves to the dynamic world. This helps us in understanding the need for changes and accepting them. 

Opens Up Opportunities: As and when an individual learns new skills, they come across various opportunities that are better suited to them. During the course of learning new skills, you are likely to come across better opportunities and meet inspiring people from various fields. This would also help you realise your potential.

Increase Your Value: In today’s competitive world, it becomes extremely important to ensure that one stays up-to-date. Upskilling not only helps you gain knowledge, it also ensures that the people around you are aware that you are valuable to them and it is always helpful to have you around. 

How to Identify the Areas of Upskilling 

Identify your interests

The best way to identify your preferred area of upskilling is to question yourself and identify your areas of interest. This might sound basic but basics are what matter the most. Upskilling just for the sake of it would not serve any purpose. Thus, it becomes important to ensure that you are interested in the area you choose for upskilling. 

Would it help you at work?

Choosing a skill to work on that would help you perform better at work would not only help you increase your productivity but also result in immediate payoffs. You can always choose to learn a skill relevant to your work to ensure that you perform better. 

Would there be a competitive advantage?

It is important to answer this question when you are looking for skill development and improvisation. Would the new skill help you gain an advantage over your colleagues? Having a competitive advantage would always increase your value over time. 

Would it benefit you in the long run?

While we learn some skills for personal development, it is also important to learn new skills that would benefit you in the long run. Invest your time, energy and money in skills that would help you be a better individual, both at the personal as well as the professional front in the long run. 

Is there a skill gap in the current role?

Understand and analyse the requirements of your current role. Identify skills that would help you perform even better in your current role. This would help you be more confident and relevant in the competitive environment. 

Once you identify your area of interest, you can go about upskilling with any of the following techniques. 

Online Learning

Finding online courses these days is an easy task, especially after the onset of the pandemic. Various platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare, etc. offer virtual upskilling courses at reasonable prices. The best part about such virtual courses is that you can work on them at your own pace. 

Microlearning

Microlearning is short bursts of learning content in training. There are frequent workshops and seminars on improving your skills these days that you can attend and work on your skills. 

Mentoring

If you prefer to learn from someone with first-hand experience, you can consider choosing someone as your mentor and learning from their experiences, observing their work and having discussions with them. However, it is important to choose a mentor who is experienced in the skill that you are looking to learn. 

Coaching

Coachers are mentors who have received training to guide you. Coaching is more likely to be more tailor-made to suit your requirements and help you achieve your goals. 

Upskilling and reskilling not only helps you become better and increase your productivity at your job but also helps you grow as an individual by reinforcing your zeal to learn new things and making you feel more confident about yourself.