The Race to Re-skill

When you emerge from study, either high school or some kind of tertiary study, there is a high chance you will discover the recruitment process requires a qualification of its own. How do you write a CV? How do you know what to include and what not to include? What does an employer even want in a cover letter? As you read job descriptions you fret over what you don’t know. By the time you get to interviews you are probably knee deep an existential crisis. You might find yourself thinking something like; what did I even study - it hasn’t prepared me for any of this. How will I stand out in an application?

In a digital age, training and up-skilling is a lot more than the traditional qualification approach. Learning and up-skilling yourself is increasingly is more of learn as you go. You, as the employee drive your education and career path. Want a role that requires digital marketing? Google Digital Garage has a free digital course for that set up with a number of internationally recognised educational bodies. Just started a job but can’t even seem to navigate the CRM system? I can guarantee there is an excess of YouTube videos explaining the ins and outs of the system. You can go from the new employee, to the whiz who knows how to sort translate excel data into tangible insights in just a few days.

So, amongst the pressure to decide and land a role, how do you know which path to take? Almost every role is going to ask you to do something you are not comfortable with (yet). Do you stretch yourself across everything, take a barista course, take a LinkedIn course, go back and do post graduate all at once? Take breath, no one is expecting you to do all that.

1. Is it on brand for you and your career goals? Standing on your CV isn’t about variability or spread, it’s about concisely presenting your experience, skills and point of difference as a potential employee.

2. Is it something that will give you entry into a brand/area you really wish to work in? Often up-skilling is needed for a specific role, usually this happens after hiring but it can make all the difference in an interview if you can say you’ve already taken the time to understand the software they are using.

3. Is it something that will challenge me to step out of my comfort zone? Sometimes, you won’t know until you try it. Studied psychology and want to land a marketing role? Studied finance but want to run your own café? Say it with me now, there is a course for that.