Always Be Learning: How to Gain New Career Skills

The Monster Blog

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Always Be Learning: How to Gain New Career Skills Posted: 27 Apr 2011 04:53 PM PDT Career development doesn't end when you land a job. Nor does it become entirely your employer's responsibility. Lifelong earning about your industry and your profession (as well as adding peripheral skills) not only makes you more valuable to a current or future employer, but also provides new opportunities to network -- on your own behalf or on your employer's. And recent HotJobs polls show that taking steps to gain new skills can really put yourself ahead of your career competition. When asked, "In the past year, have you enrolled in career-related classes or training (not mandated by an employer)?" 59 percent said no. And when asked how many career- or professional-development books they'd read in the preceding year, 60 percent said, "None." So there are two good ideas right there: reading a book and enrolling in a class. And then after you read that book or take that class, think about how you can maximize your effort -- and advance your career or add some polish to your professional profile. For instance, you could: Start a discussion about what you've learned, in an industry forum. Write a book review or a class summary for your blog or for a company intranet or newsletter. Offer to create a presentation about what you've learned, for your colleagues. Start a conversation with the book's author on a social platform. Add the class's teacher to your professional network. All of these ideas would allow you to use what you've learned to "show off" a little bit. And as long as you don't take it to annoying extremes, that's what professional self-promotion is all about. But taking a class and reading a book aren't the only ways to learn new things. Here are some other ideas: Attend industry conferences and seminars (often, volunteering at a conference is a great way to attend sessions for free or for a discount). Look for online seminars (or "webinars"); these are often free or relatively low cost. Create Web alerts for terms related to your industry, so you can stay abreast of news and developments in your profession. Conduct informational interviews, or ask to job-shadow people in other professions or departments. Institute a knowledge-sharing program at your work, at which people share their field's best practices with other teams. (Or just start a lunch-break book club, at which you read and discuss professional-development books.) Study a language -- although English is an international language of business, knowing a little bit of a foreign tongue can be incredibly helpful in a shrinking world. This is by no means an exhaustive list -- but I hope it gets you thinking about ways you can gain new skills. Now share your ideas in the Comments section below. Also, did you know you can get rewards for learning new skills and performing other career-building activities? Check out DailyFeats, a new community where you earn points, build community, and save money on real-life expenses, just by doing good.

Your Dream Job Is Out There Posted: 27 Apr 2011 03:43 PM PDT Recent Monster.com polls show that job seekers are much more hopeful this year than last -- and many more believe that a dream job is out there for them. That's great news, and we want to make sure that all this renewed optimism leads to better careers and better lives. So here are some quick tips on turning your dream job into a reality: Do your research. Informational interviews can be a great way to get the inside scoop on a company or a job -- and they're a great way to network. (Get tips in "Questions to Ask in an Informational Interview.") Other great ways to learn about new fields (and to meet potential contacts) include taking classes in your desired field, volunteering or interning, attending industry conferences, and job-shadowing (Get more advice on job-shadowing, in "Try On a Career Before You Commit.") Make a plan. As a goal, "get dream job" can seem daunting (if not downright unachievable). So after you've done your research, think about the many steps it will take to reach your goal. What do you need to achieve first? Put your plan on paper, and make it as detailed as possible -- this will help you gain clarity about what's required, and it'll help you stay on track. Your first step may be to complete some necessary classes; your second step, to build a personal website and update your blog once a week; your third step, to develop a self-promotional marketing plan; and so on. And don't forget to reward yourself for completing important milestones! Get connected. The right time to start networking is before you need to ask for help in your job search. Approach your networking now with the mindset, "How can I help people?" Also look at social-networking sites -- they're a great way to interact with companies you'd like to work for, or with people who are "stars" in your industry. Get involved in the conversations on these and other platforms. Before you start reaching out to new contacts, though, make sure that you're presenting yourself professionally across all your online profiles. This is not to say that you have to be "all work" online -- it's OK to post things about your family, vacations, hobbies, and so on. None of these are topics that you'd avoid when speaking to manager at your job. Think of it this way: There are things you would tell your mother, things you would tell your best friend, and things you would tell your boss -- and whatever you put online should be things you would tell all three. Get more networking tips here: Monster.com's collection of Networking Advice. And check out some of these results of the Monster Workplace Survey:

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