When was the last time you thought about your career growth? Did you feel that you had hit a point of stagnancy in your current role with no upward movement or skill development? Do you worry about the future and get stumped when asked about your five-year plan?
If you answered in the positive to any of those questions, then you are one of the many professionals in India who are in the same position as you. This, coupled with a lack of job satisfaction, affects an individual in myriad ways that can influence their career growth in the future.
And the wisest way to swerve off such a situation is to upskill. Racking up hard skills relevant to your specific profession is one of the best ways to improve your future career prospects. Look at it as an upgrade to your own skills that will not only help you climb the corporate ladder (if you are aspiring to) but also make you a black sheep in a herd full of white sheep.
So, what do you do? How can upskilling actually boost your career? Let’s find out.
Upskilling as a Way of Life
Answering how is as easy as opening a book and starting to read it. If you are someone who has already spent a few years in your industry you already know what needs to be done. It can be exploring a new concept in your field by actually opening a book about that concept or signing up for an online course.
Whatever you do, you can be rest assured that you will broaden your horizon in ways that would not have been possible had you not started.
Here are some of the benefits of upskilling:
Increase Career Opportunities
Suppose you are a manual software tester in an IT company and you do a fairly good job at it. You may know the basics of coding and application testing that is essential for that job. But how about exploring automation in software testing?
There are tools that you can learn about which will broaden your skillset and you will soon be able to take up testing projects that require both manual and automation-driven testing.
This naturally increases your career opportunities as you rack up one more essential, relevant skill.
Bump Your Package
When you upskill, you automatically improve your chance of getting paid better. While growth in one’s designation is a sure-shot way to earn more, adding a skill or two into your portfolio increases your eligibility. You may not even have to ask for a raise as in some cases extraordinary professionals are promoted without preamble.
This can also be achieved by the common practice of job-hopping. But make sure you measure your job satisfaction not merely on the salary package. Jooble is a job search engine created for a single purpose: To help you find the job of your dreams!
Expand Your Professional Network
One of the biggest hurdles in finding a new job is the lack of contacts in the industry. Take for example the case of a digital marketing professional who is working at a media agency. He wants to move to the brand side to improve his CV but finds it difficult because he does not know anyone outside his small circle. So, what does he do?
He engages himself in seminars and online courses where he can meet other professionals and communicate with them. Who knows he may be the exact candidate that another person might be looking for to expand his in-house team?
Such opportunities are abundant in the market, but it takes networking on a large scale to find them. If you are an introvert, you can start slow and engage with professionals in your own company first. This will give you the required confidence to explore external circles.
Conclusion
There you have it. Some of the biggest advantages of upskilling for career growth. As mentioned above, you should look at broadening your skill set not just for the sake of a higher package but also for job satisfaction. The key, therefore, is to have an updated understanding of your industry and carving your skillset depending upon the demand.
The easiest way to do it? Starting today. For more details, you can also visit: Imarticus Learning and can drop your query by filling up a simple form through the site or can contact us through the Live Chat Support system or can even visit one of our training centers based in - Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Ahmedabad.