Gain a New Skill
In the winter months it’s often hard to motivate yourself to gain a new skill. But if you are thinking of moving jobs or changing careers, it could be the right time to get your brain in gear. Lots of us make a new year’s resolutions to change careers, but interestingly, January is actually the month in which people are least likely to make a career change. Perhaps this is because of the cold weather in the northern hemisphere, with grim, grey days which make us just want to curl up in front of the TV when we get home in the evening.
More people tend to look for work in the summer and September, which of course is also the time of year that many of them head off to evening classes in the hope of gaining a new skill which will improve their options in the labour market. However, once we reach January, the dark nights and dismal weather have drastically reduced the number of attendees.
Instead of just dreaming about your summer holiday, you could dream about a better job, and actually do something about it in January - without having to brave the elements. Getting some solid new job skills by distance learning, learning online on your own computer solves the problem of bad weather and in fact, also helps with time management as you won’t have to commit to attending a course on a specific night every week of the term. 21st century learning skills in themselves might take a bit of mastery, but taking an online training course will help you improve your it skills as well, introducing you to audio and video applications and other more recent trends.
What you decide to do will depend on a number of factors, including the type of job you are in or considering moving to,the learning resources available to you and your preferred learning strategies. Think about the job you would like to be in this time next year, whether you’re aiming for a promotion where you are currently working or looking for something completely different, do a bit of research to ascertain type of education and training would get you there most quickly. You might find that you could combine workplace training with web-based learning . it will also depend on what you want to learn – is it something specific to your profession a more generic skill like another language or some more advanced computer skills?
If you are contemplating taking up a completely new subject, choose a free course initially. It will provide an introduction to the field before you plunge into more indepth study and will give you a chance to see if you enjoy it or have an aptitude for it. This way you can avoid wasting a lot of money on a course which you hate or a subject you have little chance of mastering. If you haven’t studied for a while, check out our study tips.
Once you’ve found a course, had some experience with the subject and decided you’d like a more extensive knowledge of the topic, be sure to find out if it is properly accredited. If there are qualifications involved make sure they are valuable. Either check with the HR department where you work to see if they accept this qualification from this college, or if you are planning on professional training in another area, ring the professional body which governs the career. Then compare the course with equivalent courses elsewhere - just because it is the most expensive doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better than others and there will always be different modules and emphases within courses leading to the same end result. So make sure it fits in with your individual interests or those of your employer. Draw up a few questions and look for answers on the website. If you can’t find them, email or ring the company to ask your questions and note how quickly and how thoroughly they answer you. Is it possible to get a free lesson to try out?
Check the availability of study support and that the course will fit around your existing commitments. Start off slowly and if you find yourself enjoying the challenge, you can step things up and gain a new skill and a new profession with an online degree or even a qualification in a new profession
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Hi Waller,
For people who are still in gainful employment, a good way to get additional training is to simply ‘ask’ your employer. Bear with me here…
The chances of a direct training pitch working are often not high (no budget, office is busy etc)- so what I advise (and have used myself) is to use the WIIFM tactic as the primary asking technique.
“What’s-In-It-For-Me” boils down to 2 main things:
1- Present your request for training as an opportunity to improve something in your existing workplace e.g. a new sales skill which will help close customers or a negotiating tactic which can help lower your costs with vendors. This MUST be genuine and not some kind of subterfuge to gain a skill and give nothing in return. That kind of deception will backfire on you for sure.
2- Offer to run a mini-version of the training when you have completed it. Who attends should actually be up to your managers but the fact that you offer will put you head and shoulders above the majority of people. (let’s face it, despite the best of intentions, many people hurry way from the training room after the course never to open the notes again!)
To make this work you will of course have to work! And stay awake during the training. By making a few notes of when the trainer got to particular sections, you can easily scale down a 1 day course to 1 or 2 hours. Just cover the main conclusions in an informal way and let your interested colleagues follow up with you later.
PS – Put 1) and 2) above in a 1-page (max) email along with the estimated costs of training, and any follow up study time you think is required.
Send this to your manager and then politely request a 15 minute meeting to explain and answer any questions.
Getting this on your personal development plan (assuming your company has one) is something that shows real initiative. If there isn’t one at your workplace, then create your own private PDP on 1 sheet of paper. It will help you take more control of your career wherever you find yourself in the future.
regards
Mark McClure
japan
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