Skill Development Strategies
A recent Harvard Business Review study found that a huge “skills gap” exists between the skills employees need, but don’t have. For example, 32.8% of employees in the Information Technology field and 23.6% of employees in the Management field reported that they don’t have all of the skills they need to successfully do their jobs.
If you can take control of your own development, and put a continual focus on growing your skill set, you’ll gain a competitive advantage amongst your peers. If you’re in the job market, this will also give you a leg up amongst other candidates. The good news is that there are several resources at your disposal which can help you expand your skill set.
We have compiled our top five suggestions to help you build your skill set:
Use a SWOT Analysis to map out your development goals and formulate a ‘Learning Plan.’ Identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Take training courses. Attend Webinars and/or Watch Videos. Use Social Media to follow key companies or trends on Linked In and Twitter. Join User Groups or Professional Organizations.
Staying on top of current Industry Trends is also incredibly advantageous to your skills development. Subscribe to professional magazines or journals or bookmark online technical websites to receive frequent updates on the new trends and skills in the tech industry!
Remember, continually focusing on developing both your soft skills and skills related to your specific discipline will be rewarding, and give you an advantage throughout your career, so try to block off time weekly or monthly to outline which skills you want to focus on enhancing, and then take the time to actually develop those skills.
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