Aug 15, 20194 min
Landing your job doesn’t mean you need to stop chasing your dreams. There is always an opportunity to learn more, whether it benefits your current role or one you want in future. The key to constantly upskilling, is to take your career growth into your own hands. Focus on learning new skills outside of any official training your company is providing you.
It doesn’t have to be hard, or even time consuming. But prioritising your development on your own terms, will not only motivate you to learn new things you are passionate about, but will also show your boss you are dedicated and eager to learn – an invaluable quality in and employee.
“Education is what people do to you. Learning is what you do for yourself” – Joi Ito
Here’s five ways you can take your career growth into your own hands and start leading your own learning.
1. Sign up to an online course – they’re free!
There are tonnes of accessible online courses. The best thing, they don’t always have to be paid for, or run by the ‘best’ university. The easiest place to start for this is the online course websites, such as Coursera or edX but if you can’t find what you’re looking for don’t give up.
Try searching some of the companies who release whitepapers or research, or look for listicles titled ‘best courses on [insert topic]’. It might take a little bit of time to do your research in the beginning, but it’ll be worth it. For example, when looking for some courses on SEO this week, I found Hubspot Academy which has great short courses to help set anyone on their learning curve.
Doing this truly inspires you to continue to absorb information outside of your ‘day-to-day need to know’ stuff. It will also hello you find new ways to learn about something you are passionate about.
2. Find out what’s on near you (don’t worry, you don’t have to network)
Instead of thinking of industry events as a chore, think of it as an opportunity to learn. You don’t always have to go to events to make connections, you should go to events for self development.
Startup communities are a great place to start. They usually have lots of foundational talks or events teaching others in the community basic skills they need to run their business. When you start a new job (especially if you’re in a new city) sign up to the local startup newsletters for the monthly events. Another great way to find interesting events are through Meetup, Eventbrite or organisations like General Assembly.
3. Take a test run, and have it marked
Regardless of how far removed something is from your job description, if you show a passion to learn and try, you will find someone who is willing to help. For example, if you want to learn to write creatively, start writing and submit to competitions that organisations like Australian Writers Competition hosts, or if perhaps you want to upskill in accounting, do the sums and ask an accredited accountant to help mentor you and take a look at your work. After all, practice makes perfect – and everyone needs to start somewhere!
4. Find a ‘career idol’
If you were asked who your favourite actor, band, singer or sportsperson was you would most likely have an answer. When asking people who their career idol is, the most common answer is “ummmm, I dunno, I haven’t thought about it”.
Find someone who you admire and aspire to be like, and then follow them. Read their books, listen to their podcasts, watch their interviews or presentations and follow them on LinkedIn. It will help you on many fronts. If you’re not familiar with all of the terminology, it will help you understand this and be able to start using it in your day-to-day conversations. It will help you understand the thinking behind topics and inspire you to form your own opinion. Last but not least, it will give you someone to reference or quote when you need to validate something you’re saying.
5. Volunteer to do something you want to upskill in
A great way to apply your skills is to volunteer to work in that position at a not-for-profit. It could be your local sports club, or a charity, and will give you the freedom to think for yourself, make your own recommendations, try, fail and then try again. Usually when you work with a NFP, the team are so grateful for the work you are doing. Combined with the freedom to run things your own way, you’re motivated to do more.
You will apply the skills you have, and then continue to learn new skills and apply on the go. Never lie about your skills when offering your help to a NFP. Instead, talk about what you hope to achieve and how you want to get there when signing up to make sure you are setting expectations!
There’s lots of thing you can do to be constantly learning outside of official training from your employee. To help you stay on track, set goals about what you want to learn. Write out what you are currently doing to meet these goals (inside and outside of work), what else you could do to achieve your goals and then an action plan on what you will do. You’ll see just how motivating and exciting it is to take your career into your own hands.