Your Journey to Skill
Development
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Your Journey to Skill Development
You can take these steps to get started no matter why you’re working on skills development.
1. Think about your goals.
First, establish a goal. Why do you want to enhance a particular skill? This can be for a job, a volunteer opportunity, a hobby, for your education, to improve your confidence, or to win an award—there are countless potential reasons.
2. Identify your skills gap.
You’ve established a goal. Now, you need to think about what you require to reach it.
3. Target specific skill areas.
Skills can be divided into dozens of categories. When discussing a career, you can divide them into human skills (sometimes called soft skills or personal skills) and technical skills (sometimes called hard skills).
Human skills
You use human skills at work to interact with others and solve problems independently. Some may come naturally to you, and some may require development. Some common human skills include:
- Communication
- Time management
- Adaptability
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Time management
- Teamwork
These skills can be challenging to showcase on a resume because you usually prove them through actions and interactions. They can be subjective, and they’re not easy to quantify.
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Technical skills
On the other hand, technical skills, or hard skills, are those you can quantify. For example, if you’re a great typist, you can prove that by typing 70 words per minute. If you’re great at social media, you can show the accounts you run with many followers and heavy engagement. If you’ve mastered Microsoft Office, you can present the certificate you earned.
Expand your network
One way to start skill development is to see how others do it. Start by expanding your network to people who are into the similar trade
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Get a coach
If you need more time to be ready to reach out to someone at random, consider searching for someone who coaches people in these skills professionally. This may be more expensive, but remember that it may help your bottom line in the long run.
Read and research
Because social media is such a huge part of modern life, there is plenty to read about, both in print and online. Reading and learning as much as possible about any skill you want to improve can help you better understand it. Consider educational videos and podcasts too. Immerse yourself in high-quality information that relates to the skill.
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Take courses and undergo training.
Consider signing up for a class on the topic.
Seek certification
While there won’t be certifications for every skill, you can find them for some of the most current in-demand skills.
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Practice
The more you practice a skill, the more you’ll get the hang of it. Apply the skills you learned from your network, coach, or online courses. Practice daily. While you practice, pay attention to feedback, no matter its source. Your coach or mentor may have tips to help you improve your work.
