Have you just landed your first job? Maybe took a long break from work and now you’re looking for a job again? Or perhaps you’ve reached a point where you desperately need a career change?
Either way, you need a way to jump-start your career. That often involves going back to school to acquire the necessary knowledge but it doesn’t have to be your only choice.
Don’t let the lack of experience and skills set you back. If you have a good plan and you’re prepared to learn, you will be able to advance in your career just as fast as people with years of experience.
Here are 4 strategies that can help you jump-start your career.
Make a Plan
For a successful jump-start, you need a career plan. Work out what is it that you want to achieve in your career, what skills you need to acquire, and then create a schedule. Consider different options and decide whether they’re worth your time and effort.
Also, do research to discover what are the desirable skills in your industry and how you can acquire these.
Get Ready to Learn
You don’t necessarily have to go back to school to get a master’s degree or anything. Sure, getting a degree can be a tremendous advantage but you need to analyze the pros and cons specific to your situation. Make the best decision for you.
You can always continue learning on one of the many training platforms online. Take a course or simply find useful articles and how-to guides online.
The business world changes at a fast pace and in order to stay competitive, we need to continue honing our skills and improving ourselves. According to Upskill Coach, we should make sure our skills are in demand and we can achieve this thanks to the numerous training platforms available on the internet.
There are so many opportunities to learn for free or to buy affordable courses and get certified. This will help you immensely in your job search as potential employers expect just that. The more you know, the more value you bring to your future company.
Learning Platforms to Consider
There are countless platforms where you can acquire new skills, some better than others. You can choose according to their credentials or their price, it’s up to you. There are also many free learning platforms that you can explore.
Here are a few learning platforms we believe are worth taking a look at:
Coursera. Offers both free and paid courses in various fields.
Springboard. On this platform, you enroll in a course and get matched with a mentor. Upon completing a course, you receive a certificate of completion.
Udemy. This affordable platform has a wide array of courses with hours of video material. Udemy often features discounts so you can buy a course for as little as $11.
Network
Networking or building relationships is essential for every aspiring careerist. This is also one of the first steps towards advancing in your career. You never know how you may benefit from a certain relationship so we suggest you take a bit of your time every day to focus on this.
But how?
You can start by creating a profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. LinkedIn connects professionals from all over the world. It’s where potential employers seeking to expand their teams can see you and reach out to you.
LinkedIn is very useful as you can connect or follow influential people in your industry and learn from them. You can also take courses on LinkedIn if you switch to a paid plan. Your connections and potential employers can see what credentials you have, what school you went to, and your previous work experience.
Many people have found better jobs and advanced in their careers thanks to this network.
Find a Mentor
You need guidance in order to succeed in your career, especially if you’re at the beginning and don’t really know how things work. There are several ways to go about it. You can choose to learn from experienced colleagues and people from your industry.
You can also hire a career coach to help you develop a plan and offer an objective point of view. A professional can help you identify the areas where you need to work to improve your skills and give you a direction many beginners so desperately need.
It’s well known that our own subjectivity sometimes gets in the way of our success, and this is when you need a reality check. Career coaches are a great option if you can afford to hire one, of course.
