Change is a fact of life. And that’s as true of our professional reality as it is of our personal one. In the face of rampant globalization, increasing digitization, and the rise in remote and hybrid work environments, the world of work looks far different today than it did just a decade ago.
And that means that employers no longer have to be consigned to a local and limited candidate pool for their recruiting. Instead, for an increasing number of employers, the entire world has become a potential resource for attracting talent.
For workers, today’s expanding job market means that opportunities are also expanding. But to remain competitive, workers must prioritize professional growth.
Developing technology skills to increase utility
The job market is constantly evolving, but perhaps never more rapidly and expansively than today. To maintain your viability and marketability, whether as an established employee or as a job candidate, it’s imperative to continuously cultivate new skills.
Not only can this increase your efficacy in your current job role, but also to future-proof your career, ensuring that when the inevitable changes do occur in the workplace, you’ll be ready.
And if you’re looking to maximize your employability in almost any industry, then perhaps the best thing you can do is cultivate your tech know-how. Indeed, experts predict that jobs in technology will be some of the most lucrative, stable, and plentiful in the labor market in coming years and decades.
Tech skills for non-tech jobs
Though developing tech skills can provide immense opportunities in the expanding job market, you don’t have to be working toward a tech career to reap the professional rewards. Now more than ever, tech proficiency is essential not only to career advancement but to acquiring and retaining a good job.
For instance, because a significant proportion of work today is done either in hybrid or fully remote environments, workers must know how to use remote work technologies effectively.
At the very least, today’s workers need to learn how to securely manage documents, use diverse communications platforms, and perform basic IT troubleshooting. Such skills enable workers to maintain their productivity no matter where they may be working, whether on campus or remotely.
Perhaps even more importantly, these skills prepare employees for the reality of work today and the future of work tomorrow, when teams, increasingly, will be widely geographically distributed, and work processes, as well as the sharing of information and work product, will occur largely online.
Enhancing video conferencing and presentation skills
Because even employees who work exclusively on campus can be expected to routinely interface with colleagues, partners, and clients on remote platforms, the cultivation of video conferencing and presentation skills will also be key to your professional growth. After all, you can be the greatest public speaker around, but that does not automatically guarantee your success in this medium.
To be an effective presenter, communicator, and leader in the digital space, you need to understand the unique but often subtle attributes of an effective video conference. Indeed, the skills required to achieve this are vast and varied, ranging from the aesthetic to the technical.
You need to know, for instance, how to create a background that is professional and appealing without being distracting. You also need to hone your ability to capture and engage audiences without the benefit of face-to-face, physical proximity.
You’ll need to know how to read and respond to your viewers through the medium of technology. This includes understanding cultural and linguistic differences that may impact your interactions with your virtual audience.
And you’re going to need the technical skills to establish and maintain a solid internet connection and to seamlessly use the necessary functions of the video conferencing platform. This will almost inevitably require you to perform on-the-spot technical troubleshooting from time to time to ensure your virtual meeting’s success.
The cultivation of Soft Skills
As critical as the development of tech skills may be for success in the expanding job market, professional growth also depends on the cultivation of so-called “soft skills,” those which depend principally on effective communication, relationship building, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Importantly, connectivity is the hallmark of the expanding workforce today, including its increasing utility in combatting unemployment in developing economies such as the nations of Africa.
This means that your professional growth strategy must also prioritize the deployment of soft skills to include not only effective virtual communication and relationship building but also important skills such as digital literacy. The successful worker of the future knows how to harness the incredible power of the information economy without falling prey to malevolent actors or false information so prevalent in the digital space.
The Takeaway
Professional growth is the key to success, progress, and longevity in the ever-expanding labor market. And such growth can take many forms, from the acquisition of technological skills to the cultivation of soft skills. In the end, however, the goal remains the same: To promote workers’ agility, aptitude, and alignment with a constantly evolving business environment.
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