The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Kevin Mercadante, who is a professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com. He has backgrounds in both accounting and the mortgage industry.
Job insecurity has become a way of life in recent years.
Even if you’re doing a good job, it’s sometimes not enough to keep you from facing a layoff. The only security any of us have anymore are the skills that we have – the talents and abilities that give our work value to our employers. That being the case, you can turn your job into an investment by actively working to improve your skills, and to build new ones.
This is more important than it’s ever been. Unfortunately, employers no longer train their employees. This is because training costs money, and in the cost cutting mania that has overtaken the American workplace, there simply seems to be no time or money for it. To keep your skills sharp, you have to invest some time – and maybe even a little bit of money – making it happen on your own.
Resolve to spend some outside time on job improvement
Most of us have more time on our hands than we realize. The “problem” is that much of our non-working hours are filled with watching TV, web surfing, “staying connected” on cell phones, or participating in extracurricular activities.
What if you were to devote three or four hours out of that time to either improving an existing work-related skill, or developing a totally new one?
Considering that most people are unwilling to make this kind of investment of time and effort, doing so could put you on the cutting-edge of employment skills.
Develop a set of skills that you would like to either improve on or build from scratch, and then begin budgeting the time that you will need – out of your leisure time – to learn them. Sure, you need time to deal with the stress of the work week, but giving yourself an upper hand with new skills might go a long way toward relieving work stress by itself.
Learn what you can about the Big Picture in your field or industry
A lot of people come into work, do their job, and then go home. They don’t concern themselves with what’s going on in the Big Picture. From an employer’s standpoint, the Big Picture is anything that affects the environment that the business operates in. This can include economic conditions, regulatory environment, market preferences, and competition.
By spending some time educating yourself on these issues, you can develop a birds-eye view of your company’s business, and see it the way your employer does. Even more important, if you can begin developing work-related strategies that are consistent with those big picture issues, you can rise up above the rank-and-file in your company. Think of this as the skill of awareness.
Take a course or two
If there is a specific skill that you think is critically important either to your ability to retain your job, or to be promoted, consider taking a course in that subject that will help you to acquire the skill.
They’re all kinds of skills that you can develop that can help you with this. For example, a public speaking course can help you be better speaker, and maybe even to lead meetings and other group sessions. This will position you as a leader, not the least of which because most people are deathly afraid of speaking before groups.
Taking a course in a job specific computer program or application can also increase your value to your employer, or even to future employers. Businesses today are all about technical skills, and the more you can acquire, the more valuable you will be to your employer.
Acquiring skills on the Internet
Not all skills require a classroom setting. You can use the Internet to learn all kinds of new skills. This can include researching those skills and finding out where you might be able get online training. But you could also check out YouTube and see if there any videos posted that will help as well.
Sometimes all you need is a working knowledge of the given skill – you don’t necessarily need to be an expert. Even more important, is the ability to take a given skill and find a way to efficiently apply it to your job. If you happen to stumble across a new skill that can help your company – but that your company is unaware of – you can also position yourself as an innovator.
It’s mostly a matter of being out and about, and willing to experiment with what’s out there. In this way you virtually win by default, because most of your coworkers aren’t going there.
Invest in relevant software
Think of a common software application that’s important in your business, where you may want to position yourself as an expert. Identify what that software is, buy copy of it, and spend your spare time not just learning it,but mastering it!
In virtually every company, there are people who know how to use software programs. But there are very few people who are experts in the application, who know the specific nuances that can help the employer. By spending some off-hours time working with a software application, you may be gaining the kind of knowledge that will make you indispensable to your employer.
Never overlook the obvious when it comes to software programs There are common applications, such as Excel, PowerPoint and various graphics programs, where you can position yourself as an expert. If you can find ways to take these common programs and use them in a way that will provide tangible benefits for your employer, you could become one to go-to people on the job.
Take a parallel part-time job
Sometimes the best way to learn a new skill is baptism by fire – that is, you just have to get out there and do it. One of the best ways to do it is through a part-time job. Considering that most employers frown on their employees taking positions with direct competitors, you’ll probably be better off to try to find part-time work for a company that is in a related business, but is not a direct competitor
And since part-time work is generally more casual than full-time, you’ll probably have a better opportunity to learn the skills from the ground up.
Certain skills simply lend themselves better to hands-on experience. Sales is an excellent example. If you think that developing sales skills will help you in your job, or make you more valuable to the employer, consider taking a part-time sales position, and see where it leads.
You may even find that the more casual atmosphere of a part-time position makes it easier for you to learn a new skill, particularly one as challenging as sales, if you’ve never done that kind of work before. Since you won’t be relying on the sales income, you will be able to master the skills under less stressful circumstances.
Turning your job into an investment is all about building a portfolio of skills. The more that you have, and the better you are at them, the higher your market value will be – either to your current employer, or to a new employer in the future.
How about you all? Have you invested your personal time and money to gain valuable skills for your career? How so?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/eflon/4541692312/sizes/n/
