Largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the way that it has deeply disrupted many industries across the professional landscape, a phenomenon that some are calling “The Great Resignation” is currently underway.

Instead of going through the motions in their current jobs or “going with the flow” and sticking to the current trajectories of their careers, many people are now looking for options for developing new professional skills, retraining, and changing jobs or career types outright. Whether you’re interested in getting into mobile applications technology or want to start working in ecological management, here are a few tips for developing new professional skills:

See if your current job is open to offering additional training and certification opportunities:

Many employers will have a budget for training and skill development on their teams and will offer a range of optional courses and qualifications to their employees. Even if your current employer isn’t explicitly advertising these courses, you could go to them and ask whether they would be willing to fund and sponsor you for training that would potentially make you more effective in your role.

The training options that will be on offer within your current job will naturally tend to be things that are related to your current career that your employer deems will make you a better asset for the company. And there will often be some contractual stipulation that you need to stay with the company for a certain number of years after completing the course or else pay the cost back.

Either way, this kind of training can be helpful in enabling you to adjust course in your career, particularly if you’re not in a big rush.

Take online courses and work on them at a consistent time each day:

Today, there are many great online courses to be found, ranging from full-on certificates and online degrees offered by Universities, to more basic certificates and courses in things like the fundamentals of coding or graphic design. Signing up to online courses and spending some time working on them each day at as consistent a time as you can manage can be a great way of quickly acquiring new skills and insights.

Work on projects that you’re inexperienced with during your day job or as a side venture:

Some of the best skill development happens or, at least begins, “on the job,” whether at your actual day job or while working on a side business or other project in your own time. Working on project types that you’re relatively inexperienced with but see potential in can be one of the most fruitful and rapid ways of developing your professional skills. It will give you a clearer and more accurate sense of the kinds of topics where further training might be necessary or beneficial.

If you’re unsatisfied with your current job, there is no better time than the present to make changes to a career path that better suits you.

Featured Image By: Pixabay