Upskilling: a low-cost, quick way to refresh your resume and experience
Angie Kamath
If I told you there was a way to add skills to your resume, improve marketability, increase your network, and give potential employers a clear sense that you are committed to learning – you’d be interested right?
The concept I am talking about is “upskilling” yourself. What I mean is looking at ways to quickly and inexpensively add new training and information to your skill set that will be attractive to employers.
Almost every industry and type of job I can think of has an element of skills and training that is cutting edge. In other words, the skill base is varied enough that candidates can set themselves apart by learning innovative and new programs, techniques, and information.
Often this type of training is offered in continuing education settings at local universities and industry associations. Think about the trends in your field and what the gold standards are for training and see how you can develop those skills.
Here are a few examples of training:
- The NY Alzheimer’s Association offers a free 50 hour course in Dementia Care for healthcare professionals
- NYU School of Professional offers relatively low-cost nonprofit certificates in fundraising
- City University of New York offers low-cost programs to upgrade technology skills
And, here are a few examples of ways to think about enhancing your knowledge:
- IT professionals can expand their knowledge base from PCs to include Apple products
- Accounting professionals can expand their knowledge software from only Peachtree to Quickbooks as well
- Admin professionals can become certified in project management skills
- Medical coders can learn “upcoding” to understand new changes to medical codes to help doctor offices increase reimbursements
- Customer service professionals can learn to use customer relationship management tools like salesforce.com or Oracle On Demand systems
- Healthcare paraprofessionals can learn geriatric or pediatric specialties as these are growing need areas
The benefits in my mind are very clear: you can make it clear to employers that you are continuing to invest in yourself; it gives you fresh data to speak about in cover letters and interviews; and importantly increase your network.
Angie Kamath, who overseesWorkforce1 as the Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Development at the NYC Department of Small Business Services, shares her perspective on Workforce1 and the New York City job market in her weekly Jobs in New York City column.
Have a response to Angie’s column? Drop her a note in the comment section below! And, if you found this helpful, please share it with friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and email!
Excellent post. I think many people overlook this concept!
I am currently writing a post on novel ways to facilitate a job search. May I consider including your ideas (I would quote you.)
Thanks for posting – Dr. Gottschalk
Hi Dr. Gottschalk, you are welcome to quote from this blog with attribution. Thanks for your interest.
How do I pay got training if I’m unemployed and my benefits have stopped……….
Hi Jay, We’ve posted several entries on free and low cost training options. You can browse some of them here: http://nycworkforce1.org/tag/training/. Just as two examples, to get you started, in today’s post, Kate Janeski talks about Individual Training Grants and a November post talked about IT training.
Hi, am a registered nurse interested in becoming a physician’s assistant. Can you refer me to programs that I can apply to?
Contact the Workforce1 Healthcare Career Center for more information.
Dear Angie,
I agree with you on the ups killing, but for me there is still something. I’ve tried so many different things, such as; updating and tevising my resume and coverletter, training programs, job search skills, only to find myself still out of work. Yes, I have even resorted to changing jobs, only to be told I’m not qualified. I’ve been registered with workforce 1 for over 3 yrs and been so discouraged by the staff that I don’t bother applying for their postings anymore. I just come to use the computer. I’m hoping you could help me. It would be greatly appreciated.
Sounds like you are in tough spot – but you are persevering, and should be proud of that. Without knowing your particular work history and what you’ve applied for, it’s hard to know exactly what is working or not working with your job search strategy. But, I suspect you might not be applying for jobs that match your skills. Check out this post for suggestions for matching your skills to a new job – and with this information revisit the resume and interview workshops. AND put together a new plan for the types of jobs you are going to apply to.
In addition, use the power of networking to help get your foot in the door! Is doing something in your community or neighborhood an option -whether it is faith based organizations, local schools, libraries, hospitals, or other types of organizations. Your network is not only your professional, career focused network- but also all everyone who can positively vouch for your integrity, work ethic, and interpersonal skills.
Last thing I can think of is expanding the geography of your search. I am not sure if you have limited your search to a specific radius around where you live – but you might consider expanding beyond, even if that means a tougher commute.