When was the last time you thought about your career growth? Did you feel that you had hit a point of stagnancy in your current role with no upward movement or skill development? Do you worry about the future and get stumped when asked about your five-year plan?
If you answered in the positive to any of those questions, then you are one of the many professionals in India who are in the same position as you. This, coupled with a lack of job satisfaction, affects an individual in myriad ways that can influence their career growth in the future.
And the wisest way to swerve off such a situation is to upskill. Racking up hard skills relevant to your specific profession is one of the best ways to improve your future career prospects. Look at it as an upgrade to your own skills that will not only help you climb the corporate ladder (if you are aspiring to) but also make you a black sheep in a herd full of white sheep.
So, what do you do? How can upskilling actually boost your career? Let’s find out.
Upskilling as a Way of Life
Answering how is as easy as opening a book and starting to read it. If you are someone who has already spent a few years in your industry you already know what needs to be done. It can be exploring a new concept in your field by actually opening a book about that concept or signing up for an online course.
Whatever you do, you can be rest assured that you will broaden your horizon in ways that would not have been possible had you not started.
Here are some of the benefits of upskilling:
Increase Career Opportunities
Suppose you are a manual software tester in an IT company and you do a fairly good job at it. You may know the basics of coding and application testing that is essential for that job. But how about exploring automation in software testing?
There are tools that you can learn about which will broaden your skillset and you will soon be able to take up testing projects that require both manual and automation-driven testing.
This naturally increases your career opportunities as you rack up one more essential, relevant skill.
Bump Your Package
When you upskill, you automatically improve your chance of getting paid better. While growth in one’s designation is a sure-shot way to earn more, adding a skill or two into your portfolio increases your eligibility. You may not even have to ask for a raise as in some cases extraordinary professionals are promoted without preamble.
This can also be achieved by the common practice of job-hopping. But make sure you measure your job satisfaction not merely on the salary package. Jooble is a job search engine created for a single purpose: To help you find the job of your dreams!
Expand Your Professional Network
One of the biggest hurdles in finding a new job is the lack of contacts in the industry. Take for example the case of a digital marketing professional who is working at a media agency. He wants to move to the brand side to improve his CV but finds it difficult because he does not know anyone outside his small circle. So, what does he do?
He engages himself in seminars and online courses where he can meet other professionals and communicate with them. Who knows he may be the exact candidate that another person might be looking for to expand his in-house team?
Such opportunities are abundant in the market, but it takes networking on a large scale to find them. If you are an introvert, you can start slow and engage with professionals in your own company first. This will give you the required confidence to explore external circles.
Conclusion
There you have it. Some of the biggest advantages of upskilling for career growth. As mentioned above, you should look at broadening your skill set not just for the sake of a higher package but also for job satisfaction. The key, therefore, is to have an updated understanding of your industry and carving your skillset depending upon the demand.
The easiest way to do it? Starting today. For more details, you can also visit: Imarticus Learning and can drop your query by filling up a simple form through the site or can contact us through the Live Chat Support system or can even visit one of our training centers based in – Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Ahmedabad.
Tag: career growth
The Need For Upskilling In The IT Sector
The Need For Upskilling In The IT Sector
A study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute predicted that 400 to 800 million jobs would be assigned to Artificial Intelligence globally by 2030. This could mean trouble for members of the workforce if they do not upskill themselves based on the current demands.
But on the brighter side, organizations are investing in training and developing their employees to manage digital disruption and control the power drifting away in the hands of automated humans. Read on to learn why we need to upskill the IT sector:
Keep up with technical transformations
In a report published by NASSCOM, around 40% of the Indian workforce needs upskilling. And it’s not because Indians aren’t technically equipped and growing.
On the contrary, technology is ever-evolving. For employees of the IT sector, which is dynamic, you need to keep pace. The fact is that technology is creating artificial intelligence with sensitivity to human emotional needs. This will quickly replace the human workforce, often begging the question as to what humans have to offer that technology cannot. The IT sector needs to begin upskilling employees to get a leg up in this competition with technology.
Meet the demand for advanced skillsets
There is a considerable gap between the need for and supply of a workforce with advanced skills. Another factor that makes it impossible to meet with the demand is a lack of adaptability to change or learn new things. This leads to a limited reservoir of the workforce earning a large chunk of salaries. It also leads to many companies losing out on high-profile projects due to the lack of quality talent.
The Manpower Group survey in 2017 found that companies around the world are challenged while finding a suitable candidate for vacancies as the functional expertise needed is not found in potential candidates. Upskill training will help in bridging the gap and enhancing a company’s performance.
Reduce the cost of new recruitment
IT sector is ever-changing. With the introduction of automation, Big Data analytics and the like, the cost of hiring new employees to meet unique requirements is high. Organizations prefer to train and develop existing employees as the employees already have experience and understand the industry.
With IT professional courses, they will engage in a new concept that will help the company– this also reduces the costs involved in finding a new candidate. Further, clients are used to existing employees, so customer satisfaction will remain stable if the existing employee is upskilled and continues to retain customers.
Increase business opportunities
With the advent of new technologies, big companies are deploying new technologies and automating systems. Earlier, processes that an IT person handled, like developing systems or answering online queries, is today managed by a chatbot. Digital and IT companies that are equipped with new technologies can apply for projects that require complete transformation, but if you lack the technical and human resource to cater to changing demands, then a loss of business is imminent.
IT training can help the existing employees handle new technologies and bring new projects on the table, leading to better performance and competitive advantage for the company.
Put agility over redundancy
The world of business demands agility and rejects redundancy. IT sector is one where growth prospects are limited if one does not adapt to changing trends. When in such a volatile industry, where you can be replaced with a sudden change in technology, the only way to sustain is by upskilling.
A ‘Jack of all trades’ approach will create a diversified portfolio and help you sail through turbulent times. It will also help in matching employer-employee interests. Employers today prefer that employees with an advanced skill set and experience control the machines, maintaining a younger pool of employees in the company.
To conclude, change is the watchword– a person who can foresee future trends and upskill can only become more indispensable. So, ensure personal and organizational growth with consistent upskilling and retain your position in the ever-changing IT industry.
For more details, you can also visit – Imarticus Learning and can drop your query by filling up a form through the site or can contact us through the Live Chat Support system or can even visit one of our training centers based in – Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Banglore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Ahmedabad.