5 skills to learn to better your career

As virtually every market industry in the world is becoming more and more competitive to get into, it’s important to take action and invest in yourself as a professional in order to stay at the top of your game. This won’t just benefit you in your current job either. You’ll create numerous opportunities for yourself if you put the work in to elevate yourself to be a top tier individual in your field. With the way working has changed due to the pandemic, the gap between those that put effort into upskilling themselves and those that don’t will continue to rise. As job roles are becoming remote across the board now, we will start to see an increase in people with a lack of fundamental skills, too.

Make sure you get the most out of your career by learning and mastering these skills.

Public speaking

Not just public speaking, but the ability to talk to a number of people at once and retain their attention and do it confidently, is an invaluable skill to have. One of the traits of all great leaders and mentors is the ability to convey a message in a concise yet passionate way that captures both the attention and the imagination of the listener in the hope that everyone is on the same page and to see things the same way.

The best way to do this is really just to do it. Just start. Practice and then practice more! You won’t be great at it at first and it will be scary, but over time you will start to master the skill and it will open so many doors for you. Whether your goal is to go into full-blown public speaking to crowds or just to learn how to capture a small audience such as a full meeting room or staff room; the best way to get better is just to try. Start by talking to a few people at once with who you’re familiar. Practice talking to one person at a time and switching between them, watching their reactions to what you’re saying and adjusting your speech, body language, and tone accordingly. Then, once you’re comfortable, start doing it to more and more people until eventually, you’re where you want to be.

Social media

The use of social media - when done correctly - can transform your life and your career. It doesn't really matter what industry you’re in or what level your title is, building an audience of people that care for what you say, and who trust and listen to you is an incredible skill to get good at.

The best platforms we’d recommend for improving your career and increasing your business opportunities are LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Each of these platforms has best practices and so your approach has to differ but the overall advice for all of them is the same - share content that entertains or educates your audience in your niche. It’s as simple as working out who you want to appeal to, and then sharing your thoughts every day that may resonate with them.

Learning to be a people person

This is one of the most underrated skills out there and we’re not sure why because, to be honest, is one of the best skills a person can have. If you’re someone that is likeable, personable, and someone that people can confide in, you will go a long way in your career. All of these attributes establish and build trust, and being trustworthy and personable can make you a great leader.

That isn’t to say that if you’re an introvert or shy that this doesn’t count for you, it does. You don’t have to go out of your way to be a people person in the office and force your opinions or conversations on someone else. It simply means that people recognise that they can come to you and you are able to start and hold a conversation when needed.

Industry immersion

Keeping up with and staying on top of trends is vital. If you want to be considered an industry leader, a thought leader in your space, or someone that knows their stuff and therefore will know what is best for their clients, it is crucial that you work on being all about your industry and really living it. This doesn’t mean you have to spend 24 hours a day researching or talking to people in your industry, it just means that you need to take a little extra care to be ahead of the curve and spend a little bit of time making sure you know everything you can about what you do.

A great way to do this is to follow social media accounts in your market, subscribe to relevant newsletters, and start conversations with experts in your industry.

Sales

Even if you don’t work in sales, it is important to get to know the ins and outs of the product and/or service that your business provides. Then, being able to figuratively sell them to people will allow you to understand the brand better and help you to provide more support to your team and members of other departments, plus sales is just a really good skill to have. One of the best to have in fact! We sell things every day if you think about it. When we go for interviews we attempt to sell ourselves and the value that we can bring to the organisation. Almost any transaction that we are hoping to get something from we are selling something, in some way. Learning to articulate a message in the best way you can and get your point across to the person ‘buying’ is incredibly valuable and will take you to great heights if you can perfect it.