It always helps to learn how to better use your skills. Careers and promotions will open up to you when you can address what works well and what doesn’t. It is tricky to master. But from asking for feedback to knowing your strengths and weaknesses, here are some suggestions.
Find a Mentor to Help
We all learn from someone else. Fortunately, we live in a world where access to educational materials is just a click away. Mentoring comes in all shapes and sizes, and your employer might even offer mentorship programs. Mentor services are also available. You can find a career coach to help bring out the best of your skills and competencies so you can use them to advance your professional life. Services like Elevate Her are a perfect example for women.
Ask for Feedback
How can you know what you do well and where you need to improve if you can’t identify them? Most people don’t consider asking for feedback, but it is a vital part of personal development. Feedback lets you know what you can do better. This is why major companies go out of their way to ask customers to complete surveys. More and more employers are offering feedback sessions these days. But there is no reason you can’t ask your manager for some feedback.
Better Use Your Skills One at a Time
It is a common misconception that women are better at multitasking than men. The truth is that men and women are both poor at it. Studies have found that multitasking can actually be bad for work performance, as it is best to focus on one task at a time. This allows you to dedicate all your resources to doing it well. Working too much is also a huge red flag. The WHO has recently found that overworking is actually killing over 745,000 people per year all over the world.
Understand Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the hardest things to do when it comes to personal development is identifying strengths and weaknesses. Of course, there is usually something you know you can do well. But there is also so much more you can offer. Hard skills, such as something you have trained for, are usually the most obvious. However, soft skills such as speaking to people well aren’t usually considered. Work on improving skills you have and overcoming skills you may consider weak.
Progress Education and Training
Ongoing education and training are two of the most potent ways to improve your skills and learn new ones. Many sectors require ongoing training, and it is also mandated in some. Examples include law and medicine. Yet sectors such as IT are also evolving all the time, and keeping up with changes is vital. For instance, it is no longer enough to be an IT technician. You will also be expected to understand social media, networking, and even digital marketing and SEO.
Summary
Your career prospects open up when you better use your skills to advance. Finding a mentor is an excellent way to bring out what you have inside. It also helps to focus on one skill at a time, one task at a time. And further education and training opens up more career prospects for you.
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