Stay Relevant in Your Career: Sharpen Skills to Maximize Potential

Your career is important to you, but are you working toward staying relevant in your industry? The key to staying ahead of the curve is accessing the resources available at your fingertips. Technology is king and if you want to thrive, direct your focus toward honing essential skills to gain an added edge in your career development. Where do you start? Look over these areas and make an honest assessment of where you need the most improvement.

Exercise Your Brain

Do you struggle to remember a new client’s name, only minutes after you meet them? Direct your attention to your mental muscle – your brain. Access Lumosity either on your phone or computer to sharpen your brain. With over 40 games, you will improve your attention span, memory, mental flexibility and the speed in which you process information. Even if you use your brain each day when you’re on the job, don’t overlook the value of giving it a new challenge every once in awhile.

Embrace Your Curiosity

Thinking outside of the box is a key skill in most careers. More employers want employees who offer novel solutions to client issues. By taking an active role in embracing your curiosity, you automatically train your brain to think about brainstorming alternatives, rather than traditional ways to solve a problem. The website, Curious, offers lifelong learning on various subjects, including high-tech ways to share photos, learning how to code and PowerPoint training. Cultivate learning in a wide variety of areas to expand your ability to problem solve at the office.

Sharpen Your Math Skills

Learning about math doesn’t have to end in college. If you need to present a statistical analysis for a major meeting, it will help to refresh your memory on key concepts. The Khan Academy is a treasure trove for those who want to sharpen math skills with over 100,000 interactive exercises. Don’t be that person who needs to get out their phone to split the dinner bill — forget the calculator and impress yourself with your quick math skills.

Focus on Presentation

Are you frequently called to deliver presentations? Do you strive to tell a story and present important facts about a product or service? Haiku Deck presents vivid images to keep clients engaged, while you are able to deliver a blockbuster business idea or a new way to campaign for a product. For another presentation style, try Prezi in place of PowerPoint for a more active and engaging show.

Increase Your Reaction Time

Reaction time reflects how confident you are about relevant materials in your industry. Even a moment’s hesitation could signify doubt – this doesn’t translate well if you are trying to land an important deal. What if you are driving a client around town? You want to get to your destination on time without any hiccups. Increase your reaction time with practice tests from G1, an online place to take as many tests as you want to master the road and cultivate an efficient response time.

Know How to Navigate Your Tech

Do you have trouble with key terms while navigating your tech? With more and more virtual based negotiations, it is up to you to learn what you need to do for PowerPoint presentations, Skype calls with clients or how to fix a glitch with your computer. Quizlet offers simple free learning tools on just about any subject. If you learn better face to face, take a niece or nephew for coffee and get them to teach you about your device.

Utilize Social Networking

Blogging is a great way to get the word out about your product or service. If you don’t want to invest in an expensive designer, consult Treehouse to learn how to build a website or app, how to code or even start a business.No matter where you stand in your industry, you’re never too experienced or inexperienced to continue learning and sharpening your skill set.

 

  • Author: Cherie Nelson

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