Help! I Need to Learn New Things and I Don’t Know Where to Start…

No matter how rich or poor you are, remember that everyone has the same amount of time (24 hours a day) at their disposal to enhance their career (and life). The art consists in making the most effective use of this scarce resource, called ‘time’. Jeb Corliss said once ‘My time on this world is limited, but the things I can do with that time are not.’

Let’s also not ignore the fact, that we are living in times in which we are bombarded with so much information, that it is often difficult to focus on the relevant things. If you believe in the power of employee branding, it is important to find your own ways to develop your career further.

Since everyone has a different approach to learning, you need to know what your preferred learning style is. Are you a visual learner who likes to see to understand, for example by watching videos? Or an auditory learner who prefers audiobooks or lectures? Are you a tactile learner who enjoys hands-on experiences and believes that doing work while learning is the best approach? Find out what for you personally is the most effective way to learn a new skill and then take action.

Now let’s imagine the following scenario:

YOU are a Content Writer and you want to apply for a new job as a Content Manager. You realise that your strength is in creating high-quality content, but for this position there are many other skills that the company is looking for. For example, having also some understanding of HTML and CSS (programming languages), design skills (for image management purposes) and social media marketing (being familiar also with the youngest social media platforms Instagram, Snapchat and Periscope).

You realise that there is a skills gap that needs to be closed to land that job as a Content Manager. You are also fully aware that you would not have enough time to learn all these new skills for taking up that job soon. You decide to invest some time in learning these skills because you want to improve your employee branding and apply for similar jobs in the future.

As a career guidance counselor, I would give you some advice on how to learn those skills in the most effective and quickest possible way. As you know, there are lots of resources available nowadays in which you can acquire these skills. Some resources are for free, while for other resources you need to pay. In a session of career counselling for experienced professionals these are the options that I would suggest in this specific case:

Books. If you are on a small budget, consider first checking out the books that you can find in your local library. However, in the process you might realise that owning those books and thus, having them as a reference at all time would in the long term be beneficial.

Training courses. Find out what local in-house training options several educational institutions offer in your area. If you find it more motivational or useful to learn these skills in a group environment in a class setting, then choose this route. It gives you the opportunity to get your questions answered.

Online resources. There are lots of online resources that you can take advantage of, don’t miss out on them. For example:

YouTube — there is a wide variety of free online video tutorials on how to acquire those technical skills (programming and design) and marketing skills (social media).

Quora — this is the Q&A platform that allows you to post specific questions and get advice from others for free. If you find a past question that relates to your same topic/problem, even better. You might be lucky and come across an abundance of useful answers from others.

Udemy — is the eLearning platform that offers several courses on your chosen topics. First, check out what courses are offered for free and then evaluate what additional value, paid courses can bring you. If you are lucky, you might come across those discounted promotions at only 10 US Dollars that occasionally are offered.

Slideshare — if you love to learn via power point presentation, then this is the right source for you to look for information. It’s free, gives you relevant information and can help you to accelerate your learning curve.

Blogs — there are lots of blogs and articles on the internet that can give you updated information about your field of interest.

Social media — Follow interesting thought leaders in those areas (social media and IT) and see what resources they recommend and talk about.

Ask insiders. Find out how other people learnt those skills that you want to improve upon and ask them to share their experiences. Always read reviews, it gives you an idea whether it’s worthwhile choosing the same resource or not.

Whatever route you choose to improve your career, keep learning and stay updated in your specific field. Remember, if you don’t keep learning, others will do it, no matter what. Don’t make the mistake to fall behind and become a master in your field. Why not also selling your expertise by creating your own resources and then monetize from it as an additional passive income?

(Original source of my article: https://www.talentese.com/learn-new-things/)