Friday afternoons are a special time for me. On the second and fourth Friday of each month, I do not call it a day until every administrative task that I have outstanding is complete. On the first and third Friday of each month, I have a 2 hour meeting in the afternoon with my own thoughts. First, I set my goals for the next two weeks and prioritize my tasks. Then I reflect on where I spent the time since the last time I met with my thoughts.
I evaluate my progress towards my goals and the tasks that I have completed. More importantly, I ask myself a few key questions. One of which is: How have I grown and what have I learned since my last self-check-in? Am I continuing to develop marketable skills?
I introduced Yvonne in my last post. When the company that she worked for shuttered, Yvonne had an interview for an exciting new opportunity later that same week, actually the next day. This is a result of Yvonne continually evaluating her jobs skills and building upon them over her 10 year tenure with her previous company.
Over the years, Yvonne has engaged me in a multitude of discussions in what job skills are marketable, and what job skills she is working to further develop. She is a self-starter teaching herself SalesForce, UI design and web development all the while focusing on learning more about the industry that she works in and the needs of the users of SalesForce and her company’s website. She takes ownership of knowing the technology, but her mindset is always, “What does the user need?”
Yvonne continues to further her skill set and job credentials through certifications. She is currently researching certification opportunities and their values. Yvonne’s story is one of many inspirations for the certifications section on MyBlankJob’s website.
I encourage folks to think about their job skills and marketability and to take actions in their present positions that further their job skills just as Yvonne did. Actions that one may perceive as increasing job security or a good move politically at one’s jobs could be yielding temporary results in the event that one may suddenly no longer be with the company that they work for. One may not have control over whether or not they lose their job, but one always has control over what job skills they are building.