Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash
Your online profile stuns and you’ve finally landed the remote job that you wanted. You now have a little more flexibility and get to save on commuting to and from the office. It’s a good life and you don’t want that to end. Then you realize that your skills become obsolete and you’re fighting to keep your job.
As things progress, certain skills seen as cash cows don’t really last as long. For example, last century one skill could give you 30 years of secured work while now, a new skill might afford you about 6 years. The world is an unpredictable place. Things can change at any time, new talent comes around and new technology is developed to make certain skills easier. You need to be prepared for anything.
If you don’t feel prepared, you might want to consider improving your skill set. Here are a few reasons why you should.
- It makes you stand out
When you learn a new useful skill and demonstrate that you are capable of using that skill, you immediately become interesting to the people who need those skills. Let’s take learning something like graphics design and copywriting. If you ever need to present something it will come off as stunning and chances are, you’ll be known as someone who can produce amazing content. Aside from the skills you already have, these new skills can increase your likeability and probably increase your chances of getting promoted or more remote jobs.
- It keeps you relevant
As mentioned before, the world is always changing. A social media influencer wasn’t a thing 10 years ago. That being said, it is important to learn what is current in your field before you get left behind. If you’re a web developer, basic html, javaScript and css may not be enough. There are many new frameworks and libraries to learn about, like Flutter and React, that can make the job a lot easier and make you more efficient (read: more valuable to your clients).
- It makes it easier to learn more skills
Learning how to learn is a skill in itself. Practice is one of the best ways to sharpen a skill. The more skills you practice learning, the easier it may be to learn other skills. Keep learning and practicing how to learn and it could help you pick up a skill just in time for an interview.
- Makes you resourceful
Learning a new skill that is involved in your remote job can help to make you agile, innovative and cost efficient. It opens up chances to see new ways of solving a problem, which is something that can get you noticed.
- Helps develop new passions and career paths
Learning a new skill is a great way to learn a new way of thinking. You may be a web developer, but through learning social media marketing, you’ve figured that this is something you also love doing. Learning a social media marketing skill opens you up to apply for marketing jobs. It also adds variety to your life – and who doesn’t need their life spiced up every once in a while?
As a remote worker, there are a few in-demand skills that have been proven to be in high demand. The recent pandemic has made them evident. These are copywriting, film/photography, coding and digital marketing. While some of these skills take a while to learn, with the technology available it is not that much of a concern. If you’re interested in learning some new remote-ready skills, check out these resources.
The economy we live in is shifting from simply having a job to what you can do for the job. This means that constantly adding to your skills list is important to keep you relevant, outstanding and growing. Finding out what skills you should focus on is challenging, but we recommend browsing around to find skills that interest you for now and continue learning how to learn. Through this, you can achieve immeasurable professional satisfaction.
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Interested in jumpstarting a remote career in a tech or tech-adjacent field? With Unpluggd Academy, we offer courses and bootcamp programs in coding, design, product management and more, along with soft-skills training in interview prep and other areas to help you land, and keep, that ideal job.
Sign up to join our next cohort of candidates on their way to a flexible remote-work life!
