15 Reasons Why Upskilling Can Boost Your Career

What is the importance of upskilling? Why is upskilling important to keep up with the changes in your industry and further your career?

The world is changing, and so is your industry. To survive and be future-ready, you must also evolve and enhance your skills.

Upskilling is the need of the hour, and you can never quit learning and bettering yourself. Let's understand what upskilling means and how you can apply it to boost your career.

What is upskilling?

Upskilling is the process of improving or adding new additional skills to yourself. Upskilling can happen professionally and personally by attending webinars and workshops conducted by your organization or expanding your knowledge by taking online courses. Upskilling closes the gap between what employees can do and what the organization needs them to do.

How is upskilling different from reskilling?

Both upskilling and reskilling teach new skills, but they are different. While reskilling teaches skills that prepare you for another job, upskilling focuses on your current career path.

Ways to upskill yourself-

Virtual classes: Enrol on a virtual course and start learning online. Many platforms offer online courses that give your career a boost.

Mentoring: Find a mentor who can teach you a new skill and help you succeed in your business or career. Develop a healthy relationship, watch them work, and discuss the skills you want to work on. 

Coaching: Unlike mentoring, coaching is a more tailored approach to reaching your goals. Coaches are trained professionals who easily guide people to attain a specific skill set. 

Training programs- Sign up for in-house or virtual training programs offered by your employer to learn something new. 

Microlearning: Keep reading or watching bite-sized training programs during your free time. Short bursts of learning content are always better for long term memory. 

Workshops and Conferences: Attend online seminars and conferences on various social media platforms. They are one of the hotspots for networking and collaborating with like-minded individuals.  

Podcasts: Podcasts can be your valuable companion to upskill. This emerging trend gives you access to a wide array of learning materials that are easily accessible even while on the go. It saves you time and proves effective to further your career, enhancing your work-life balance.

15 Reasons why upskilling can give your career a boost

#1. Make You Stand-Out At Work

New learning creates engagement and motivation at work, equating to increased productivity. Firms always look for fresh talents who are both versatile and well-trained. Upskilling gives a range of desired skill sets to help you stand out from the rest. It keeps you motivated to learn more and be ready for the future workplace

Companies always prefer employees who go the extra mile to advance their skills. Upskilling makes you stronger at problem-solving, researching, analysing, and displaying a higher level of productivity, thereby improving employability.

#2. Makes You Future-Ready

The recent accelerated technology adoption has resulted in recurrent changes in the working model. There has been a significant shift in the needs and demands of various industries. 

More and more organizations are looking for candidates willing to upskill and become a part of the future-ready workforce. It's important to continuously evolve and gain knowledge in one's expertise to keep up with the changing times. 

Upskilling helps one become ready for the new upcoming job profiles introduced in the future.

#3. Boosts Confidence

Employees going for training and development programs are always excited about what's next. Learning new skills helps combat the feeling of professional insecurity at the workplace. 

Upskilling gives the required motivation to perform one's job well, and it boosts morale and makes employees feel more valued and excited about their roles. 

So, whether you are a beautician looking to enhance your English speaking skills or a media professional looking for a personality development course, learning new skills will always make you confident. 

#4. Increases Productivity

Obtaining more skills under your sleeve makes you more efficient and lets you multitask. With additional skill sets and tools, you can streamline your everyday work, automate repetitive tasks and improve productivity. 

#5. Cause Upward Mobility

Career upskilling seems to be an emerging trend lately. More and more working professionals are scaling up their skills to climb the career ladder. 

With technological transformations, more and more job seekers are looking for fresh talents who can add more value to their workforce. Possessing the right skill sets will attract more job seekers to your profile and help you raise the career ladder with ease.

#6. Embrace The Joy of Learning 

Once you develop a desire for learning, you'll never cease to grow. Discovering a new passion or talent is essential to boosting your career. 

The joy of learning new things will keep you motivated and expand your potential to build new things. Learning new things can also result in a revived way of thinking and encourage creativity in all avenues.

#7. Open Up New Possibilities

Are you looking to enhance your career capabilities or want to explore new areas of expertise? Upskilling can open doors to better professional opportunities and plays a vital role in giving your career the required momentum. 

Learning new things makes you stand out, and you can lay a firm foundation for success by investing in self-development and skills. If you are looking to change careers, upskilling allows for a much easier transition, opening doors to endless possibilities.

#8. Acquire the Required Skill Sets

With the recent advancement in technology and digitization, there is a massive demand for new job profiles like digital marketers, app developers, social media managers and graphic designers

Upskilling can help you acquire new skill sets and diversify your job roles. Adopting new skills will help redefine your approach to work and fill in the critical gaps.

#9. Increase Customer Satisfaction

There is no denying that happy workers always lead to satisfied customers. The more valued an employee feels, the better the result it can yield for a business. 

Upskilling keeps a workforce up-to-date with the current industry trends and allows them to offer the best to the clients and prospects. And when clients are happy, they become strong brand advocates, resulting in increased customer loyalty and customer retention.

#10. Meet New People and Network

Being part of upskilling programs, either online or offline, lets you connect with like-minded people, and it opens up networking opportunities and plays a vital role in building connections. 

Upskilling programs attract people from your industry who want to learn and grow. It is a great way to get some face time with your industry folks. Upskilling programs are a great way to market yourself, and you may end up meeting with your future employer. 

#11. Make You Efficient and Your Work-Life More Satisfying

Undertaking training programs and gaining exposure and knowledge can work wonders personally and for your company. Good quality work leads to appreciation, which eventually brings satisfaction. It is one of the principal benefits of upskilling yourself. 

Upskilling also makes one more efficient by incorporating creative thinking, time management and leadership skills. 

#12. Improve Your CV

Listing down new skills and certifications to your CV will always help you cast a good impression on potential employers. It lets you stand out to other applicants on the job hunt and your chances of getting hired increase. 

Demonstrating up-to-date skills is the key to survival and enables you to climb up the ladder of success with ease. Consider investing your time in adding new skills to the profile by enrolling in relevant upskilling programs to give your CV that extra sparkle. Upskilling makes you golden, giving you an edge over the others who lack those skills. It reflects your appetite for learning and increases your value to future prospective employers.

#13. It Prevents Redundancy

The mere feeling of being redundant or superfluous is enough to keep one motivated to upskill. 

Being able to showcase new skills will make you more confident in your job and help you prove your worth to your company. Upskilling has a positive impact on employee retention and reduces hiring costs.

#14. Discover New Career Paths

Upskilling is a great way to widen your knowledge and discover something new, and it helps bridge the gap between the skill you possess and the ones you want to acquire. Acquiring new skills is a great stepping stone if you're considering shifting your career into a different path, and it empowers you to move in the right direction with confidence. 

#15. Develop Personally 

Upskilling is a must for personal development. The urge to learn something new and continuously improve yourself can help you achieve personal fulfilment. It makes you aware of the changes around you and enables you to embrace the changes with confidence. 

Along with discovering new career paths, you may also discover new passions. When you learn new skills, you open yourself to uncovering new interests. Not only is upskilling yourself suitable for career development but also personal development.

Upgrading your skills is no longer an option but a necessity. Be a continuous learner, be better at life. Keep yourself up-to-date with these short courses here. Also, join the Glow & Lovely Careers Community on the SHEROES app for women for free guidance tips and professional support. 


Vandana Das
Vandana is a full-time writer, blogger and content strategist. She loves travelling and making doodles and comic strips.

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