The importance of keeping your skills current

You too need to stay up-to-date by keeping your skills current so you can maintain your value in the workplace.

Why is it important to keep your skills current?

Keeping your skills current is important because it’s a reflection of your willingness to maintain your industry relevance. It can also display your commitment to doing your job well, which may be the edge you need over your competitors.

People and Culture Manager at CIT Solutions, Amanda Ratas says,

"It’s naive to think that once you’ve gained a skill or qualification it will remain relevant for the rest of your career. It’s not something you can afford to forget about. Keeping your skills current is a necessity."

Benefits of keeping your skills current:

• Secures your relevance in your industry.
• Protects your organisation and possibly your employment.
• Opens new job opportunities.
• Networking opportunities with prospective stakeholder, clients or partners.
• Meet new people in your field.
• Gaining the ability to offer innovative solutions to the organisation you work for.
• You might discover new areas in your field you’d like to explore.

In many professions, it’s a requirement to keep your skills current through continuing education, renewed certifications and licenses or other professional development. Depending on the field, failing to meet the requirements can cause you to lose your skills or worse, your job.

"As soon as we stop maintaining our industry knowledge or learning, we can lose our competitive advantage and that could mean losing out on a lot of other opportunities too."

Don’t learn the hard way; trying to re-certify yourself once you’ve let your qualifications slip is much harder than simply keeping them current. The key is to plan ahead so you don’t fall behind.

How to keep your my skills current?

1. What skills are in high-demand in your industry at the moment? Finding this out will help you determine whether you may need further training or if your skills are up-to-date. If you want to go a bit further in your search try venturing outside your industry, there may be skills out there that will enhance your current skill set or contribute to your industry.
2. Find out exactly what is required to maintain or update your skills. This could mean a refresher course, a bridging course, a professional development workshop or a new qualification. Once you’ve identified what you need it will be easier to find a training provider that offers it.
3. Plan ahead. If you are aware that you need to maintain a certain skill there is no harm in enrolling early. It will also assure your employer you are maintaining your value which protects them.

CIT Solutions offers training in over 20 nationally recognised qualifications designed to prepare government and business personnel with the skills they need to perform at their best.

If you’d like to talk to someone about updating your skills or finding a refresher course, send us an email. Or you can browse our nationally recognised qualifications or professional development workshops.

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