I’ve been recently mulling over some new learning project that I can work on to further improve my skills portfolio. My current work doesn’t really provide any training so I’m pretty much left to my own devices. There’s quite a lot of administration tasks involved in what I do. The problem is, administration is brain rot.
To prevent further zombification of my professional life, I decided to go about my three-step program of assessing where I stand in my skills portfolio. Here’s my three-step program.
Step 1: Redraft the resume. A great way to take a look at your career progression is to redraft your resume as if in job search mode. That forces you to take a good look at what you’ve been up to for the past X years. It really gives you a good picture whether you’re in a rut, coasting by, or really milking the teats of your situation.
Step 2: See what others are up to. If you’re immersed in a particular field, it can also be beneficial to check what organizations in your industry are looking for today. This can be a cheap workaround This would show you what about your skills and knowledge are still relevant. If you’re planning a career change, it’s also worthwhile to compare what the expectations are of your target industry versus your current skill set.
Step 3: Compare. By comparing the two, you could have a good idea of the gaps that need to be filled. Filling these gaps would make me better in what I do right now, and, in case I have to shift gears, allow me to function in a different environment.
Redrafting my resume proved to be tricky. My first dilemma was to figure out for which position do I write my resume. The problem is that I I do tasks for a dozen positions. I could possibly fill pages upon pages of my resume of duties and accomplishments that narrowing it down to what’s relevant to one position is quite an injustice to my body of work. Push comes to shove, I could always credit my extra work as “going above and beyond.”
My second dilemma is that I’m not quite sure how to progress professionally. I have been seriously considering a career change – whether to continue the corporate route or be an entrepreneur and finally build something of my own. Either way, I have to continue building my skills portfolio to get make me competent, or in the very least, function.
Figuring these two out is quite an interesting task. I guess I have a new project.