Upskilling and Reskilling for Career Success

The world of work is always changing.

While keeping your skills up-to-date is an essential part of your career development, simply keeping them current may not be enough in an ever-changing workplace. If you want to stay ahead of the career curve, you may want to consider upskilling and reskilling yourself.

Upskilling Defined

What is upskilling? At its core, upskilling is when you learn new skills. In terms of your career, though, upskilling is learning new work-related skills that can help you advance on your career path. As an example, you might upskill yourself by taking certification classes in leadership or project management to move up from a “regular” employee position to a management role.

Reskilling Defined

And, what is reskilling? When you learn an entirely new set of skills to help you change jobs or career fields, you are reskilling. A writer who wants to become a nurse will need to return to school to reskill themselves. However, a formal education may not be necessary for a lot of reskilling. For example, a social worker who wants to become a programmer can learn coding at a boot camp or through online courses.

Why You Should Reskill and Upskill

No matter where you are in your career or how much you love your present position, reskilling and upskilling yourself can play a crucial role in your career development and overall career success.

Even if you have no interest in moving up the career ladder, upskilling can help you become more proficient in your current role. This new expertise can, in turn, make you more valuable to your present employer. If nothing else, staying on top of changes in your industry and growing with those changes helps demonstrate your value and willingness to adapt and learn—valuable traits in a worker.

When you reskill yourself, it’s usually because of something new you want to do, like change careers. However, there may be times when you reskill yourself because you have to (e.g., there are layoffs on the horizon).

That said, reskilling yourself can also help your career when you like your industry or company, but not necessarily your specific job. Reskilling can help you make a lateral career move from, say, marketing to HR without having to go back to school or start over from the bottom at a new company.

How to Upskill or Reskill Yourself

No matter why you’re reskilling or upskilling, it’s important to upskill and reskill your hard and soft skills. Both can (and will!) play a role in your future success.

Upskilling or Reskilling Your Hard Skills

Reskilling and upskilling your hard skills could mean going back to college for a new degree, but it doesn’t have to. You can upskill and reskill your hard skills by:

Taking a certification course online or through a community college
Trying out some free online courses
Reading books and listening to podcasts
Volunteering
Working with a mentor

Reskilling or Upskilling Your Soft Skills

Soft skills play a critical role in career development and success. Reading a room, making small talk, and effectively communicating are all examples of soft skills. Here’s how to upskill and reskill your soft skills:

Take on new tasks beyond your current role
Spearhead or lead projects
Mentor others
Develop your emotional intelligence
Network

Learn New Tricks

The greatest career advantage to upskilling and reskilling yourself is that whatever you learn is yours to keep! So, whether you stay in your current role or move on to something new, the skills you’ve gained can help you no matter where your career takes you. If you’re looking for classes that can help you upskill and reskill, we’ve got you covered! Browse online courses for remote workers.

Looking for remote work from home? Remote.co’s sister site, FlexJobs, can help you connect with legitimate remote jobs. New jobs are posted every day in more than 50 career categories, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and freelance jobs. No matter what you’re looking for—flexible work-from-home jobs, digital nomad jobs, jobs for stay-at-home moms and dads, remote jobs with no experience, or side jobs from home—there’s a remote job for everyone. Start your search today!