How to discover new skills and broaden your experience

... to gain exposure to other areas of expertise and to broaden your ... I would do a bad job, that it was too different from my 9-5 role. FOREDUCATORS TRYFORFREE LOGIN HOME COLLEGEADMISSIONS CAREERDEVELOPMENT ADVICE COLLEGEADMISSIONS CAREERDEVELOPMENT ADVICE Menu About Blog FreeResources Howtodiscovernewskillsandbroadenyourexperience byRebeccaAcree,onFeb11,202010:44:06AM “Writetheircustomer-facingcontent?Me?”Iasked,takenaback.Iwasahumanitiesmajor,butIhadabsolutelyzeroexperienceinprofessionalwriting,yetwaswritinghow-toguidesforasoftwarestartup.Myfriendnodded.“TheyneedsomeoneASAP.Doyouwantin?”Atthetime,Iwasscaredtosayyes—Iwasworriedthatitwouldbetoohard,thatIwoulddoabadjob,thatitwastoodifferentfrommy9-5role.ButIignoredthelittlevoiceinmyheadandsaidyesanyway,andamgladIdid!Twoyearslater,I’mstillwritingprofessionally,andamlovingeveryminuteofit.Whenyoupushyourboundaries,youcanlearnnewskillsthatyouneverknewyou’dhave.Tryingnewthingsisthebestwaytogainexposuretootherareasofexpertiseandtobroadenyourportfolioofexperiences.Readontolearnaboutdifferentwaystoexpandyourprofessionalhorizons!1.AtschoolIfyou’restillinschool,youlikelyhaveamajor,whichdetermineswhichclassesyoutake.Butthatdoesn’tmeanyoucanonlytakeclasseswithinyourmajor!Eachsemester,trytobroadenyourscope.Takeaclassthat’sslightlyoutsideofyouracademiccomfortzone.Ifyou’reahumanitiesmajor,trysomethinginthesciences,likestatistics.Evenifit’snotyourmainareaofexpertise,imaginerecruiters’excitementwhentheyfindoutthatyoucanwritearticlesandrunSQLqueries!Thesamegoesforthesciences—ifyou’reasciencemajor,tryahumanitiescourse,likeEnglish.Whiletheremaybemanypeoplewhoaregreatatscience,feweraregreatatsciencewhoarealsoawesomewriters.Havingabalanceof“hard”and“soft”skillswillmakeyouamuchmoreattractivecandidate!2.AtworkIfyou’realreadyamemberoftheworkforce,you’reinluck—chancesare,you’realreadysurroundedbyexpertsinotherspecialities.Spendsometimetakingstockofyourcompanyanditsotherdepartments.Outsideoftheworkofyourownteam,whatinterestsyou?Whatprojectscanyoutakeonthatwillbenefitthecompanyandyou?Inyournextmeetingwithyourmanager,mentionthatyou’relookingtodevelopsomenewskills.Yourmanagermayhavesomesuggestions,oryoucanofferupsomeideasofyourown.Itdoesn’thavetobeabigleap—ifyou’reinmarketing,askifyoucanhelpoutwithasalesproject.Ifyou’reincompliance,askifyoucanhelpoutwithanoperationsproject.Thatsaid,don’tbeafraidtotrysomethingcompletelydifferent.Imaginethedemandforamarketingprofessionalwithexperienceincoding!3.ThroughextracurricularsWhetheryou’reinschoolorarealreadyworking,ifyouhavesomefreetime,youcanputittousebygettinginvolvedinextracurriculars.Thiscouldmeananynumberofthings—frombabysittingtoplayingultimatefrisbeetovolunteeringatalocalsoupkitchen,there’salottobelearnedfromtheseexperiences,eveniftheyarejustforfun.Butthemorethey’reoutofyourcomfortzone,thebetter!Ifyou’reahighlyintrovertedpersonbynature,youcouldgetinvolvedinimprov,forexample.Ifyoulovetoplaysports,joinatrivialeague.Maybeyou’lllikeit,maybeyouwon’t—buteitherway,you’lllearnsomethingnewaboutyourself,andyoujustmightevendiscoveryournewpassion.4.ThroughasidehustleWhenyou’relookingforasidehustle,morelikelythannot,it’sinanareathatyou’realreadyfamiliarwith.Youmayhavetheopportunitytopickupajobinanewspace,likeIdid,butthat’snotnecessaryinordertolearnnewskills!Whatyou’redoingmatterslessthanthefactthatyou’redoingit.Havingasidehustlehelpsyoubuildyourresourcefulness,entrepreneurship,timeandprojectmanagement,salesmanship,andothercriticalbusinessskills.Thesewillserveyouwell,nomatterwhatcareeryouwanttopursue!Themoreyouexposeyourselftonewexperiences,themorelikelyyouaretogainnewskillsthatwillbevaluabletopotentialemployers.Whethertheseexperiencestakeplaceintheacademiccontext,theprofessionalcontext,orsomethingelsealtogether,whatmattersisthatyou’repushingbeyondyourcomfortzone.Beingproactive,takingrisks,andtryingsomethingnewisalwaysworthwhile—atworst,it’llbealearningexperience,andatbest,it’llbeafantasticnewadditiontoyourresume! 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