Unfortunately the pandemic has made job security a major concern for a lot of people around the world. Regardless of the industry, the workforce in general has been hit hard and steady employment is no longer guaranteed. The job market is now oversaturated with people looking for work, so what makes you stand out? How are you going to ensure that you are standing out from the crowd when looking for work?

What is upskilling?

Upskilling is gaining further training or education in the job you already have. For example if you are currently a legal assistant, you could upskill to become a paralegal. Upskilling will either help you become more of an asset to your current employer or prepare you for future roles in the same industry, with a leg up on where you are now.

What is reskilling?

Reskilling is the development of additional skills to help you move to a new role. This could mean you are currently a teacher but want to move across to a marketing role. This is especially handy if you are working from home or if the industry you work in has been impacted heavily by the pandemic. You might have no other choice but to change industries, and if you lack experience or the skillset it is going to be even more difficult to land a job.

Other ways to upskill and re-skill could involve things like learning a new language, brushing up on your IT skills or even just improving on aspects of your professional life that could be considered weaknesses, such as time management or organisation. Mastering things like this will open doors to a range of new opportunities that you might not have considered before and give you a boost of confidence if you find yourself unemployed.

How to upskill or reskill?

If you are out of work or want to take it upon yourself to learn something new while you are still employed, there are a range of online platforms out there that offer free or paid courses. We offer a range of courses to help you write an impressiveCV, improve on your conversational English and more. Click here to see the full list of courses we have on offer. There is also: HubSpot, Udamey, Coursera, SkillShare and MasterClass which are great.

There is also an endless supply of books out there that you can access either from a library or online that will help you brush up on your chosen area. Look for free e-books or downloadable e-guides on topics of interest, and get to reading. These are the two easiest and most convenient ways to branch out and learn from home or on the go.

If you are still employed and interested in reskilling, speak to your employer to see what they have on offer. Some companies might have training days or seminars that they can send you to, others might be happy to provide you with on the job training or enrol you in a course to help you re-skill.