The World Economic Forum stated in a report of 2021 that 25 per cent of all employed will have to reskill by 2025 to be suited for emerging technologies and automation. This means that the training received in schools and colleges are not enough. The summer break is the best time to pause and think of what skills one could develop.
It is not only about developing one’s resume. Simply put, the jobs that existed the last few decades simply will not exist in the few years.
What can one do in such a situation at a personal level?
Today’s mantra is reskill and upskill. That could mean many things. At first, it means trying to understand why reskilling is important, leading to the steps to take in order to reskill and finally, finding a place to implement the new skills.
The why should not be difficult to answer. The market requires skills, both hard and soft. Hard skills are knowledge and ability. Soft skills are linked to personal attributes like cooperation and time management.
The how needs a broader strategy. Knowing and listing available resources is a great first step. There are various universities and open source education centres which provide free courses which can be upgraded into a paid one for certification and retention of material.
Open universities worldwide provide course free of charge. Then there are digital education platforms which provide hundreds of courses to suit the early or mid-stage learners. Their courses are often hosted by distinguished faculty and have modules which can be taken up at one’s own speed.
The courses found online suit everybody’s needs and interests. From coding to hospital management, from art appreciation to gardening technologies, there is something for everybody. What is more, these courses use a variety of teaching strategies – videos, audio content, pop quizzes, discussion boards and end of course summative tests – but only if you want certification.
You Tube is another great resource for learning and reskilling. There is almost nothing that cannot be learnt on this platform – from playing the piano to creating a custom made car, there are how-to videos on any topic, given by experts and novices. If you have a passion, there is a talk or a lesson on it available online.
Having chosen an area to work on, the last step is how to put the new skill to good use. This includes finding a way to underline the achievement in one’s resume, practice the skill to perfection by offering it to friends and family, creating a portfolio of sorts.
The summer break is the ideal time to work on these skills.
Lack of opportunities is no longer an excuse for access to knowledge. There are skills waiting to be learnt in every corner of the Internet. There are also plenty of opportunities to test out new skills.
How to use the available resources to one’s advantage will only be determined by imagination and commitment.
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