Possessing a balanced mix of technical and employability or soft skills is a surefire way of succeeding in your career. While technical skills refer to the core industry knowledge to carry out your tasks, employability skills refer to communicating, working in a team, solving problems, etc. Equipping yourself with employability skills will help you stand out, be more productive and deliver better results. Let’s look at how to improve your employability skills at your workplace.
1) Step outside your comfort zone
That’s when learning happens. Actively look for opportunities at your workplace that you don’t naturally feel inclined towards. If you’re an introvert, ask to be included in a team project, so you have the opportunity to interact with more colleagues, clients/customers, vendors, and other stakeholders.
2) Build positive relationships
Learning and using soft or employability skills (communication, attitude and behavior skills, teamwork) in your day-to-day work depends quite a lot on the equation you share with your co-workers and managers. Try and build a rapport with them by taking a genuine interest in their lives, family, interests, etc. If you work in an office or on-site, invite colleagues (even those from different departments) to join you for lunch. If you work remotely, take the initiative to schedule a virtual happy hours/coffee session. The more you interact with people, the better your soft skills will get.
3) Seek a challenging role
Actively speak to your manager and check if there are any projects or groups with a challenging role that demands the very best from you. The experience of taking on challenges will allow you to develop and sharpen your soft skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and attitude and behavioral skills. Also, this will put your entrepreneurial skills to work by thinking innovatively about the project like a startup founder would.
While the above tips will help you get started, if you wish to relish the many benefits of employability skills, professional guidance is all you need. Professional advice will take you one step further in developing and honing your soft skills. Wadhwani Opportunity is one such avenue that offers free soft skills training. Its courses are digital and designed to impart 21st Century employability skills, i.e., skills that increase a person’s chances of getting a family-supporting job. The curriculum has been developed after intensive research and inputs from industry experts. The courses make use of simulations to ensure a practical experience. It also features an assessment program that measures progress.
Wadhwani Opportunity’s Job Ready course will help you boost your confidence, teach you how to participate in group discussions, and improve your communication skills (including verbal and written communication and active listening). You will also learn how to negotiate, positively handle customers, manage time, and acquire emotional intelligence. The course also includes lessons on how to appear in job interviews successfully. There’s a lot of preparation needed before you appear for an interview, and the course will help you succeed and understand how to follow up with the company.
How to improve my job skills? If you have been pondering on this question, then Wadhwani Opportunity’s Job Rise course will help you advance in your career. It teaches you the mindset needed for career growth, handling change, paying attention to detail, making decisions, responding to criticism, and improving productivity.
Apply today to excel in your career:
https://opportunity.wfglobal.org//21st-century-skills/
(For students who are ready to take up a job or professionals who have just started their career)