Take the Next Step In Your Career: Adopt a Skills-First Approach

You might ask yourself, “How will I get career satisfaction?” Your fulfillment in your career isn’t just a desire, it’s a necessity.

Professionals all over the world are reassessing career models and questioning existing power structures between employees and employers. How can you use this opportunity to advance your career and achieve your goals? The answer is to try a skills-first approach.

The Pathfinder, a new free tool from LinkedIn Learning, assists you in identifying and learning the skills required for the next step in your career. Simply select a career goal, identify new skills required to achieve your goal, and get a list of LinkedIn Learning courses personalized for your goals.

Check out the LinkedIn Learning Pathfinder and continue reading to learn more about some of the most important professional career development goals for professionals right now, as well as the skills that will help you achieve them.

Top Career Development Goals of Today’s Professionals, According to the Data

These four were at the top of mind of the professionals around the world who wants to understand their goals for the next six months:

• I want a better work-life balance
• I want a new job at a new company
• I want to grow and advance in my current role
• I want to grow as a leader or manager

In this post, you’ll learn more about these goals and how to achieve them.

I want to cultivate a better work-life balance

For many professionals, pre-pandemic life necessitated that work was a major part of our identity. With changes to where and how we work, we have more choices around that like spending time with our families and friends.

In an environment where people are voluntarily leaving their jobs in droves, companies are more open to hearing what employees want and how work can better fit into their lives.

It’s no wonder work-life balance is the #1 thing people want in a new job. Here are the skills that can help you get better work-life balance and courses to help you learn them:

1. Wellness via personal development

Finding your purpose and meaning at work are key ways to work on your own wellness on the job. Here’s what you can learn to cultivate this skill from the experts:

• Practical, science-backed action plans for finding purpose and meaning in life with tips to start a gratitude practice to enhance wellbeing, mindfulness practices, and more in the course: How to Create a Life of Meaning and Purpose with Maxie McCoy
• Learn how to define your personal values and make career and strategic decisions in relation to those values in the course, How to Make Work More Meaningful with Dave Crenshaw

2. Organization: For time and life

The next step to achieving work-life balance is to develop effective methods for drawing and enforcing your own personal boundaries. Equip yourself with practical skills for organizing your day:

• Develop an organizational system suited to your personal needs, with scheduling and task prioritization tips: How to Organize Your Time and Your Life with Pete Mockatitis

3. Balance as a parent

Many parents working from home will again need to adapt to a new rhythm of kids in the home office. This specific situation requires specific skills to navigate.

• Learn how to balance structure with unpredictability, and how to set logistical, physical, and emotional boundaries from clinical psychologist Andrea Bonoir in the course Balancing Work and Life as a Work-From-Home Parent.

4. Stress management

When work stress creeps into our personal lives, it can be one of the clearest signs of work-life balance running astray. But it’s difficult to turn off that switch even when you sign out of your computer. The best bet is to develop skills for managing and reducing stress while at work.

• Cultivate a more enjoyable work environment by connecting with and inspiring others, drawing boundaries between work and life, and boosting motivation in the course How to Have a Happier Workweek with Pete Mocktaitis.
• In How to Have a Great Day at Work, instructor Caroline Webb offers up more granular, day-to-day advice on taking control of your schedule by focusing on seven building blocks: priorities, productivity, relationships, thinking, influence, resilience, and energy.

I want a job at a new company

The ongoing Great Reshuffle triggered a massive spike in job-seeking intent, as employees worldwide reevaluate their options and take advantage of remote opportunities.

Skills have emerged as primary criteria for recruiters and hiring managers. Companies want to know that you have applicable skills aligning with the role you’re looking to fill; this often outweighs even previous experience.

The Pathfinder can help you identify specific skills and courses depending on what you want to achieve in the next six months, but here are some job-seeking skills you can sharpen up to get ready for the hunt.

1. Finding the job

This can feel pretty intimidating, especially for those who maybe haven’t looked for a new job in a while. How do people even find the right job at a time like this? The links below can shed light on how to strategically look for and apply for the job you want.

• In job-seeking, the biggest challenge is often mental. Having the right attitude can help you stay persistent and interview with confidence. But the setbacks and missteps are real. Cultivate a winning mentality with help from Managing Your Job Seeker Mindset, led by Susan Rietano Davey and Kelley Biskupiak.
• Sometimes getting in the door through your network can help you tap into a hidden job market. Learn how to access these unadvertised jobs by targeting your search, changing how and where you network, and taking action to supercharge your job hunt in the course Find a Job in the Hidden Job Market with Sarah Johnston.

2. Making a career transition

Changing careers can be daunting. These courses can help you identify transferrable skills from your current role to apply to the career change you want to make.

• If you’re planning a significant change of course in your career, you might find yourself on unfamiliar ground. In Switching Your Career, instructor Dawn Graham walks through the many considerations of such a move. One of the key items, in light of our theme here: identifying transferable skills.
• Whether by choice or not, it hasn’t been uncommon for people to take career breaks of late. This presents its own set of uncertainties in job-seeking. Learn how to manage them in Returning to Work with a Résumé Gap with Susan Rietano Davey and Kelley Biskupiak.

3. Negotiating flexible work options

When looking for a new gig, you may need to push to get the flexibility you want. Whether it’s remote work, flexible hours, ample PTO, or otherwise, negotiating the right terms for you is vital to ensuring a long-term fit.

• Hiring companies are mostly aware of all the trends. They are more likely to be receptive and open in these kinds of discussions than ever before. You just have to know what you want and how to ask for it. Find expert guidance in Negotiating Work Flexibility with Mike Gutman.

“The Next Step”: A Job Seeker Documentary

Roel, a professional from Alameda, CA has been filming with LinkedIn Learning for the documentary series called “The Next Step”. Follow along as Roel searches for his next job by learning new skills, using his support system, and connecting with his community while facing the unique challenges that come with job-seeking as someone who was formerly incarcerated. Check out the first chapter of his journey on “The Next Step”.

I want to grow and advance in my current role

Anyone who’s been in their role a handful of years can tell you that essential skills required for a functional area continue to evolve.

LinkedIn Learning pulled together a custom list of courses based on essential new skills across several functions including software engineering, IT administration, project management, professional administration, finance, marketing, media & communications, sales, learning and development, and recruiting. Click any of the links to check out these skills and courses.

I want to grow as a leader or manager

Leading in business is really hard. It’s getting harder. Those who are tasked with overseeing teams and strategy must balance priorities in a complex, fractured work environment.

There are four priority skills you can get started on solidifying.

1. Building trust

The ability to build trust and rapport is important no matter your role, but for leadership, it is essential. One study from 2020 found that 80% of Americans said they would not follow a leader they do not trust.

• Credibility creates trust. And the path to getting there, according to Aimee Vickers-Sanchez in the course How to Build Credibility as a Leader, lies in knowing how to take accountability, encourage collaboration, and take on the role of being a good teacher, among other things.

2. Thinking like a leader

When you’re in charge and others are following you, certain mentality shifts must take place. You’re the example-setter, which means taking extra care to set a good one. Developing others becomes an integral part of your focus. Navigating tough situations is part of the deal. Thinking like a leader can help you excel in these key areas.

• Gain skills to grapple with all of these requirements and more in Leadership Mindsets with Sesil Pir. The course is helpfully oriented toward nurturing this mindset in our new era of work.

3. Championing diversity and inclusion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a top priority for leaders everywhere. It takes a commitment to honing skills in diversity hiring and inclusion to help leaders champion true equity. These skills help leaders get the right talent in the door and ensure they stick around to be long-time leaders.

• Confront one of the core barriers to diversity in business: hiring practices. Acquaint yourself with the stunning range of biases that can affect these practices in Uncovering Unconscious Bias in Recruiting and Interviewing with Dr. Tana Session.

4. Project management

At a basic level, leaders are in charge of making sure things get done. In many fields, project management is one of the most critical functions of leadership, because when it’s done well, it looks effortless.

• Pick up helpful pointers and become a PM ace with the course Project Management Skills for Leaders, led by Dana Brownlee. You’ll uncover key advice for conducting effective kickoff meetings, delegating, status tracking, and more.

Your Career, Your Goals, Your Skills

It’s time to own the next step in getting to where you want to go. What’s one single thing you can do in the direction of that goal? Learn a new skill.

Check out the new LinkedIn Learning Pathfinder to discover which skills and courses can help you get there.