Are you doing what you can to update your skils?

Consider Updating Your Job Skills If You’re Unemployed

When you are unemployed, working to find a new job always is your first priority. Yet, it’s also the perfect time to sharpen your job skills because you actually have the time to do it.

There are many benefits for updating your skills while you are out of work. First, it might help you land a job. Your new or updated skills could open the door to a position for which you would not have been previously qualified.

Updating your skills also shows a prospective employer that you are a go-getter, someone who seeks to improve their professional tool kit, and that you are a positive person, someone who is taking advantage of your downtime and turning a negative into a positive. And, improving your skills at this time also will have positive effects down the road, by enhancing your professional development and improving your chances for promotion.

So, how do you update your skills if you have no income and can’t afford to pay for skill-building classes and programs? First, you should check to see if your former company offers any professional retraining as part of its severance package. If so, take advantage of this offer right away because often the offer is valid only for a short period of time.

Next, check with the professional associations you are a member of to see if they provide any re-education or retraining opportunities. These likely would be free of charge or have just a basic, nominal fee because you are a member of their association. Another association that might offer free or very low-cost skills training would be your college or graduate school alumni association.

Also, see if there are any conferences, seminars, or local organizations in your community that might provide no- or low-cost skills classes. Quite often, there are state or municipal benefits to help unemployed workers in the form of classes and seminars for updating your skills. Check with your unemployment office, state agencies, or your city or town halls to determine if there is anything available for you.

Now, if you do have some money tucked away for a rainy day, you could use some of it to update your skills. You could work on attaining a new certification to help you land a new job. You could take night extension classes to improve your current skills or acquire new capabilities in a different field. Or, you could go back to school again to begin working on a new degree program.

Either way, whether you have money to spend or not, the point is: Don’t just sit still, waiting for your next job to land at your feet. Instead, be proactive and start working on updating your job skills. If you do, you will feel positive about yourself and your future. And, your next employer will be impressed.   

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Stephanie Leonoudakis-Golder

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Thank you for the reminder that continuing education is just not for people in the professions! I have a higher skill level than some of my previous co-workers and really find that this is a good time to "push" myself and update my skills. It's a much better world to go for what you want and do what you love then it is to feel as if you have to take anything that comes along.

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