If you take a quick look at our jobs page, you’ll see that at Connexus Recruit we are all about digital talent i.e. marketers, designers, web developers, data analysts, etc. These are exciting areas to work in that bring a lot of job satisfaction to our candidates, but there is one major challenge anyone pursuing a digital career is going to face again and again: you will always have a skills gap.
Keeping up with your digital career
The reason why you will always have a skills gap is because innovation in technology is developing at such an exponential rate that it is impossible to keep up. Anyone who went to college to study for their digital career will be hyper-aware of this because the moment they graduated most of what they had been studying for the last three or four years was already out-of-date! So how do you keep ahead of the game?
It is vital for anyone working in a digital career to take the time to evaluate and re-evaluate their job skills portfolio. The digital landscape is a constantly shifting space and what might have been the hot, must-have skill last year may now, just twelve months later, be old news. You need to keep your eyes and ears open as to what’s happening in your industry while also evaluating your skills in relation to the company you work for.
Let’s have a look at some practical ways you can identify your skills gap, so you can progress ever upwards in your digital career!
Actions you can take to identify your skills gap
Perform a skills audit
This is the first thing you should do. List all of the skills that relate to your job and use a scale to demonstrate how proficient (or not!) you are at each. The scale could go from 1 – 10, 1 being the weakest level and 10 being expert. Use the company description of your current role and it’s duties to inform your skills list.
This is a handy exercise to help you visualise where you are now and where you want to be. Don’t throw your new skills list away when you’re done, because you will come back and update it. The “where you want to be” part comes from including the skills that you need for the next step in your career trajectory. How do you know what they are? We’d suggest a good place to start is by studying job advertisements…
Study recent job advertisements for your ideal role
A clever way to know exactly where you should be focusing your attention is by studying new job advertisements in your career trajectory. This is the perfect way to get a really up-to-date sneak peak of where the industry is going. Not only will you find out what skills are in demand right now, but you’ll discover new phrases and terminology that are gaining popularity in your industry.
It makes sense to check out job advertisements for the next step in your career. Therefore, if you are currently a Marketing Assistant, then the next rung on the ladder would be Marketing Executive or if you plan on specialising then it might be SEO Manager or Social Media Manager. Get out a pen and paper and jot down any skills the job advertisements are looking for that you don’t currently have. Not only are you identifying your skills gap, but real job advertisements provide a great source of motivation!
Ask your boss directly
It sounds like an obvious one, but many people miss this trick because they fear that they are highlighting their weak points to their boss. However, chances are your boss already has a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and they will appreciate you showing the initiative to identify your skills gap.
Make sure to request a time to meet with your boss, so that they are not busy and can give you their full attention. It would be a good idea to do a bit of research before the meeting, so you can emphasise the advantages of upskilling for the company. You can explain what you believe competitors are doing and how much more impact your role would have if you could improve on certain skills.
Listen carefully to how they answer. If your boss offers you proactive advice and is happy to invest in your upskilling, that’s fantastic. However, if they cannot support your ambitions and it seems as though they are struggling to accommodate you, then perhaps you have outgrown the company and it is time to move on.
It may sound like a lot of work to be constantly upskilling, but that is also the biggest advantage of being in a digital career – it’s exciting! You are always learning new things while surrounded by passionate individuals who are all about preserving their place at the front-line of the digital evolution. It’s not rocket science, but there is definitely rock fuel involved somewhere along the way!
Are you priming up for the next step in your career? At Connexus Recruit, we connect the dots between great companies and great employees. Get in contact today on 01 254 8362 or by sending us an email at hello@connexusrecruit.com.
