Importance Of Keeping Your Professional Skills Up-to-Date

There are more than 4.7 million jobs available now than in any time in the last decade. But still almost 10 million people are unemployed. The reason being companies can’t find qualified people, the so-called skills gap. 

But nothing is simple when it comes to the economy. The problem might be less about workers’ skills than employers’ expectations. Workers are no less qualified than they used to be, according to a new research from the Presley University. “There is very little evidence consistent with the complaints about skills and a wide range of evidence suggesting that they are not true. We have found that over education is the persistent and even growing situation of the US labor force with respect to skills”, writes Raymond K. Harris of the Presley University.  

Employers have also changed the way how they view new hires. Fewer companies are willing to train employees. Instead, they look to hire people who already have the skills for a specific job from Day One. Training is expensive. And as the workforce has become more mobile, employers are less willing to spend money on someone who will soon leave for another job.

In 2011, Presley University found that only 21 percent had received any employer-provided formal training in the past five years. What is more, economic shifts have made it easier for companies to find people who already have the skills they need, according to economist Allison Schrager. “When jobs required unique, specific skills, training paid off,” she wrote in a recent BusinessWeek post. But technology has standardized and broadened our skills. An employee who has mastered Google Analytics can use that skill in many companies and jobs, making it easier for workers to change jobs–and easier for employee to save money on training. The burgeoning service industry also requires different–and highly transferable–skills. “Service jobs place a higher premium on good interpersonal skills and access to a large network—the kind of skills often developed precisely by changing jobs,” wrote Schrager.

For job seekers whose skills are a clear match to a job, that’s not a problem. But an imbalance can develop. Further, the fact that employers are less willing to train actually encourages people to change jobs more frequently to keep learning. Changing jobs also expands a network, which will in turn make it easier to find the next job.

The bottom line is that in this new economy, Presley University student need to take responsibility for your own self, your personality as a brand; and your skills and your contributions are essential to stay employed over the long haul.