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[O107]On The Job Skills

by Paul Megan, Pau

Are you seriously interested in advancing your career? Then you better assess your job skills to make sure they're consistent with the growing expectations of your career direction. The fact is, whatever those expectations were when you entered your current job situation, they've changed.

Here some ways you can tell whether your current job skills may be outdated.

1. Are there more our fewer people unemployed in your industry?

2. Do you possess hard or content skills like technical expertise? Or are you expert in ?helping? skills like managing? Hard is good. Helping is not so promising.

3. Do you have a set of transferable skills that apply to any number of jobs? Are you good at managing people? Monitoring progress? Anticipating problems? Think about how these transferable job skills might apply to a new employer.

4. Where can you apply for your present or most recent job? If you can't think of a dozen companies that hire someone who does what you do, your skills may be redundant or obsolete.

5. Do recruiters ignore your calls?

6. Is membership in your trade association or professional society shrinking?

The answers to these job skills questions are not good or bad. They are information . . . information you need to assess as you consider advancing your career.

If the timing is right for you to move on, you want to make sure you're advancing. Of course, possessing desirable job skills is important to your success. But equally important is how you communicate and sell yourself going forward.

Unfortunately we've been brainwashed into thinking a resume will do that job. We think if we can come up with an award-winning resume our career advancement problems are solved. NOT!

Today's savvy employers need much more than a resume. In fact, they could care less about what you used to do for someone else. Bottom line is . . . they want you to come forward demonstrating that you've taken the time to learn about the goals of their organization and more specifically what their hot buttons are for successful management.

Rather than a resume, they'd like to see a proposal showing how you would solve or handle issues. All by itself this will demonstrate the content and transferable skills that you can bring to the table. This approach is just one of the many alternative job search strategies and non-traditional career advancement techniques that have been so successful in winning high-paying job offers fast!

When the economy falls into a slump, it is inevitable that many people will lose their jobs. This can be a scary time as people look for ways to pay their bills. Large layoffs often mean people may be out of work for a long time. During these difficult times, there is often a concern about maintaining and acquiring new job skills. By taking a temp job, people can maintain and improve current skills while supplementing their income.

A temp job is a job in which you work for a short period of time at various businesses. When there is increasing unemployment, an employer who cannot pay a full time worker will often turn to temp agencies to find an employee to work on a part time basis or for a short period of time. Research shows that workers who take temp jobs do better in the labor market and those working for temp agencies have a higher chance of working for higher-wage companies.

The following list outlines how temp jobs create and maintain essential job skills:

• During long periods of unemployment, people will often not be able to learn new job skills or maintain their current skills. Employers prefer workers who have polished skills and fresh experience. Most temporary agencies prefer their workers to be up to date on all work skills so they can send them out ready to work on the first day. To maintain their workers job skills and keep them up to date on new skills, they will provide skill training sessions.

• Gaining employment through temporary work allows a person to be exposed to a variety of work environments. Different businesses require different work skills therefore a temp will learn new skills while maintaining their current level of experience. The more experience a worker has, the more valuable they become to a business. They can add these new skills to their resume which will improve their chances of getting a full time job. For instance, the computer field is constantly changing. Temping at various computer orientated businesses will help workers improve their skills while they are searching for a full time job.

• More businesses are realizing that they require highly skilled employees in specialized areas that can include administration support, accounting, and information technology. They tend to turn to temp workers because there skills are current. If they are happy with the temp, they will often offer them a full time position.

• By working at various businesses, temps will receive on-the-job training. This will show employers that they are flexible and can learn new skills quickly and efficiently.

• Temporary agencies can also help people who are less skilled. Less skilled workers will have access to training and on-the-job experience. This will provide a path to stable employment that they might not have had if they had chosen not to work with an agency.

• Today's temp agencies are set up with the most current computer technology. They have the most recent computers, programs, and software. Workers can improve many skills by taking such tests and training programs as administration typing, math, spelling, office and accounting software programs, and much more. Workers can also schedule interviews and appointments using an online system. There are also software tutorials to help workers improve their resumes

During times of high unemployment, temping is one area that stays constant. Temping is a great way to maintain an income while improving job skills. For people with the right experience and attitude, temping may be the solution they need to boost their career ambitions.

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Both Paul Megan & A Nutt are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Paul Megan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Employment, Careers and Job Hunting and Employment. Paul Megan writes for EEI, the world-class pioneer in alternative job search techniques and non-traditional career advancement strategies . . . since 1985. Grab our stunning FREE REPORT: ?How To Find A Job In As Little As 14 Days!? Click on RSS for insta. Paul Megan's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.

A Nutt has sinced written about articles on various topics from . One of the top providing and r. A Nutt's top article . to your Favourites.