With many of us currently working remotely or undertaking a furlough period, we are finding ourselves with much more time on our hands. What used to be a daily 1-2 hour commute has now been replaced by family chatter and the working day has been significantly condensed.
Whilst many of us consider this to be a fantastic time to relax, catch-up on some sleep and binge watch television in the name of mental wellbeing, research also suggests active learning can have a positive impact on mental health by reducing stress and anxiety levels.
Whilst improving your mental wellbeing is a fantastic incentive for upskilling yourself, using this time to improve your professional skills will equally be important to your career and recruitment prospects later down the line.
Research conducted in 2019 highlighted the most significant issue C-Suite executives are currently facing is how they can transition their workforce into the future, with more than 54% of employee’s requiring reskilling and upskilling over the next three years in order to match the modern job markets demands.
When taking into account the skills shortage across the North West, Midlands, Wales and London regions it is simple to see the challenges Managers and Board Directors are facing, with demands to increase digital skills particularly prevalent.
Professionals trained in skills like SEO, programming and design softwares to name a few are statistically likely to earn a 29% higher salary compared to those who are not. This highlights upskilling yourself now could potentially have a longer-term positive financial impact on your career and its progression.
Resources you can use to upskill yourself.
Businesses are fully aware people will have more time on their hands to develop or learn a new skill. With many offering a range of free or heavily discounted resources for a limited period, now is probably one of the best times to develop yourself at a reduced financial cost.
Networking from the comfort of home.
Whilst physical gatherings are temporarily restricted, many networking event organisers have had to innovate to ensure they are able to continue reaching their markets.
Our friends at The Marketing Meetup have moved their physical events to the digital space, bringing you webinars, workshops and conversation clubs from leading industry figures like Rory Sutherland and even some at home yoga to keep you active, moving and creative. Here you can meet and discuss all aspects marketing with likeminded people from the comfort of your home. To see what is currently on offer visit our events page.
Get Creative from your Suite.
The fantastic news for any creatives is that Adobe have announced a range of incentives to help professionals at all levels.
For those near graduates who want to enhance their Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premier Pro & more skills, Adobe have removed the price barrier of all Creative Cloud products for students impacted by Coronavirus until May 31st.
Learning to code is not rocket science (really!), and whilst it may take some time and dedication to get to an advanced level we are seeing more and more digital marketers being asked if they have a basic knowledge of coding elements like HTML to construct basic website and email elements.
These skills are difficult to come across and Codeacademy know this, which is why they offer a free package to everyone looking to enhance their coding skills online which you can complete at your own pace. Containing everything from Python to CSS and Java, these courses give you the opportunity to enhance your digital skills to an introductory level and may help digital marketing professionals to stand out in an arguably crowded market.
For those looking for a more in-depth development, School of Code offer a free 16 week intensive web development course where you can learn the fundamentals of programming and how to work in a high performance tech team where you will specialise in full-stack Javascript development.
These are just a few of the free or reduced cost resources we have seen available, other providers like Google also offer a variety of free courses across SEO and Development which may peak your interest.
So where to start?
Whilst upskilling yourself is important, sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start, especially if you are looking to develop yourself for the next stage in your career.
As specialist recruiters across the Marketing, Digital and Creative sectors, we have come across pretty much every role going. So, if you are looking for a confidential chat as to how you can develop yourself and your career get in touch with us today and we can best advise you.
