How to upskill yourself if you don't have the qualifications you need
What if you decide you want to pursue a specific career or climb the corporate ladder but you don’t have the qualifications for it?
Don’t give up. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Here are six ways to upskill yourself:
1. Go back to university: You could take a sabbatical (leave) and go and study. You will become a student and attend lectures and write exams, just as if you had gone to university straight after school.
2. Study for a degree through correspondence: You can sign up to UNISA or an international correspondence university and study in your spare time (when you’re not working). Generally, work will give you time off for study leave just before an exam and the day of the exam off, if the degree or course you’re doing is relevant to the company or your job.
3. University isn’t the only route: You can go to evening classes at a college to study. Work will also give you study leave in this case.
4. Training courses through work: Most companies invest money in their staff by providing training or arranging for them to go on training through a third party learning institution. Make your goals known to your manager so that he can plan for your career development. Most companies that invest in their staff’s training have a pay-back period that you need to work for the company. If you leave before that time is up, you will need to pay back for the training.
5. On-the-job training: Most companies will provide some form of on-the-job training. This normally involves training to use proprietary systems and in-house processes.
Self-learning: With the internet, there is little you can’t learn online these days. If you read up on the topics you’re interested in, you will learn a lot. You may not get the certification but you will have the know-how which you can demonstrate at work. Sometimes that’s enough to get a promotion.
6. Learning should be a life-time goal: Never stop learning. Don’t wait to discover that you don’t have the knowledge, just stay on top of your field of work and upskill yourself all the time. This isn’t a luxury, it’s a requirement in the working world of today.
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