Skill development is a must for creative professionals who want to stay relevant, secure plum assignments, and earn a higher salary or promotion.
Worried your skills will become obsolete? It can be challenging to get the right training – or any training – on the job. Thirty-two percent of more than 400 advertising and marketing hiring decision makers surveyed by The Creative Group said their company provides some training, but not necessarily on the most relevant topics. Nine percent said their firms provide little or no training or skills development options.
In the same survey, advertising and marketing hiring decision makers said the most challenging aspects of keeping their creative and marketing employees’ skills up to date is finding time for employees to participate in training and identifying appropriate skills development options.
What do these stats mean for creative professionals? For one, the onus is on you to get the skills development you need. Here are five affordable skill development options:
1. On-the-job training
Institutional knowledge is a big asset for any company, and cross-training is one way to take advantage of it. If you know colleagues who have mastered skills you’d like to learn, find out if they would be willing to give you a few pointers. Or, approach your manager about setting up something more formal, like a brown-bag series where employees can learn from experts from within or outside the company during the lunch hour. In addition to expanding your knowledge base, you’ll build camaraderie with your peers, which can boost morale, aid conflict-resolution and make solving problems easier.
2. Mentoring
Many creative professionals know the value of having a mentor, but it can be difficult to figure out how to find and approach one. A mentor can be someone in your department, from another department or outside your company. Think about the type of skills you want to acquire to help pinpoint prospective candidates.
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