Why Career Advancement Skills Matter

​People change careers for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Promotion.
  
• Lateral moves. For example, a job opening that is not a promotion, but may require you to move to a different department.
• Job openings for a different company.
• Job loss.
  

Be ready for your next move:

• Keep your skills up-to-date.
  
• Stay current on industry trends and information.
  
• Keep licensing, certification, and credentials updated.
• Include your skills, knowledge, and experience in your portfolio.
• Know how to find job openings and apply for jobs.
  
• Know how to keep your resume up-to-date.

If you are in a management position, make sure that you keep your skills and the skills of your staff up-to-date too. By supporting learning and preparing for the future, you will help your company stay competitive.

Foundation Skills Examples

Willingness to Learn

• Demonstrate an interest in learning.
• Participate in training.
• Anticipate changes in work tasks and demonstrate flexibility.
• Identify career interests.

Employability and Career Advancement

• Continue learning to keep technical skills and knowledge current.
• Maintain licensing, certification and credentialing requirements at the national, state and local levels to stay compliant with industry requirements.

Management Skills Examples

Developing and Mentoring

• Encourage self-assessment.
• Anticipate future changes in work tasks due to changing economic and/or political climates.
• Provide opportunities for skill enhancement on the job.

Scenario Guides

If you’d like to quickly test yourself on these skills, check out our scenario guides. These guides provide you with a few example situations on the first page, as well as space where you can write your solutions. Once you’ve done this, measure your responses against our answers on the second page.

You can find these guides in the “Resources” section of this article labeled as Career Advancement - Foundation level and Career Advancement - Management level.

Additionally, read up on a few secrets that Employment Law Handbook says will help improve your job prospects.​