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Extend your skills
If you are serious about your career, it's vital to keep your knowledge and skills up to date. Of course, it's not always easy. The pressures of a busy job and the need to balance work commitments with home and family can mean your personal development goes by the wayside.
But help is out there for jobseekers who want to boost their skills and improve their prospects in the marketplace.
Industry changes
Start by finding out how your industry or profession is changing and the sorts of knowledge and skills you need to develop. Scouring relevant trade journals or associated websites will keep you in touch with developments in your industry. This is knowledge that could, if nothing else, impress a future employer.
It's also worth contacting trade or professional associations connected with your sector. An increasing number are emphasising the importance of "continuing professional development" (CPD) and have developed structured programmes to help members develop their skills.
In-house training
Your current employer should be another source of help. Good employers provide staff with access to a range of training. This could be to develop professional and technical skills, or softer interpersonal skills such as communications and management. Training can take the form of tutored events and courses, or e-learning programmes. Approach your training manager if your organisation has one. Alternatively, try your line manager. It helps to know what sort of development you want, and if you have done your research beforehand, you will.
Changing careers
If you want to change sectors or professions, your current employer is unlikely to help you gain the skills you will need. Before looking elsewhere at training for which you may have to pay, think about the skills you are going to need for your chosen career move.
Advertisements – scour the job advertisements to find out what knowledge, skills and attitudes employers are seeking. Online ads tend to carry more information than printed ones.
Sector skills councils (SSCs) – these are a network of employer-led organisations charged with developing skills in the UK. There are currently 25 SSCs dealing with most industries and professions. Many have well-developed careers advice sites that cover issues such as routes into the sector, the skills and qualifications employees need, and sources of training.
Further education colleges – these still provide the bulk of adult learning and development. Your local college will give you information on what it provides. Search the internet or visit your library for contact details.
Learning and skills council (LSC) – your local LSC could also be a source of subsidised training. But each LSC has different priorities for how it spends its money, based on its assessment of local need. It is worth finding out if your skill needs match its priorities.
Learn Direct– the government's training helpline, Learn Direct, provides courses and advice for people looking to improve their skills. Learners can access several hundred online courses -- mostly covering IT skills, literacy, numeracy and communication skills. The advice line also offers free careers advice and information on more than 900,000 courses.
Paying for training
There are some fantastic opportunities for people who want to retrain in fields such as nursing or teaching. But if free or subsidised training is not open to you, you could apply for a Career Development Loan (CDL). These are a government initiative but they are provided through commercial banks. They enable learners to borrow anything from £300 to £8,000 for a two to three year course.
The government pays the interest of the loan during the training period and for a month afterwards. The learner then takes over responsibility for repaying the loan over a period agreed with the bank and at a fixed rate of interest.
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