Increasingly, people are taking advantage of opportunities provided by LMS online courses and certification programs, as well as vocational courses and earning online degrees. In changing one’s career, the first step is often further education.
If you’re thinking about a career change, be sure that you’ve developed a solid plan to make the transition. Rushing into a commitment with an online course or training program should be avoided. Think long and hard before you choose, and develop your own strategy for achieving your professional goals. Career changes, after all, take time and patience. In fact, though e-learning is a flexible and convenient path, you can probably expect to spend a comparable chunk of time each day on online coursework to the time you’d spend on a traditional, face-to-face program.
Advancing your education is the path to a new and better job. However, what many people don’t realize is that the application process for your dream job, and how you present yourself not only in person but on paper, may be just as crucial as the education you’ve completed to get there.
After you’ve completed your online courseware, or perhaps while you are working your way through it, your job search begins. Before you interview or even write your resume, make a mind map of the skills that you have picked up in your professional life. Most people have a host of transferable skills that they may not even realize they possess.
LMS students looking to change careers should market their transferable skills to potential employers. Transferable skills are that often motley collection of abilities that you have accumulated throughout your life in different contexts. These contexts may be previous jobs, education systems, a course in miracles parenting and childcare, sports, hobbies–basically anything.
A transferable skill might be an ability like multi-tasking, delegating responsibility, assessing and evaluating work, motivating others, attention to detail, or dealing with change or challenges. Transferable skills include any skill applicable to what you’ll be doing in your desired job.
Certain transferable abilities are more tangible than other ones. While it proves difficult in a brief interview to demonstrate your long list of skills, such as your ability to motivate others, juggle many tasks, or manage time, many technical skills aren’t difficult to show. Moreover, they look great on resumes. Even though all transferable skills are useful in varied settings, a few concrete technical skills are especially valuable in an increasingly virtual business world.