2020 unleashed a load of unexpected change in all our lives. The pandemic altered and disturbed the natural course of our professional and academic growth, slowing down our skills development and practices. This has rendered many of us feeling doubtful about our future. Most of us are spending time moping and hanging on our phones all day, trying to figure out life until we can begin living normally again.
Take it from us: it doesn’t have to be this way! Many students and graduates are adding to their professional developmental skills using all their free quarantine time. If you’re feeling up to it, why not see what you can achieve? (We can see your mom nodding approvingly at the back). So here’s a list of professional skills that can boost your job opportunities and help you use your precious quarantine time.
1. Fix your resume!
When was the last time you updated or fixed your resume? This task is probably the most procrastinated of ’em all. The quarantine may be a great time to dust it off; a professional resume needs a different kind of treatment compared to a high school resume. Your professional resume must entail skills, projects, and experiences aligned with your goal. If your goal is to become a copywriter, make sure to include any experience and skills that support your goal. Add class projects, internships, research, new skills, and student involvement in your resume. There are some great tools like Canva that offer awesome templates for free and will sweep your interviewer off their feet.
2. Take up college courses and learn new skills
Studying at Yale or Stanford is easier than ever with Coursera. This site lets you choose from nearly 3,900 online courses from more than 190 prominent universities and businesses from around the globe. You can get college credits or a certification depending on the course model you choose. The learning curve is endless here, and most courses that teach you are free on this site. Other options for free and affordable skills development courses include edX and FutureLearn. Happy learning, folks 🙂
3. Build your online presence
Whether you’re a writer, digital marketer, data analyst, or web designer – your online presence can help you get more clients and work. Here are some practices that will help you do so during quarantine:
Get your LinkedIn profile up to date using the content from your resume. Revamp your LinkedIn profile to stand out; choose a great photo and invest in LinkedIn Learnings. All of these efforts are worth it.
Social media platforms
Businesses around the world are leveraging top platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter to build and maintain their presence. You, too, can harness social media’s strength by presenting your work and connecting yourself with like-minded individuals/businesses. These low-cost platforms can enable your work to be seen worldwide and noticed within your personal network.
Website
Another great tool to display your portfolio is via your own site. A neat and user-friendly website can speak volumes and scream, “I am so professional, I have a website, you guys!” Some popular user-friendly sites include Wix, Webflow, and WordPress. Take an online course to learn how to build one from scratch. This is one of the best professional developmental skills out there.
4. New professional skills: Learn a new language
Being fluent in a second language adds extra oomph to your resume. This valuable skill can also help you get job placements in your dream state/city. Learning a new language needs patience and time, but some great mobile apps are making this process easy and fun, such as Duolingo and Babble.
Quarantine or no quarantine – never stop learning new skills! There’s just so much you can pick up online – from millions of courses, tutorials, and classes, you have material for skills development that can last you a lifetime. From cool video editing software to intense Ted Talks on building businesses, the world is your playground or workground (depending on how you perceive work).
We hope you liked our article on sharpening your professional developmental skills during quarantine! If you did, do share this with a friend you know is procrastinating right now and help them have a productive quarantine. 🙂
D’you know what else Roomi does outside of helping its readers make their quarantine a productive one? With our ever-increasing lists of rooms and roommates across the world, we help you find your perfect match! Download the app here and hop on the easiest ride home, ever!
