Career Tip: The Advantage of being Cross-Functional in the Workplace

When looking at resumes I want to see that an individual is more than a one-trick pony.  I want them to have skills in multiple areas that help them to function and fit into more than one role within an organization.  Company's want their employees to take advantage of additional one-on-one training and internal professional development programs to obtain an increased skillset, but too often employees won't take advantage of this additional instruction.

You risk your career security when you can only do "your job" and can't or won't do others within the organization that expand your experience and make your more indispensable to a company.  Many of the layoffs that have happened in recent years have been of individuals who fill only one role, or refuse to learn new skills.  Open your mind, utilize the supplementary training and professional development your company offers, and watch your career grow.  To your career success!

Alison.com

For the 3^rd recommendation in my blog series on professional development I want to discuss Alison.com.  This site offers free online learning in business and enterprise skills, IT and digital literacy, personal development, languages, and financial and economic literacy.  Course offerings include Fundamentals of Human Resources, Fundamentals of Project Management, Accounting-Control and Monitoring of Cash, Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Systems, and Fundamentals of Operations Management.  These courses include assessments where you much complete with 80% accuracy to achieve a certification, and the site tells you time to complete lessons and minimum level needed to take class.

Courses are provided by a number of publishers (sources), and encompass MIT and MIT Media Lab, Saylor Foundation, Khan Academy, Stanford, Cambridge University, Microsoft, and Sun Systems.  Alison.com seems quite suited to the majority of online learners wanting to bolster their resume, transition into a new career area, or learn more about their current industry.  Give Alison.com a try, it’s free and a great resource.  To your career success!

Lynda.com

Don’t let the name fool you; Lynda.com (a LinkedIn company) has some incredible professional development opportunities for career management, promotion, transition into a new career, or a job search.  Offering both online courses and video tutorials, on the go learning with mobile, tablet and desktop devices, and a range of course skill levels from beginner to advanced; it has something to offer for everyone.  Unlike Coursera (discussed in yesterday’s post), which is an online classroom with a traditional schedule of coursework, Lynda.com is a “set your own pace” program.  The organization also has an impressive list of corporate clients like Microsoft, Adobe and NBC, which lends more credibility to their training offerings.  

This site is particularly suited for techies with programmer/developer, game design, website development, video, audio, and 3-D courses and videos.  However there is still ample training for the business side, as Lynda.com provides 1,200+ classes and nearly 50,000 video tutorials just for business-courses, and even has education/teacher-related training's. You can try the site free for ten days and then choose one of several low cost monthly or annual subscription models, including two that allow for downloads of accompanying course project files.  To your career success!

Coursera.org

Our first stop on the professional development tour is Coursera.org.  Coursera is an exceptional site offering college/university level coursework from well-known collegiate institutions for FREE.   For instance, you can take an MBA-level Marketing course from Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania), Introduction to Finance from the University of Michigan, Cryptography I from Stanford University, or The Data Scientist’s Toolbox from Johns Hopkins University.  Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Rice, and Vanderbilt are also represented with a variety of coursework options.  You can take the course for free, or pay a small additional amount and receive a Verified Certificate.  All students who successfully complete a course typically receive a Statement of Accomplishment from the instructor.  These are all real courses presented by the actual college and university instructors that teach them daily.  The universities and colleges providing courses have purposely partnered with Coursera to offer these classes for universal access.    

You can read about the course syllabus, course format, language availability, suggested readings, resources required, and recommended background for taking a course at Coursera.org prior to signing up for a class.  Sign up for the site is also free and will allow you to target courses for email reminder that you may want to take in the future.  If you would like some additional coursework to pad your resume or take that next level step in your education, give Coursera.org a try.  To your career success! 

Professional Development Resources

Last week I touted the need for continuing professional development in your career.  However, what if your company doesn't really offer opportunities for additional learning, or you are unemployed and feel you have no real options as you try to save every penny?  How do you find reasonably priced or even free professional development?  Well, each day, Tuesday through Friday this week, I will be posting options for professional coursework that often have no cost or a very low cost.  Keeping yourself ahead of the curve in learning can make a huge difference in your appeal to a new company or for a promotion within your current organization.  Let’s start, continue, or upgrade your training through the resources I will discuss this week.  To your career success!

Value of Ongoing Professional Development Coursework

Whether provided by your current employer, past employer(s) or training seminars/workshops/conferences you participated in and paid for yourself, professional development is highly valued by employers.  While you wouldn't want to list everything on your resume if you have taken a great deal of professional development in last 10 years, you want to track everything you take, and ultimately provide the best of the best info for the resume document.  Furthermore, a secondary addendum document with a full listing of development opportunities taken in the last seven to 10 years can also be created to supply for performance reviews, networking, interviews, or promotion opportunities.  

There are many different types of professional development that should be tracked and these include:  leadership, management, marketing, sales, customer service, business protocols, EEOC, sexual harassment, computer applications and systems, specialized compliance or technical training related to job or industry, and OSHA, just to name a few.  Keep those professional development completion certificates, listings from your employers, and any accompanying educational materials.  Now you will have both a terrific list of coursework along with the proof!  To your career success!    

Career Management Tip

Many companies/organizations offer a variety of professional development courses to their employees, including computer applications, leadership, management, sales, marketing, industry-related compliance, and business communications.  Companies may also send employees to regional and national conferences for additional education frequently in the form of breakout sessions.  Often, employees don't take advantage of these seminars and workshops and lose out on the benefits to their career.  Whether looking for a promotion at your current workplace, a better performance review, or wanting to move to another company, employers value employees that continually develop their skills through ongoing training.  

 

Take advantage of the learning opportunities your company provides, or seek out the many low cost or even free, quality professional development opportunities available to you online and at local community colleges and organizations. Additionally, keep track of the training you take, including name of course, and date (year or month/year) so you can add it to your resume.  As your knowledge grows, so will your career!