Career Development: How to Improve Your Skill Set as a Freelancer
Depending on what career you have chosen, your career and development is in your hands. This has never been more true than if you work as a freelancer. In any job, you want to progress and move forward. When you work for yourself, though, you are often so busy that it is hard to set aside time to think about the next steps in your career. You are the one getting all the work done, as well as things like all the admin. But having a focus and a goal for the next step in your career is a great idea to keep you moving forward. Here are some tips to get you moving forward and progressing in your freelance career.
Set Aside Specific Time to Evaluate
If you were in any other job, there would be time set aside when you would sit down with a line manager and go through your work. You would have an appraisal and evaluate how things are going and what can be done to improve things. So giving yourself a similar structure is a good idea. Mark the time in your monthly calendar so that you make sure that it happens. Then you can evaluate and focus on how things are going. Think about where you want to be and the steps to get there.
Improve Your Skills
To be able to diversify and learn new skills, you need to have some training. So look for some courses or training that will really benefit you. If they are courses that will improve your skill set and help you get to where you want to be, then go for it!
As you are a freelancer and most likely work from home, online courses would be a fab option. Something like Docker online training would be a good option if you were looking to get up to date with software developing, for example. So have a look online for courses that will be suitable for you. Then if your dream gig comes up, you will have the skills to apply for it and progress.
There are plenty of options for you to learn at home too. Not everyone is in a position that they can give up work to study. So luckily, there are a lot of courses that are part time. Then you can work things around your work. Things will be busy, but it won’t be forever.
Regular Reviews
It might be a good idea to schedule in reviews to see how your plans are going. Again; put it in the calendar to make sure that it all happens. Having a review at least once every six months is a good idea, to help you stay on track. Talking to family and friends about your career is a good idea too. When you work as a freelancer, it can be a little lonely in terms of colleagues. So share your thoughts and ideas with them. Getting lots of input from others is a good practice in the freelance workplace.
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