Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Here in the UK, there have been full page adverts in the most popular newspapers, regarding `new skills`.

The advert states:

In the future the majority of jobs will require people with better skills. In fact, in less than ten years there will be very few jobs that will require no skills at all. We all have it in us to grow in the workplace by learning new skills, gaining qualifications, and taking control of the situation.

For more information, the website is: http://inourhands.lsc.gov.uk/index.html

Personally, I am always learning new things every day.

What are you going to do about your future?

I absolutely agree. Increasing skills and the level of skills is essential to grow a business. The needs of the market are changing constantly, and new clients need different services. To fulfill their needs and thrive myself, I keep growing. However, this is not a chore. I love learning new skills and being able to apply them in my work. Since my field is book design, editing and other pre-publishing services to small publishers and writers, the field of learning is endless! Learning and using new skills keeps me busy and inspired, and hopefully, growing.

All the best,

Jill Ronsley
SUN Editing & Book Design
www.suneditwrite.com


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Jill Ronsley
SUN Editing & Book Design
Book Design, Typesetting & Cover Design
Editing & Writing Services
For nonfiction, fiction, manuals, children`s books, screenplays, poetry, etc.
www.SunEditWrite.com

I`ll disagree. New skills mean squat. They *ought to be* valuable, but the fact is they`re not. Sure, it sounds good on paper to say that learning new skills will help with job future, job security, and promotions. I doubt it.

Understand there`s a very big difference between having NO skills, versus learning NEW skills. And all this relates to The Peter Principle. That`s the one that says people will be promoted to their own level of incompetence.

When you`re hired, you have some set of skills. That`s why you were hired, that`s the job you do, and that`s what matters. WHY do you learn new skills? Either because you`ve already been promoted into a new position where you need to learn them, or because you want to have the skills to go to a different job somewhere else.

So the new skills matter to your hope and expectation. But from the other side, the people doing hiring, your new skills aren`t considered new. You either already have them, or you don`t have what they`re looking for.

Then there`s the whole issue of personal egos on the part of managers and supervisors, where if you have all kinds of skills you become a threat.

"Learn new skills" sounds really good, and helps provide a simplistic answer to why people are being outsourced left and right. But when you get down below that, you discover that no matter what skills you have, someone is always going to say they`re the wrong ones, not enough, or that they need just this one other skill.

That being said, it`s important to know how to learn! That`s a fundamental skill, just as knowing how to prioritize and evaluate is a fundamental skill.