It's always good to be a lifelong learner, and upping your game in terms of skills is definitely a good look. It's a satisfying feeling when you can say more than "I'm great at..." and you have specific credentials (ie. educational receipts) to prove it. Certifications are a great way to not only learn more but to stay on top of the latest trends, tools, and methods to remain competitive in your industry.
But what specific job-related skills and certifications are best for adding real value to your resume? Let's get into 10 job-related skills that are worth the investment and how they can change your life both personally and professionally:
Coding
If you work in the digital media space or are in tech, having coding skills (or at least a basic knowledge of it) is a plus. There are several resources for free online courses such as the Coding Academy as well as higher ed boot camps like the one offered at George Washington University. Salaries for coders average in the mid-$50,000 range and, even if coding is not your main job function, having the added knowledge can strengthen negotiations for a higher salary.
Graphic Arts or Design
Again, this is an opportunity to offer complementary skills and increase that beginning salary offer, especially if you work in media, PR, marketing, or communications. Learn advanced skills in video editing, Photoshop or Website design via Adobe certification training or try courses via your local community college or an online program.
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Marketing
Getting certified in this area can span from learning skills in search engine optimization to strategic brand management and platforms like Hootsuite, Google, and Twitter offer resources for certification in a diverse range of topics. The American Marketing Association is also another great resource for training that is respected in the industry. The more you know about the latest in how to tap into audiences, research community trends, and habits, or expand a brand's reach, the better you are able to provide value year over year as a professional.
Leadership
Schools like MIT, Harvard, and Yale all offer leadership certifications, credentials, or special continuing education programs to strengthen skills in management. You'll learn team strategy, leadership theory, innovation tactics, and more by earning these sorts of certificates. The programs will not only place you among the best of the best in management, but they will also, upon completion, reflect heightened skill development in preparation for executive roles.
Project Management
These types of certifications reflect proficiency in planning, scheduling, budgeting, and delivering on initiatives, and they are useful even outside of the IT industry. If you're interested in upward mobility and have your eyes set on being a manager, director, or senior executive in any industry, it's always good to have these skills. It makes your life that much easier by understanding how to create and work within systems, and it can increase your market value. Professionals with PMCs make upwards of $83,000 per year.
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Spreadsheet and Word Processing
Since most jobseekers have basic computer knowledge and know how to at least send an email, having a certification in a specific computer skill can put you above the rest and even position you to earn up to $20,000 more annually. For example, Microsoft offers certification programs that ensure you keep up-to-date with the best ways to use their products, and certifications like these show that you are savvy with using tech to do your job.
CPR
If you work within the healthcare field or with communities that might need emergency care (such as students or the elderly), having a CPR certification can add so much to your resume. Organizations like the Red Cross offer training that is OSHA-compliant and teaches everything you need to know that could save a life.
Language
It's one thing to have taken a few foreign language courses as part of your undergrad or learning through an app on your phone, but to actually be certified fluent in a language takes things up a notch. Earning credentials like the DELE certification (for Spanish-speaking proficiency) or the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) certification can give your resume the needed boost for opportunities that require foreign travel or communication.
Also, in some cases, special certifications are required for jobs like teaching English abroad. Investing in English as a Second Language (ESL) is ideal when you want to broaden your opportunities in education.
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Culinary
We all see the kitchen phenoms on IG and YouTube which are getting thousands of views and even more comments, but it's a real boost to your brand when you're actually certified in certain types of food prep or culinary artistry. Becoming a personal certified chef or getting a diploma in making plant-based foods will not only give you an edge, but it will ensure prospective employers know that you have the goods to make customers happy—and healthy. You can also open yourself up to increases in salary depending on the level of certification.
Financial Planning
If you're a professional who has worked up the ranks of financial services with a bachelor's degree, hard work, and great networking, or you have a passion for financial literacy, you might want to consider becoming a certified financial planner. It's great to have a knack for knowing how money works, where to invest, or how to budget, but when you have the added credential of being trained in financial planning, it gives you much more credibility and provides a set standard to follow when serving clients. Plus, professionals with this certification can make an average of $78,000 per year.
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Sooner than later, you may feel drained, depleted, and resentful due to unmet needs and boundary violations.
When your needs aren’t met, you will serve someone else's standards while neglecting your own. This is why it is so vital that we take inventory of our relationships and assess if they are relationships that honor our needs, our boundaries, and our truth.
1. You allow yourself to build more intimacy in your relationships.
Im Free Stephen Colbert GIF by The Late Show With Stephen ColbertGiphyIntimacy is the heart of a healthy relationship. When we understand our partners, we build intimacy with them. Vulnerability is a conduit for emotional intimacy in safe relationships. Our relationships thrive when we feel emotionally connected and supported by our loved ones.
Nevertheless, a healthy relationship does not mean a perfect relationship, and sometimes we need to assess and address what's working in our relationships and what may need some fine-tuning. When we are open to learning, growing, and developing deeper bonds with our loved ones, we invite them to preserve our relationship through open dialogue centered around honesty, love, respect, and safety.
2. You are choosing yourself and are being honest with yourself.
When you consider spring cleaning your relationships, you offer yourself a token of love. You are communicating that YOU matter, and your feelings, energy, and the overall health of your relationships matter. Spring cleaning your relationships allows you to be there for yourself.
When we choose ourselves, we advocate for ourselves.
So many of us are starting to realize that we have every right to advocate for ourselves, even if the environment we grew up in did not support our emotional or physical well-being.
Now that we can advocate for ourselves as adults, we get to choose our relationships, not from a place of obligation or fear but from a place of reciprocity, love, and respect.
3. It can help you to get clear on things you may have suppressed.
Michelle GIF by The BacheloretteGiphySuppression happens when we actively push uncomfortable thoughts and feelings out of our minds. When something painful happens, and we are left with no resolve, we can suppress how we truly feel as an act of self-preservation for the relationship.
Nevertheless, with honesty also comes vulnerability with yourself. Maybe you have been unhappy in certain relationships for a while, but it was too painful to address, or maybe you have been suppressing how you feel because that is what is expected of you in your relationships.
Although concealing your feelings may protect you from experiencing them, keep in mind that the body stores all of our emotions. There can be serious long-term side effects of emotional suppression, such as physical ailments linked to autoimmune disease.
Our mind, body, and heart are all interconnected, so assessing your relationships through spring cleaning not only improves your overall wellness but can also prevent anxiety, depression, and other chronic illnesses.
4. You can reflect on how you’re showing up in your relationships.
This one is my favorite! Spring cleaning your relationships gives you an opportunity to see yourself more clearly. If you are going through an imaginary checklist of what everyone in your life is doing wrong, you may be a part of the problem. Spring cleaning your relationships is not about what everyone else is doing wrong; it’s about accountability.
Take this time to reflect on how you show up in your relationships.
Are you kind and respectful to your loved ones? Do you honor their boundaries? What can you do to improve? How can you become a better listener? A better communicator?
Use this time to put a flashlight on your heart and take inventory of the places you love people from. Relationships are co-created, meaning both people play a role in the dynamic. Assess your role in your relationships and be the change you want to see.
5. Setting boundaries will reveal the health of your relationships.
Family Vacation Fox GIF by GrandfatheredGiphyNedra Tawwab, the author of Setting Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself, defines boundaries as a "verbal or an action that you communicate to someone to feel safe, secure, and supported in a relationship." As we are spring-cleaning our relationships, it’s imperative that we check in with our boundaries.
As humans, we are forever evolving, growing, and changing. As we grow, the boundaries that worked for us ten years ago may no longer serve us today. This is why it is important that we communicate our boundaries as they change. People cannot read our minds, and it is unfair to expect them to, no matter how much you think they should just “know” you.
All relationships need boundaries because people need to know how we want to be treated. In healthy relationships, boundaries are honored, and differences are respected. In unhealthy relationships, boundaries are constantly violated and not taken seriously.
When you learn to set healthy boundaries and you start communicating them through your season of spring cleaning, allow your boundaries to reveal the health of your relationships. This may come with a sigh of relief, or this may come with immense grief, but I once heard someone say, “Struggling with the truth is much better than being comforted by a lie.”
Let your relationships reveal themselves to you so you can form healthier bonds, repair broken bonds, or release connections that no longer serve you.
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Originally published on March 24, 2023