Upskilling vs Employability
In today’s rapidly evolving job market, driven by advancements in technology and AI, the ability to adapt through upskilling, reskilling, and relearning is more crucial than ever. These skills are essential for employees to remain relevant and employable amidst frequent organizational changes and market shifts. While the concepts are related, they are not the same things.
Upskilling | Employability |
Refers to the process of acquiring new and relevant skills needed to enhance one’s current capabilities and performance in their existing job role. It involves learning advanced skills or updating existing skills to adapt to the changing demands of the job market, often driven by technological advancements, organizational changes, or industry innovations. Upskilling is focused on growth within a current career path, enhancing one's ability to perform their job more effectively and to take on higher-level responsibilities. | Pertains to the set of attributes, skills, knowledge, and personal qualities that enable an individual to be employed. It involves not only the technical skills required for specific jobs but also encompasses soft skills, critical thinking, adaptability, and continuous learning aptitudes that contribute to an individual’s ability to secure and maintain employment. Employability is enhanced by a person's ability to network effectively, present themselves well during job applications and interviews, and their ongoing commitment to professional development. The concept extends beyond obtaining initial employment and includes the capacity to stay employable as career demands evolve. |
The professional training sector has responded vigorously, offering a plethora of workshops, qualifications, and certifications. These are often marketed as direct pathways to new jobs, higher pay, or that next promotion—sometimes supported by government subsidies. However, the reality many professionals face after attending these sessions is starkly different from what's promised in glossy brochures. As the definitions have already alluded to, upskilling is one of several components that contribute to improving employability; but may not be sufficient by itself.
Merely attending more classes does not necessarily enhance employability. Advanced courses often cover tools and techniques that are too complex for immediate application, especially when they are delivered by academics far removed from the nuances of practical, everyday work. This disconnect leads to a critical gap where students cannot apply what they learn, causing their new skills to atrophy from disuse.
To effectively build employability, consider these practical steps:
Curate Your Own Learning Journey: Focus on acquiring practical skills that can be applied immediately, whether at work or in your free time. Tailor your learning to fit your specific needs/interest/aptitude and the demands of the job market; not the hottest new topics sold by training providers.
Network: Your knowledge about the industry, function or topic is often limited. Talk to people already in the roles and have more experience than you, buy them a coffee and pick their brains as to how you should curate your learning journey, the skills to build, the classes to take, and the trainers to take them from. Over time, this same network would serve you well when you are ready to transition to your new role. Note also that these mentors and contacts could also be within your current organization.
Soft Skills: Technical skills are much easier to teach and learn and the job market is awash with qualified candidates, consider build soft skills to stand out from the crowd. Soft skills are harder to learn and apply, but they will serve you well through your career.
Initiate Real-World Projects: The work of building employability really starts after class, use your newfound skills to start relevant projects. Using a topic that FYT is familiar with, this could be deploying an interactive dashboard for your organization using PowerBI or Tableau, or creating a detailed report on a topic of interest that you can share on platforms like Tableau Public or the PowerBI Gallery.
Build Mastery Through Application: The basic skills learned in class are just the beginning. As you develop projects, you also deepen your expertise. This hands-on experience not only reinforces your skills but also helps you identify the pitfalls to avoid, the next areas for growth and a better grasp of how long such projects actually take and how it applies in different functions and industries.
Showcase Skills and Outcomes, Not Qualifications: With government support, the job market is flooded with candidates with new certifications and qualifications; it would be hard to stand out. But when opportunities arise, demonstrate what you can achieve with your skills rather than just listing the courses you've attended. Being able to showcase practical applications of your skills and the value it could create for potential employers or within your current organization can significantly boost your employability.
At FYT Consulting, we understand that the path to true employability doesn't just lie in accumulating qualifications but in demonstrating clear, practical applications of skills that make a real impact. Our approach is designed to equip you with the skills that you can apply back at work almost immediately. Our comprehensive analytics curriculum caters to analytics professionals across all levels of maturity and focuses on the underlying thought processes as opposed to the hottest platforms and tools. Platforms and tools come and go with the trends of the day, the underlying thought processes and fundamentals are transferable to any platform and have a much longer shelf life. Don’t take my word for it, see what our students had to say…
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