Career Corner: Continue to Advance Your Career While Working from Home
For many people, living through the pandemic has felt like life has been put on pause and they’re just waiting for everything to get moving again.
Unfortunately, in terms of when it’s safe for life to return to normal, that really is out of most people’s hands. However, you absolutely have the power to prevent your career from sitting idle.
Learn New Skills
As discussed by Julie Weed for the New York Times, the time that you’re saving on not having to commute or go on business trips is time that can be reinvested into fleshing out your skill set.
For instance, if you’ve been looking for the time to advance your education, places like Wilmington University are now offering certificate programs that you can complete totally virtually.
With programs in over 70 subject areas, this could be a great way to add a new skill to your résumé and make productive use of your extra time at home.
Check in with Your Boss
If you were working in an office prior to the pandemic, your interactions with your boss have likely been drastically reduced in your new work conditions. Without being in the same office it’s a lot harder to be aware of what challenges the team is facing overall.
To get more feedback on how well your contributions are going it may very well fall to you to ask. Your manager probably has more on their plate than ever and might not remember to give time to touching base with everyone.
If you wonder if you can be contributing more, it might be wise to take the initiative and inquire.
Offer a Hand
Talking with your manager may not yield anything more you can do in your current role, but perhaps they may mention another department is struggling since the transition to remote work. If you have some knowledge in that area, offering to help could be a great way to get noticed while things are still virtual.
What manager isn’t going to be happy to learn an employee is versatile enough to be trusted to handle something outside of their typical job duties?
As long as the current work conditions continue, it will certainly be a challenge to distinguish yourself. But you can absolutely do more than just wait and hope things go back to normal. Get creative and find ways to make yourself stand out!
To learn more about how to advance your career while working virtually, read the New York Times’ article right here.
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Wilmington University, the sponsor of DELCO Today’s Career Corner, is a private, open-access institution that serves the unique needs of more than 20,000 busy adults seeking advancement through higher education.
The most affordable private university in the Delaware Valley, WilmU is committed to the idea that finishing an undergraduate degree or obtaining a Master’s degree can be both affordable and accessible.
The University offers more than 200 accredited and career-relevant degree and certificate programs in flexible online and hybrid formats designed to accommodate any adult’s demanding work, family, and personal schedules.
Learn more about WilmU here or register to attend one of the school’s frequent webinars for an overview of programs, flexible scheduling options, affordable tuition, the admissions process, and more.
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