Here's how you can align your continuing education efforts with your career goals.

It is important to define your career niche as early as possible to avoid over-specialising yourself in a skill which does not relate to the scope of work (e.g.: you want to proceed with a career in customer service but spend time and effort in attending to certifications in UI/UX development). On this note, procure further information on the career you seek: is the career path to follow fulfilling? Does the end goal make you happy? Are you willing to compromise on the effort required for it? Do you have an aptitude towards the skillset required as a base? The goal will define every effort in building yourself up to the desired outcome.

simply ask your self, where am I headed next? what do I need to further explore and where do I need to improve? this should guide you towards your path, it can be a technical knowledge or soft skills that you need to achieve your goal, and both are of equal importance especially mid career or forward.

Start to check online options that are free. There are many valuable courses to explore within anyone's range. This will give a glimpse of best practices and industry-leading concepts to be applied successfully in your career, by you. Furthermore, if any of these topics are useful, you may then decide to invest further time, money and effort in pursuing official accreditation.

To easily map your career skills that you may current possess and compare to the ones required and/or that you desire, the following is recommended: - list your current skills, - identify the skills required for your target job, - find the gaps. As simple as it may seems, this process will allow you to then prioritize learning and development based on the gaps to align with your career goals.

Ensure to have fun within the process and I'll guarantee you that you'll find yourself making time for learning and development. My recommendation is to plan in advance the time you'll take learning in your calendar to ensure no distractions come in the way. In this manner, you'll ensure to not schedule other priorities that may conflict with your development. The key is to consider both the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation embedded in the activity.

running the show can be hectic, time needed at work may require some extensions especially in certain fields where work is not 9-5, having a family also play a role, you should be able to manage your time and enjoy the new knowledge not just have it as an additional burden.

Seek your nearest Learning and Development professional for greater advice and support! Learning and Development individuals possess the easiest, most feasible, efficient and effective roadmap to skill development. Your career will (!) depend on your pro-active approach to reach out to these professionals for help and application of ongoing learning.

set priorities, where do you want to go next may require you to have two course, but also consider your lifestyle and other family commitments, this can guide you towards setting certain priorities for one of the courses over another.