4 Benefits of Continuous Learning

Continuous learning, lifelong learning, professional development - pick your name. These tags refer to taking courses, learning new skills, attending retreats and workshops: anything substantive that increases your skillset.

More and more people are seizing on the benefits of continuous learning, making themselves more marketable and more valuable in their current jobs. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that being a learner can help you in your career.

Keeps You Afloat

Continuous learning is all about survival. Building your coding skills, learning more about current trends and future developments, knowing about changes in regulations and standards, are all crucial. If you’re standing still, you’re moving backwards.

Sharpens Personal Skills

An insightful study (“Lifelong Learning: Why do We Need It?”) found many other academic studies that attest to the benefits of lifelong learning in building interpersonal skills. “Soft skills,” such as being personable, communicating clearly, and knowing how to negotiate, are very important these days. The authors of the study, Laal and Salamanti, put it aptly: “When we are learning, we are engaged in life; we are engaged in those around us.”

Could Get You That Raise

Raises mean excellent performance evaluations, and that can mean having to show how you’ve stepped your game up. This can mean a degree or just a couple of college courses; it can mean research projects and presentations; learning at seminars - just be sure it’s something you can demonstrate with tangible evidence.

Gives You Options

Many of the hot jobs today literally didn’t exist a decade ago. One of the under-looked benefits of continued learning is the options is can offer you in a changing workplace.

Being ahead of the curve on new technologies and diversifying your skill set can put you in a place to make many lateral - or upward - moves. You may do some freelancing and build up a base from which to springboard to your own business, or may launch right into entrepreneurship. You may find you’re one of the few applicants for a job that has a particular skill.

What you learn through professional development, will likely be put into play in your current job. As a result, you will now have the ability to hone those skills in a way that is demonstrable for future opportunities and career development. So, think of each piece of continuous learning as a stepping stone, and start climbing.

Need help finding continuous improvement opportunities? Here is a list of Professional Associations and Organizations offering a wide variety of training and certifications.