Choosing a Career Path is not Enough to stay Competitive.

As beautiful as choosing a career path can be, functioning beyond that career path will make you more valuable to your employer and to yourself. Companies are cutting cost daily by employing technology and tools that will help them achieve their business objectives faster with less human input.

Back in the days when we have too many jobs and few people to fill the role. In this age, we now have few job opportunities with doubling job function compared to too many people who specialize in one career path. This is why many professionals find it difficult to apply for some job opportunities, therefore, reducing their chance in the market.

Take, for instance, an HR professional can take relevant in his career path and other paths by adding more skills in the area of Administration, Risk Management & Compliance, Customer Service, and Finance because of their involvement in payroll. So also for a Digital Marketing professional, Understanding the concept of Business Development, Business Strategy and Analysis, Sales Operation, Customer Service will also be an added advantage. Regularly finding more ways to enhance yourself and skills will make you an asset anywhere you find yourself so as to remain competitive. I have seen people been asked questions like, Apart from your career path, what more can you do or offer? What other skill(s) do you have? Why do you think we should hire you?

Whether we like it or not, there are some job functions/role that will fade out in 5, 10, 15 years from today. If by this time, you found out that your career line is part of those jobs that will be fading out, What will you do? How do you want to stay relevant in the same company or other company?

In my thought, one of the ways in which you can stay relevant is to seek other areas you would like to function based on your personal interest. It may be closely related to your current career path or not but it is an added advantage that makes you stand out anywhere you find yourself.