How to Extend Skills Expiration Dates to Get Hired

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Like the produce in your refrigerator or the software on your computer, information, knowledge, and skills have expiration dates.

Author, Sam Arbesman discussed this in his book The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date.

Sam's research highlights three problems:

1. Depending on what field you study, your knowledge needs more frequent updates.
2. People are resistant to the expiration date of knowledge.
3. Individuals are blind to change because the context of their knowledge filters new information out.

Staying current in your professions comes in the form of upskilling and reskilling for hard and power skills. Hard skills refer to technical capabilities and power skills refer to how you work and interact with people.

According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Future of Jobs Report 2020, a few of the most in-demand jobs include: data analysis, AI and big machine roles, digital marketing, process automation, business development, and digital transformation management.

Power skills like emotional intelligence, communication, and adaptability also require cultivation and tune-ups.

The solution is to be aware of the decline and take steps to update your personal knowledge systems. This can be done through online learning, skills training, technical updates, and the abundant courses available to fill in your learning gaps.

Most important is to get curious about what you don't know.

The Half-Life of Learned Skills

The methodical accumulation and creative application of knowledge are reasonable responses by forward looking individuals who embrace learning as a lifelong journey. Education is a launching pad, rather than a key, to the ideal line of work.

Baseline education is in danger of becoming outdated much more quickly than in past decades. A technology innovator like Tesla’s Elon Musk demonstrates the need for advanced learning systems as he disrupts the status quo, bypassing the boundaries of present-day knowledge. Disruptive technologies like Tesla’s automotive designs and SpaceX’s advanced rockets depend on knowledge outside the scope of available university curriculums.

The strongest driver for treating education as a starting point, with steady incremental upgrades to your profession, is the dwindling half-life of learned skills. Originally coined for chemistry and physics, the definition of half-life is: the time it takes for something to degrade to half its original value.

Salim Ismail, a Silicon Valley author of Exponential Organizations, investor, entrepreneur, and recent executive director of Singularity University, assesses the half-life of knowledge has moved from thirty years to five years in the span of one generation.

Fully immersed in exponential technologies and organizations, he believes education systems must evolve to accommodate steady advancements. As global ambassador at Singularity, he helps individuals, businesses, institutions, investors, NGOs, and governments understand and utilize technology to positively impact billions of people.

“Learning decay” creates a compelling justification for commitment to lifelong learning. College degrees construct a baseline for startup careerists. Like software updates frequently delivered to our devices, individuals will benefit from updates to their personal learning systems.

Job titles and occupations are floating off the relevance scale. The ascent of artificial intelligence is another chapter of creative destruction, where certain skills are demolished and others rise from the ashes. The promised land of career abundance lies in the job descriptions not yet invented.

Multiskilled workers who complement machine intelligence will win the relevance challenge in the coming years. Side gigs and Plan B career exploration present abundant potential for astute career strategists.

The world of work is changing. Professionals who do not evolve will not survive. Their personal operating systems will crash and burn.

So, what can you do?

Three Ways to Stay Employed or Get Hired With Parallel Pursuits

Pursuing ideas and work on the side is a credible way to build your skills and competence in other areas. The act of uncovering a latent passion or making extra income infuses people with remarkable energy.

Side pursuits stimulate positive thoughts and contribute to a sense of control.

And like insurance coverage, side pursuits can evolve to a backup plan that will cover you when the unforeseen circumstances create uncertainty.

1?? Education

A formal education, like a degree or certificate program, will strengthen your expertise in a particular industry or help you absorb a new body of knowledge. Learning opportunities, however, are accessible in other places

It has never been easier to recalibrate skills or satiate hunger for side interests and hobbies. No-cost education in the form of MOOCs and low-cost online training through Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, and LinkedIn Learning are readily available.

2?? Personal Interests and Hobbies

Exploring new areas of interest outside your main professional focus opens up neural pathways in brain development. The process of studying science or math for example, if they are outside your area of expertise, will contribute to unique perspectives for defining and solving problems. Hobbies also provide opportunities to learn and meet new people.

3?? Side Gigs and Freelance Assignments

Skills can also be cultivated on the side. In addition to the alternate income you generate, freelance work enables you to fortify your current knowledge or develop a new skill.

Your Personal Operating System With Continuous Updates

There are many ways to combat the expiration date on skills. Your personal operating system is capable of preempting the expiration dates by paying attention to trends and staying curious about your work.

Virtual Speaking, Training, and Workshops

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?Konstant Change, 2020