The Sky is the Limit: Investing in you

Congratulations to all the recent graduates from high school, college undergraduate and graduate programs, and beyond. This time of year is exciting and promising as the next generation moves forward. It’s especially exciting when considering many of these individuals represent the future leaders of our country, whether in private or public sector roles.

Impressive too are all the other graduations that take place throughout the year from those graduating from certification programs, apprenticeships, and other skills-based programs, all of which have grown significantly in popularity over the years and are creating promising career paths for hundreds of thousands of people who chose to take a different path than the traditional college degree route. Much focus, and even pressure, for many over the past few decades has been around going to college, believing it to be the only path to a successful and better-paying career. In fact, getting a degree pretty much became a prerequisite for many jobs in corporate America, but times are definitely changing.

According to Department of Labor stats, apprenticeships that provide on-the-job training and coursework have increased dramatically—by over 64%--in the past decade. Of course, technological advancements have a lot to do with the education, training, and employment trends we’re seeing because many of the skills in high demand today are ones that can’t necessarily be attained through traditional college degree programs.?

Traditional universities are also taking note and have begun offering much more flexibility and options in their offerings. They see the growing need for new skills both now and in the future and understand people need more learning options given competing priorities, like family obligations, full-time work, and caregiving responsibilities. Technical schools are growing in popularity too. What’s fascinating is the number of people who are building entirely new skills and progressing in their careers from skills they learned through online courses (including free ones) and self-study.

For many, the pandemic has brought about deep personal reflection, both about work and life. In fact, in a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post , nearly 1/3 of U.S. workers under 40 said they strongly considered changing careers during the pandemic. Many said the pandemic changed the way they think about what’s most important in life and the impact they hope to have on the world through their work. Some want more meaningful work, while others want a new location or a different pace altogether.

Regardless of personal motivations, companies—including the one I’m proud to lead, Humana—are beginning to change their practices in this new environment, particularly on the hiring front, including modifying requirements for degrees and prior work experience and focusing on an individual’s aptitude and desire to learn and grow into a job. They’re also looking closely at how to better assist their employees in continuing to develop and grow in their careers.

An example of this at Humana is a program we established in our IT area. It’s a 12-month rotational program designed to encourage teammates to brush up on their technical skills and expand careers by learning more about things like data science, data management and other business intelligence platforms. It’s a win/win both for Humana and for the participating teammates in that it allows for individual development and a pipeline of talent for the company.

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So, the purpose of this post is one of encouragement. Whether you’re a recent graduate, a tenured professional, or someone considering a mid-career shift, my hope is this will motivate you to keep learning. Whether you take a traditional or non-traditional path—or both—what matters most is staying active in your learning, never letting up. It’s the surest path to a lively and growing career and, the added bonus is, it’s all yours … everything you learn transports with you wherever you go. Can’t think of a better return on investment than that.