Understanding Professional Development

Have you ever been at work and thought, “I would love to learn more about a particular topic so that I can do my job more effectively?” Or how about wanting to learn new skills so that you can apply for a higher-paying position? This is evidence of your ambitious nature!

What is Professional Development

Professional development happens when you decide to invest your time in learning more so that you can accomplish more in your career. Professional development is essentially the same as “personal development” or “self-improvement”. You will use professional development to help you accomplish your present and future career and personal goals.

Congrats, you’ve been hired, now what?

After entering the workforce, you may discover that the job you do each day may not teach you everything you’re interested in learning, or you may not get to do everything you’re interested in doing. You may feel curious about other roles and seek out opportunities to learn new things so that you can be more effective at your job, progress to higher positions within your current company or another one, or increase your earning potential. You nurture this need to grow with professional development.

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How do you “do” professional development

Once you start, you’ll discover how rewarding it is to learn more about the world and how you fit into it (or would like to stand out). Developing yourself begins with “acting” on the initial thoughts of “wanting to know and do more”. To act on these thoughts, many people choose to complete courses, participate in workshops, attend seminars and conferences, read books or blogs, watch or listen to inspirational and educational podcasts or videos, seek volunteer opportunities, mentorship, or job shadow.

The “initial thoughts” you will have of wanting and doing more would be a basic form of your goals. It’s a good idea to write them down so that you can remember them and work on making them more specific.

To make your goals more specific be sure to include a “WHAT” and your “WHY”. You can read the examples below and follow any of the basic structures:

Let’s try writing a few goals:

• I want to “earn a Project Management certificate” because I want to “apply for jobs as a Project Coordinator to increase my income”
• I want to “take a Social Media Marketing course” because I want to “start a Social Media Marketing company”
• I want to “attend more business workshops” because I want to “learn more about how to build and operate a successful business and meet other business owners”

Benefits of Professional Development

There are always benefits to investing in yourself and your future. Some benefits of your professional development include:

• Increased confidence and self-esteem which may lead to higher job satisfaction, performance, and productivity.
• Increased potential for higher earnings by creating opportunities for promotions or making you more qualified for higher-paying positions with other organizations.
• The more you know and the more skills you develop the more job positions you may qualify for thus increasing your career pathways.
• Networking opportunities – Enrolling in courses and workshops, attending conferences and seminars, as well as volunteering, job shadowing, and being a mentee/mentor can help you meet more people and build your network.
• Increased credibility – Adding certifications to your resume may increase your credibility with current or potential employers.

Taking the initiative to learn new things creates more opportunities for you in all aspects of your life, and overall may result in positive improvements in your outlook on life.

Learn more: Indeed – What Is Professional Development? Definition and Examples