Are Your Skills Relevant?

October 26, 2017

During a recent conversation with a graphic designer I worked with many years ago, she began to lament about how she hadn’t been able to find any graphic design work and was currently working as a handy person doing odd jobs for various real estate agents.  “I don’t like the work, but it’s paying the bills,” she stated. 

Tina is probably one of the most creative graphic designers I know.  She developed brilliant and beautiful designs for various internal and external communications strategies we rolled out.  However, while the world was moving rapidly toward web-based communications, she refused to get on board with the new way of doing things.

“Quite frankly,” she said, “I miss making the big bucks I was making as a graphic designer, but the reality is there are no jobs out here.”

Hoping that she had finally got some web-based training, I asked, “Have you done any websites?”

“No, I am not skilled in that area and I don’t think as an “artist” I should be coding things,” she replied.

The sad thing is that Tina represents thousands upon thousands of people who have not kept up with the changing marketplace.  The truth is unless you are painting individual masterpieces such as Picassos, the marketplace wants a graphic designer who can not only design great brand concepts but can upload the concept to the web or another social medium.  Instead of playing victim to her circumstances, she could have invested in her skills and pursued additional training that would have kept her marketable and relevant.

Two years ago, I attended a social media conference in Orlando to update my communications skills and better accommodate the needs of my clients who were asking how they could better take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, etc. My goal was to learn more about the strategy behind using these tools.  As a result, I could better incorporate these tactics into their marketing mix and expand their reach.

No matter what field you are working in, updating your skills and ensuring you are relevant is critical to your success.  Always pay attention to what’s happening in your world and make sure you get the training you need to keep up with the pace.  Or, you might end up like Tina—extinct.