{"id":10616,"date":"2023-08-22T23:43:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T23:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/why-americas-part-time-jobs-can-be-a-golden-upskilling-opportunity\/"},"modified":"2023-08-22T23:43:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T23:43:39","slug":"why-americas-part-time-jobs-can-be-a-golden-upskilling-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=10616","title":{"rendered":"Why America’s Part-Time Jobs Can Be A Golden Upskilling Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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To land the career of your dreams, you might need to change the way you think about your current job. <\/em><\/p>\n

Most of us have been there at one point or another in our lives: slogging away at a part-time job, maybe as a student filling our summer with gainful employment or perhaps as a more experienced worker trying to make ends meet in between \u201creal\u201d jobs.<\/p>\n

It can be all too easy to treat those part-time hours casually\u2014and miss the golden opportunity they represent to build high-value, in-demand skills that may just make the difference in landing your dream job later on. It all comes down to your mindset and whether or not you\u2019re open to the idea that part-time work can be more than just filling time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve definitely seen instances where entry-level workers enter their job search thinking that they don\u2019t have enough experience, despite the fact they\u2019ve already had a summer and\/or part-time job,\u201d says Andrew McCaskill, LinkedIn Career Expert and creator of The Black Guy in Marketing newsletter. \u201cWhile it might be easy to write-off these jobs as \u2018not real\u2019 or \u2018not enough work experience,\u2019 the skills you gain during these work days are actually quite invaluable and can be leveraged for future roles.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a recent email conversation, McCaskill and I talked about how every employment experience represents an opportunity for growth\u2014and how to leverage those experiences and skills for maximum effect in your job search.<\/p>\n

Part-time skills, full-time value<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019ve ever worked part-time in a service industry like fast food or retail, you know these roles don\u2019t usually come with a lot of glamor. But, leveraged correctly, these are exactly the type of positions that can serve as your personal \u201cbootcamp\u201d for vital workplace skills you will need for the rest of your career\u2014no matter where it takes you.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking a part-time or summer job in industries like fast food and retail can actually help you develop some of the top soft skills that hiring managers are looking for, including management, communication, customer service and leadership,\u201d says McCaskill.<\/p>\n

To make the most of the opportunity to skill up at a part-time job, you may need to shift your mindset. This isn\u2019t just a way to earn a few extra bucks\u2014it\u2019s a chance to study how to become the very best at what you\u2019re doing, no matter how menial or mundane the task might seem.<\/p>\n

As an example of this mindset shift, McCaskill points to the skills you could gain while working at a restaurant. \u201cYou probably have great time management skills in managing a number of tables at the same time, and have fine tuned your communication skills through interacting with customers and coworkers,\u201d he says. \u201cOr maybe you demonstrated leadership and teamwork when acting as a shift lead.\u201d All of these skills are in high demand across multiple industries.<\/p>\n

Or consider what you could take away from the experience of being a camp counselor. \u201cYou would most likely have experience delegating tasks and communicating messages effectively to different groups,\u201d says McCaskill. \u201cThese are all great ways to demonstrate the impact of these managerial-related skills, particularly if you\u2019re newer to the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, says McCaskill, the best way to make the most of any job is to think about the skills you will gain along the way, as well as how you can use these new skills and experience to help you find the right opportunity down the road.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mindset shift\u2014and it can yield huge rewards.<\/p>\n

Top skills to learn anywhere<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Soft skills, or as I call them, professional skills, are a key factor in career success as the workplace becomes more and more collaborative. \u201cSoft skills are increasingly in demand in the workplace right now because they can be gained from life experiences and are transferable to every industry,\u201d says McCaskill.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, with a rise in remote and hybrid work, and now AI, the need for human connection and people skills have become more important than ever as companies are looking for talent that can step up and manage teams\u2014no matter their environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

A partial list of the top professional skills I share with audiences includes:<\/p>\n