subject: Life Long Learning [print this page] Jobs are no longer for life. Jobs are no longer for life.
When I first started work in the late seventies, you could finish one job on a Friday, go down to the employment exchange on Monday and start your next job on the Tuesday. It was that easy.
I remember those days vividly, it seemed to take a long time for anything to happen. It was rather dull actually, but because that's the way it was, and it was all that we knew, very few people could be bothered to challenge the status quo.
The world has moved on a great deal and experienced incredible change both socially and economically. The global economy, immigration, technical progress and innovation - too much change some would say.
Whatever people say, the fact is that if we want any chance of surviving in our new world, then we too need to change, and change fast.
I look at the work I do now and I am very proud of what I have achieved during my working life and the distance I have traveled in terms of learning since I left school. What a journey it has been!
I was lucky. I went to a great school with excellent and caring teachers and a fantastic atmosphere in which to learn. I think education is a wonderful gift, a marvelous experience and considering the state and status of some countries in the third world, a privilege.
Interestingly, however, nothing I learned at school is relevant to what I do now as a professional trainer and speaker (reading, writing and arithmetic aside). The world has changed enormously and you have adapt and reinvent yourself several times over to retain your employability skills.
One of my major tasks is getting this point across to my students who come to me for help with interview coaching. Some skills have an incredibly short shelf life. For example, if you study a four year university course in ICT, fifty per cent of what you learn is obsolete by the end of the course. Learning, personal development and communication skills have never been so highly valued as they are today. A commitment to learning, often in your own time and at your own expense is one of the best indicators to an employer that you're serious about your future and their investment in you.
Naturally, there is no guarantee that your extra curricular activities will land you that excellent job, but it's certainly worth developing, putting on your CV and discussing at the interview.
