Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
How to make Upskilling stick in 3 easy steps
Excerpts from article by Daphne Kis, published by The World Economic Forum
The prevailing discourse on upskilling focuses too heavily on the skills side, and not enough on the learners.
Skills themselves do not result in persistence, nor do they result in lifelong learning. One McKinsey study of top executives found that only 16% felt “very prepared” to address the skills gap in their businesses.
Why? Some 42% in the US, 24% in Europe and 31% in the rest of the world admitted they lacked a “good understanding of how automation and/or digitisation will affect our future skills needs.”
It’s hard to forecast what skills a business will need in five years; there are so many external variables, plus businesses have a tendency to change — sometimes dramatically. But that’s just why persistence and lifelong learning are so important.
Persistence means the learner sticks with the programme until they achieve the desired outcome. Lifelong learning is what happens when that learner makes a habit out of that process.
We need to prioritise making lifelong learning enticing. But how, exactly, should we best go about that? Here are 3 ways:
1. Fuel academic collaboration with trust
We already know that trust has a positive influence on outcomes in a traditional educational setting. But there’s also an ever-growing body of evidence demonstrating that high-trust workplaces are high-performance workplaces.
Leaders must therefore ensure their high-trust culture is making its way into their upskilling programs. Trust-driven cultures tend to spread. Once employers create trust in an upskilling program, it will penetrate through to the next group of learners.
2. Make place a priority
A place, especially in an educational context, is defined by its community’s shared values. Merely replicating real-world experiences and piping them into an online learning environment is not the right place to start.
A recent Psychology of Music study demonstrated just how well the human mind can find a way to get what it needs by showing how people use music listening to fill their desire for social interaction. This highlights just how much room there is for creativity as we reimagine what it means to have a “campus” in an online environment.
Ironically, to create a sense of place, it’s best not to worry about literal “places” at all. Communication and tone are the key. Your words set a culture for learning, mutual accountability and shared responsibility. Be it online or on a physical campus, they tap into our emotions.
3. Leverage a diverse range of strengths
Education institutions have traditionally established a baseline of knowledge and experience that one must possess to gain entry. When you follow the traditional model, you’re asking a worker to revert to the lowest common denominator, rather than build on their greatest strengths. Worse, employers are asking the employee to make explicit that they lack a key skill that is necessary for their employment.
One recent study found that a third of workers did not ask for training “for fear of seeming incompetent.” Despite this evidence, employers continue to frame upskilling initiatives as a response to a “skills gap” — drilling in a message that their workforce has problematic shortcomings, rather than strengths that they can build on.
The focus should not be on what’s missing, rather on the valuable skills employees possess.
Career
Jobs where Multilingualism is a big asset
Excerpts from article published in nonpareilonline.com
A recent research revealed interesting trends in the fields with the highest demand for foreign language speakers. Nearly a third of the jobs that placed the highest value on bilingualism/ multilingualism were in teaching, postsecondary education and related fields.
Healthcare positions like pediatricians, neurologists and physician assistants also ranked highly—an understandable trend, considering that being able to communicate medical issues with a diverse community of patients could be a prized skill at hospitals and private practices.
But there were also some outliers. So, if you have a knack for learning languages and are considering your career options, here’s an indicative list of jobs where being bilingual/ multilingual will give you a distinct advantage:
Geographers
Geographers study nature and aspects of the Earth’s surface such as land formations, climate and soil. Since these tasks may require travel to different parts of the world, as well as looking at research from other countries, the ability to understand various languages could help one achieve greater success.
Educational, guidance, school & vocational counsellors
People in this occupation offer counselling to students and provide advice on education and vocational services. Since they may need to provide crisis interventions, help people overcome personal challenges, and offer guidance on important educational choices, counsellors who can speak a second language could make it easier to help students understand their options.
Communications teachers
People in this job teach courses focused on communications—such as those in journalism, public relations, and broadcasting—at colleges and universities. It should come as no surprise that people who’ve dedicated their careers to expression and communication place a high value on learning a foreign language. Plus, being able to speak with people from around the world can be useful in storytelling and other forms of communication.
Art, drama and music teachers
These instructors teach a variety of fine and applied art, music, drama and other creative subjects at colleges and universities, among other postsecondary educational institutions. Since certain musical compositions and plays are written in foreign languages, it may be helpful for these professors to speak an additional language.
Philosophy and religion teachers
People in this occupation work in academic settings, like universities and colleges, and teach courses on philosophy, theology and religion. Knowing how to read in a foreign language could help these instructors conduct research on a specific subject and communicate with students from other geographies.
Doctors & other medical professionals
Multilingualism is considered an advantage in various medical fields such as pediatrics, neurology, cardiology, physician’s assistants, etc.
Doctors who specialise in the care and treatment of children are called pediatricians. Bilingual pediatricians may have an easier time working with patients who don’t speak English and properly explaining health conditions to them, according to the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.
Professionals working in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation treat health conditions that affect everything from the brain and spinal cord to the joints, muscles and tendons. Physiatrists, like other doctors, may find themselves working with patients who don’t speak English.
Similarly, Orthoptists are health care practitioners who specialise in treating visual system disorders like eye movement impairments. Many countries require that orthoptists who wish to work abroad pass a local language test.
Community health workers
People in this occupation provide outreach and health guidance to specific communities of people, such as those in a particular ethnic or cultural group. Often, a community health worker may need to communicate in a second language in order to hit their objectives.
Travel, tourism & hospitality professionals
People working in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry understand the importance of being able to communicate in multiple languages.
For instance, travel guides are responsible for planning and conducting tours, along with preparing itineraries, selling travel packages, and arranging expeditions. They may need to rely heavily on foreign language skills to communicate with clients and vendors, as well as to help solve on-the-ground problems.
Meanwhile, managers working in hotels, resorts and other traveler accommodations encounter people from all around the world as they coordinate activities and run operations.
Flight crews have to ensure that airplane passengers are safe, secure and comfortable. The very nature of their job means they may regularly travel abroad and interact with people from all over the world.
Anthropologists and archeologists
Postsecondary anthropology and archeology teachers may need to travel extensively and look at primary source materials from around the world to conduct their research and teaching. Knowing the language that’s spoken in the primary area that their work focuses on could be essential for people in this occupation.
Curators
Curators administer collections of historic items, artwork, collectibles and other valuable artifacts for museums and cultural institutions. If they need to acquire pieces from abroad, curators may need to speak a second language to make the arrangements.
Eligibility interviewers, govt programme implementers
These workers conduct interviews with people applying for certain government welfare schemes. They may need to speak languages spoken in other parts of their country or even foreign languages in order to provide help to people from different communities.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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