At-Home Professional Development: Simple Ways to Boost Yourself and Your Career

We should all be striving to improve, becoming an even better version of ourselves each day. There are simple steps you can do at home in order to improve your current skills and develop new ones, making you a force to be reckoned with within your career. Since I’m in PR, these tips are mainly going to be directed at those in media/communications careers like myself – But let’s be honest, nearly everyone’s career deals with some aspect of media, right? If need be, adjust these tips to be more suitable for you.

Attend webinars.
Research webinars within your field and sign up for them – and the best part is, you get to wear your pajamas! Be sure to take notes and be fully engaged in order to gain all of the benefits.

Step up your game.
For those of you in media careers (PR, marketing, advertising, graphic design, etc.), it’s important to keep outlets and information fresh, new, and up-to-date. All media platforms should display your most current information, as well as photos. Expanding your channels could be very beneficial for not only gaining working knowledge of new programs, but also helps you to reach a new audience. Consider ordering business cards or revamping your current one, starting a blog, or tweaking your resume design.

Seek new opportunities.
Is there something that you’re not doing that you could be? Always remain up-to-date on potential conferences to attend, new job openings, volunteer programs, etc. to gain more knowledge and experience.

Network.
Seek out people similar to you within your field of interest and make connections with them. Building relationships is a key component for personal and professional success. Follow other people within your field on social media, spark conversation, and share ideas and tips. Maintaining these relationships can help you find new jobs in the future, as well as gain possible references.

Make some space in your schedule to try each of these tips and evaluate what you learned. Nearly all of these suggestions are free, although you’ll never regret spending a little bit of money bringing yourself and your career to the next level.