This article is sponsored by Continuing and Professional Education at The New School | Photo by ALAN DE LA CRUZ on Unsplash
There’s no growth without learning and vice versa.
Here at Career Contessa, we’re a bit of a broken record on this point. Learning empowers us to grow, both in our personal lives and in our professional lives.
That doesn’t mean that you have to apply to graduate school or take on tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. In fact, the most lucrative skills in today’s workforce are changing at such a rapid pace—on a daily basis.
If you feel at a standstill in your career, upskilling or reskilling might be your next genius step.
Learning new skills unlocks more opportunities in your current workplace. If you’re dissatisfied with your current job, learning new skills can unlock a different sort of career.
It might be different than any career you had dreamed up in your head. Yep, we told you learning is transformative.
3 Ways Upskilling Changes Your Career
Whether you’re a recent graduate beginning your professional career or you’re feeling stuck in middle management, giving your skillset a shake-up is always a good thing.
Think about the last time you learned something new. Perhaps you enrolled in tennis lessons or took a creative writing class. In a matter of weeks, months, or even years, you take the lessons step-by-step.
You go through trial and error, you stumble, and you come out at the other end with a new skill, talent, or a body of work to show. It’s an incredible accomplishment—and there’s no reason to ever stop challenging your brain and your body to learn and do new things.
1. Learning Changes Your Brain
In fact, every time we learn something new our brain forms new connections and neurons and makes existing neural pathways stronger or weaker.
Learning new things even changes the physical makeup of your brain.
Practicing a new skill increases the density of your myelin (the white matter in your brain that helps you perform tasks).
Learning new skills stimulates neurons, which build more neural pathways and allow electrical impulses to travel faster across them. It’s like creating an eight-lane freeway in your brain—one that never has any traffic as information zooms through it.
2. Learning Improves Your Mindset
It’s like going on a hiking trip with your friend, who is a seasoned climber. All of a sudden, you’re looking up at a 3,000-foot rockface that your friend wants to climb.
“I can’t do that,” you say, as you turn away from the insurmountable climb.
Learning new skills is like chipping away at that peak, foot by foot. As you break things down to learn and understand them, your mindset follows. The next thing you know, every “peak” interests you. You’re hungry for more knowledge and understanding.
“Of course I can do that.”
3. Learning Saves Your Brain
By constantly learning new things, you’re altering your brain both physically and mentally.
Learning in later life is a way to protect the brain against aging. Neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to develop and use new neural pathways.
If you consistently learn new things, your brain’s neuroplasticity can protect against dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other memory and cognitive decline associated with an aging brain.
11 Skills to Learn to Transform Your Career
We can talk about the benefits of learning for...well, how much time do you have?
If you’re interested in changing up your career, climbing into a leadership role, or transforming the function of your job, then learning the most in-demand skills will be a powerful ally.
We teamed up with Continuing and Professional Education at The New School to profile the most lucrative, in-demand, high-income skills the modern employee needs—and how to get them.
1. Computer Programming
You might have guessed that computer programming would top this list—and that’s because the world really, really needs more programmers.
In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment in all computer and information technology jobs is expected to grow 13% through 2030, adding 667,600 new jobs to the workforce. As such, it’s currently the fastest-growing occupation. That’s not all.
The median annual salary for professionals working in programming occupations in 2020 was $91,250—more than double the median salary for all occupations. All programmers are not created equally. There are a number of opportunities with programming skill sets.
Here are just a few programming jobs and their corresponding median salary:
2. Copywriting
Whether you’re selling cereal, sneakers, or software, there’s one big rule. Copy comes first.
Copywriters are experts in distilling tons of information, specifications, and details into clean and concise language that says it all.
Writing is the foundation of a copywriter’s skill set. Above that are strong communication, attention to detail, research prowess, and problem-solving skills.
Copywriters are crucial to every type of business. As long as we communicate through words—whether our medium is design, video, or audio—copywriters are the experts at stringing them in their perfect order.
3. Digital Marketing + SEO
Digital marketing can feel like a beast of a description—and that’s because it is.
Digital marketers attract and retain customers through digital methods, including social media, paid internet advertising, blog posts, emails, and more. But how do you dive into all of digital marketing to decide where your strengths are?
To master the skills of digital marketing, you need an understanding of the entire digital marketing ecosystem. Continuing and Professional Education at The New School gets that, which is why their Digital Marketing Certificate begins with an introduction to the entire ecosystem and how everything interconnects within it.
From there, students enrolled in the Digital Marketing Certificate will learn how to build creative marketing strategies, how to use social media marketing to attract an engaged audience, and how to understand and use data optimization in digital marketing.
This project-based learning helps students to develop real-world, up-to-date methods to produce portfolio assets.
4. Design
Much like copywriting, design is everywhere. Everything from the wrapper on your sandwich to the tag on your new pair of jeans has designed elements.
As such, virtually every company will be looking for a designer at some point—whether in a full-time capacity or on a freelance basis. The median salary for a graphic designer is $50,227 but can vary widely depending on industry and ability.
Today’s graphic, Web, and interactive designers must constantly adapt to new technologies and changing visual culture. That’s why the Graphic and Digital Design Certificate from Parsons is crucial for any burgeoning graphic designer.
This course covers everything from the basics (concept, type, layout, color theory) to the ways Illustrator and Photoshop can be used to color correct, manipulate, or lay out complicated design ideas.
If you’ve always been “the creative one” in your family or workplace, consider giving yourself a big refresh in the latest techniques and industry standards—all while building a beautiful graphic design portfolio to get your next job!
5. Web Design
If your website is your digital storefront, then your web designer is like your combination architect, landscaper, and landlord.
Talented web designers are crucial to any and every business. They understand how to organize and implement a website that is navigable, communicative, and fast!
Parsons' Web Design Certificate offers project-based learning to teach today’s industry-standard design software and techniques. A web designer/web developer (someone who can code and design a site) earns a median salary of $76,284 per year.
Within five courses, you will understand how to leverage the building blocks for any website, including typography, animation, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and responsive design standards.
You’ll learn best practices for both web- and mobile-based websites.
6. UX/UI Design
Speaking of web design, have you been to a bad website lately?
While UX and UI design might not be household names like graphic design, they are incredibly important. UX, short for User Experience, describes the ability to design websites and mobile sites that are easy to navigate and accessible to everyone.
The average base pay for a UX designer is $105,122.
A career in UX design is likely for someone who has a graphic design or web design background. The User-Centered Design (UX/UI) Certificate at Parsons teaches students the foundations of interaction design, how to design for new and emerging platforms, and how to test usability.
If you are a design-minded creative who loves to run tests and perfect your work, a career in UX design might be the perfect fit.
7. Data Science + Analysis
In a world where there is an abundance of data and information, how do you define what’s important and use it to your advantage?
Data scientists exist to dive into millions of pieces of data—and to emerge with a three-dimensional picture. Unlike other data-driven positions, data scientists use a combination of technology skills, analytical expertise, social science, and trends to develop contextual understanding.
According to Glassdoor, data scientists earn a median salary of $117,212 per year. What if you could upskill to earn the high-end potential (ahem, $167,000+)?
If this sounds like a career made for your skillset, there is another way to make your skillset even more attractive—and increase the potential to earn a very lucrative salary. The Infographics and Data Visualization Certificate at Parsons helps de-scramble big data—and transform it into something everyone can understand.
Students will engage in hands-on courses in information design, data analytics and filtering, visualization best practices, and programming basics.
With a certificate in infographics and data visualization, you can bring complex statistics to life for anyone.
8. Project Management
One of the biggest challenges in the workplace is managing projects, teams, details, and communications. That’s why everyone loves a great project manager.
Earning an average base pay of $88,907, project managers are responsible for planning and overseeing projects to ensure they are completed in a timely fashion and within budget.
Project managers are a crucial part of teams in a variety of industries—including construction, software development, HR, and marketing.
PMs are experts in delegation, scheduling, communication, and reliable delivery.
If you’re a creative type who is also great at details, you might be the perfect candidate for a PM position. Parsons' Design Thinking in Practice Certificate assists professionals looking for creative solutions to address business challenges in any industry.
Students will learn the fundamentals of design thinking—equipping them to better understand problems, unearth hidden pain points, and design innovative solutions.
If you’re looking to impress in a Project Management role, this certificate is a great way to take your skills all the way up to eleven.
9. Video + Audio Production
In the age of streaming services, podcasts, YouTube channels, TikToks, Reels, and more, one thing is clear: video and audio content are important—and they’re only going to become more crucial in the coming years.
With the ability to shoot, edit, and produce crisp audio content, you could launch your career to the next level.
10. Social Media Management
Imagine there was a school called Instagram University. Imagine you are earning your Bachelor’s Degree in Instagram Posts. By the time you achieve a Bachelor’s Degree, usually within four years, everything has changed.
The social media landscape changes enough to give your casual observer serious whiplash. The best social media managers are learning new techniques, tricks, and interesting ways to disseminate information every single day.
You can scoff and pretend it’s not important, but it is. An up-to-the-millisecond understanding of the best social media platforms and their corresponding audiences can be the difference between failure and huge success for any business.
11. Soft Skills + Leadership Skills
This is the last item on the list because it is the most important.
Take a look at the nine preceding skills in this list. Without strong soft skills, no “hard” technical skills really matter.
Soft skills—like empathy, understanding, and communication—are at the forefront of the modern workforce, because it can no longer function without them.
Using your soft skills at work is more than lip service. It means understanding others. It means prioritizing humanity over data points or dollar signs.
The Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice in Design Certificate at Parsons helps students to develop a theoretical and practical understanding of equity, inclusion, and social justice—as well as how they work together.
This certificate dives into the historical roles of oppression, privilege, and bias—as well as their very real contemporary existence, cemented into many institutions.
From there, this certificate teaches how to improve business performance by prioritizing diverse and inclusive workplaces.
