Over the last seven months at my first salaried job, I’ve found that my education and experience up to my start date has been helpful. However, I’ve also found that most of all, knowing how to learn has been useful. This skill is crucial especially in environments where job duties change and new technologies are needed to fulfill the same end goals.
In a few short months I’ve improved my skill at Final Cut Pro X by training for and passing the Level 1 certification exam, improved my technical proficiency with InDesign CS6 with a course taught by Kirsten Rourke, improved my knowledge of Google Analytics preparing for and passing the Google Analytics Individual Qualification, reviewed inbound marketing became Inbound Certified by HubSpot Academy. This past weekend I read and reviewed hundreds of pages of material to pass Google AdWords Advertising Fundamentals and Advanced Display Exams to become certified in Google Adwords. These certifications are only the beginning: a foundation/framework for my current and future work in these area.
I learned this key lesson, that the most important skill to have in today’s economy is the ability to learn quickly, not in a specialized career class but in a seminar on political change at Mount Allison University. Some people are questioning the value of a liberal arts education but I’ve never regretted my choice to go there.
Anyways what’s most important is not what you’ve done but what you’re doing next. Over the next seven weeks I’ll be photographing 11 team sports, a middle school play, jazz performance, science fair, spring concert, One-Act plays, graduation and other end of year events. Working on a small team on an active boarding school campus (especially now with college acceptances and graduation coming up soon) means that there’s always something new to do and new to learn. My last seven months have been a period of adjustment and realignment to new priorities. I’ve appreciated that the work I’ve done in my spare time to become a more versatile communicator has been useful almost immediately in my work. I’m excited for what’s next.
