/ 8 April 2021

Three signs that now is a good time to invest in yourself and your career

Kum Uct Gsb
Kumeshnee West, Director of Executive Education at the UCT Graduate School of Business

If the past year has shown us anything, it’s that we need resilience and agility — in droves. The crisis has tested our confidence, with many of us suffering loss of income and job insecurity. We’ve had to reinvent ourselves and change direction, and it’s unlikely that things are going to get back to the way they were any time soon. 

To respond effectively to the ever-changing demands of this “new-normal” workplace, we need new skills and attitude. Here are three signs that now may be a good time to consider investing in yourself and your career with an executive education short course.

  1. Covid-19 has hit your industry hard and you need to make a career change

We all acquire transferable skills as we progress through our careers, but there are often gaps in our expertise or knowledge that need to be filled. Executive education programmes can offer a range of learnings, including industry-specific knowledge, business acumen, leadership and even entrepreneurial skills. At the UCT GSB, we’ve always promoted the idea of lifelong learning. It is one of the tenets for creating a generation of value-driven professionals who have a transformative impact on the world. 

An executive education course will add an extra string to your bow, making your CV stand out to prospective employers. While it’s important to seek out courses that provide the skills you’re trying to acquire, it’s just as important to consider one that will offer excellent networking opportunities. The collaboration with peers on the programme will expose you to people from a variety of backgrounds and help you build a network of contacts — many of whom are business leaders or managers — who can help you advance in your career. 

  1. You know you need to reskill but you don’t know where to start

One of the clear advantages of an executive education course is that it gives you insights into a wide variety of topics so that you can really gain a better understanding of where you’d like to take your career without having to register for a full-time degree. Traditional degree programmes require considerable commitment in terms of time and money, whereas an executive education course can give your career that boost without these constraints. If you ultimately decide that you want to pursue a degree — an MBA for example — the GMAT prep course will help you prepare to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), a prerequisite to enrolment on MBA programmes at many of the world’s top business schools. 

The UCT GSB offers a variety of live online courses that allow you to take part from wherever you are in the world. The live online course delivery method gives delegates and faculty the opportunity to convene in a virtual meeting room and communicate in real time. Unlike traditional online courses, live online courses require everyone to be simultaneously connected to the virtual platform at the allocated time to enjoy the benefits of the real-time interaction and peer learning that this method offers. Also known as synchronous e-learning, this popular community-oriented online learning method simulates a physical classroom; delegates are able to ask questions and receive feedback instantly, while interacting with their fellow participants.

  1. You’re expecting (or hoping) to get a promotion

Our workplaces today are in flux and this can be challenging; it can also be an opportunity to step up and show up in new ways. You may have already been offered that promotion, or perhaps you’re still hoping to be considered, but the likely outcome is that you’ll be managing people with expertise in areas that don’t match your own. To expand your knowledge base, you may need to develop general management know-how or certain business skills such as mastering complex negotiation, strategic thinking or financial acumen

The UCT GSB has been South Africa’s leading business school for over five decades, and offers award-winning executive education with a purpose. Whether you’re looking to improve your prospects, make a change, strengthen the resilience of your organisation or future-proof your career, our targeted learning interventions are relevant and responsive to the fast-changing world of work.

For more information go to UCT GSB Executive Education

Kumeshnee West is the Director of Executive Education at the UCT Graduate School of Business