In today’s fast-paced world, upskilling is essential to staying relevant and competitive. Upskilling involves developing and refining your skills and competencies so you can grow and advance in your career.
Amazon is one of the leading companies with upskilling programs to help their employees develop new skills and competencies to help them advance in their careers. As an Amazon worker, you can take advantage of many upskilling opportunities to climb up the corporate ladder. Even if you are currently in an entry-level position, you can gain the knowledge and skills necessary to rise through the ranks and land your dream job.
Pathstream is one of Amazon’s partners, providing Amazon employees with the knowledge and skills required to advance their careers. Pathstream offers upskilling opportunities through competitive courses using practical applications and hands-on projects that you can use to gain and refine your skills. These courses are sponsored by Amazon and open to its employees. You can take any certificate programs at your own pace with maximum support from career coaches and other Pathstream staff.
Table of Contents
Identifying your career goals at Amazon
Understanding the role of upskilling in achieving career objectives
Assessing your current skills and identifying ares for improvement
How to choose the right upskilling program for your career goals
How to make the most of your chosen upskilling program
Leveraging your newly acquired skills for career advancement
Identifying your career goals at Amazon
The first step to upskilling is setting clear, achievable career goals. Defining your goal helps chart your direction and allows you to assess your current position. With clear goals in mind, you can easily focus your energy and resources on attaining that goal.
Setting career goals aligned with Amazon’s Leadership Principles and corporate culture is also important. This alignment gives you clarity and focus and helps you see how your priorities fit into the bigger picture. Alignment with company goals is one of the keys to employee engagement and the company’s growth.
Aligning your goals with Amazon’s corporate culture and Leadership Principles will increase job satisfaction and motivation to work toward your career growth and professional success.
Understanding the role of upskilling in achieving career objectives
Building skills relevant to your target job is the key to progressing in your career. When you develop more skills, it opens you up to better opportunities in higher roles. Developing new skills enables you to progress onto higher roles with more responsibility and new challenges. This leads to better career fulfillment and job satisfaction.
There are real-life examples of Amazon employees who have advanced their careers through upskilling, and you can learn a thing or two from them. Here are some of the success stories:
Sylvia Thomas
Sylvia is one of the many Amazon employees who took Pathstream’s Data Analytics course as an Amazon worker. She was able to apply her newly gained skills in her supply chain role at Amazon. She also worked with Pathstream’s career coaches, who helped her build the confidence to tell her story during interviews as she transitioned to a role where she uses her data analysis skills more often. She went from her part-time job at Amazon to working as a Freight Operations Clerk for UPS.
Chris Nyarwaya
Chris Nyarwaya was working at Amazon when he came across Pathstream’s programs. Chris had always been interested in data and took advantage of his employer’s benefits to enroll in Pathstream’s Data Analytics program.
He managed to gain essential data analysis skills through hands-on projects and problem-based learning. He also worked with career coaches who helped him position himself for a better job. With his newfound skills, he landed a job as a data analyst at Arcadia, a budding tech company.
Assessing your current skills and identifying ares for improvement
Even at an entry-level position, you have skills that make you suited to the job. Before you can start working on gaining new skills, you need to know where you stand by identifying your current skills. Continuous self-assessment will help you identify your strengths to capitalize on them and your weaknesses to work on improving. An awareness of your knowledge and skills gaps will help you find the right opportunities for upskilling and create customized learning plans.
There are tons of self-assessment tools that can help you identify skills and areas of professional development. You can take personality tests, skill assessments, interest inventories, and value assessments to assess yourself. You can also ask for feedback from your peers and superiors to identify your weaknesses.
Your assessment results are vital because they will help inform your decision on the best upskilling programs. Based on the knowledge and skills you want to gain, you can choose upskilling and reskilling programs that will help you achieve your goals.
How to choose the right upskilling program for your career goals
There are many platforms and online courses, so choosing the right one may be overwhelming. However, there are a few key factors that you should consider when choosing an upskilling program for your career goals:
Alignment with career goals
The first thing to consider when selecting an upskilling program is how it aligns with your career goals. Once you’ve assessed your current skill set and determined the areas that need improvement, finding a program to train you in the key skills you need to succeed is easier.
Time commitment
An upskilling or reskilling course or program should be flexible enough to take it while you work. The schedule should also match your work schedule. Preferably, you should choose self-paced programs because they offer the most flexibility, and you won’t need too much time commitment.
Other factors you should consider include learning style, cost, certification, etc. It’s important to take your time to research and explore the different upskilling programs available. Here are a few tips to use as you find the most suitable upskilling and reskilling program:
Study the course description
The course description gives you a brief overview of what you can expect to learn by the end of the course. The overview contains details like how long it will take to cover the course, what content the course will cover, and any downloadable resources that will help you as you learn. The description will also have the requirements you must fulfill to get started. This information will help you determine whether the course or program will be a good fit for you.
Check the course’s reviews and ratings
Most online platforms allow learners to give honest reviews of the course. This feedback from other learners will help you determine the pros and cons of the course so you can make an informed decision going forward. If the negative reviews are too many to ignore, it might be best to find another program.
Look for certification
It’s vital to go for programs that give you a certificate as proof that you’ve participated in the course. You can add these certificates to your profiles on sites like LinkedIn. These certifications give you an edge over the competition and help you stay relevant in your field. Most e-learning platforms offer certificates, but it’s good to check the course description to be sure.
These tips can help you find the best formal training program that will help you upskill and achieve your career goals.
How to make the most of your chosen upskilling program
Enrolling in an upskilling and reskilling program is not enough for career progression. It is just as important to apply your learned skills at work. How can you take advantage of your upskilling program?
Take initiative
Taking the initiative is one of the signs of a great leader. As you learn new skills, it’s important to welcome new challenges so you can flex your new muscle. If there is an opportunity in the company for you to put your new skills to the test, ensure you grab it and maximize that learning opportunity. Project management is one of the skills with many practical applications in the workplace.
Find a mentor
One of the challenges of choosing self-paced programs is you might slack off after some time. One effective way to ensure you remain dedicated is to find a mentor. This way, you’ll have someone to hold you accountable and guide you toward achieving your goals. Mentors also help you avoid challenges and roadblocks they may have faced themselves in the past.
Network
Your upskilling program will allow you to interact with like-minded professionals. This is where you can build high-value networking relationships that may significantly impact your career trajectory.
A significant challenge that comes with learning on the job is you have to balance work, learning, and personal responsibilities. This may seem like too much to juggle at once, but with effective organization, time management, and prioritization, you can strike a balance that works for you.
Here are a few strategies to help you find balance:
- Create a schedule and stick to it
- Communicate with your employer, partner, and other loved ones so they can support you
- Set realistic expectations to avoid burnout
- Take breaks
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle
- Ask for help when you need it
Leveraging your newly acquired skills for career advancement
Your newly acquired skills will only be beneficial if you can showcase them in your role at Amazon. Here are a few ways you can show your new skills:
- Take on more responsibilities: If you have gained technical knowledge and soft skills that you did not have before, you can take on more responsibilities to test your knowledge and show your superiors.
- Update your manager: Performance reviews are a great way to keep your manager updated on your progress. You don’t have to wait for the annual review; you can request one or frequently communicate with senior management.
- Show autonomy: You need to set yourself apart as a leader, and one way to do this is to come up with new ideas. You can devise ways to improve workplace productivity, and this will get you noticed by senior management.
Conclusion
As an Amazon employee, you have many opportunities to upskill and advance your career regardless of your current position. Amazon, through its partnerships with Pathstream, provides access to sponsored programs where you can gain and refine your skills for career development.
The impact of upskilling on career advancement cannot be overstated. Take full advantage of the opportunities available for your personal and professional growth at Amazon.
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