Career Skills Enhancement

Feeling Stuck in Your Career? It Could Be a Competency Gap! 🚀 A few years ago, I worked with a team member, who was frustrated about being stuck in his role. He was technically skilled but couldn't figure out why promotions were passing him by. 💥That’s when we turned to competency mapping. 🔍 Together, we identified the key skills his position and future roles required—things like communication, leadership, and strategic thinking—which are critical competencies for growth. While he excelled in technical work, his communication skills needed refinement to step into leadership. By aligning his personal development with these competencies, we created a clear roadmap for his growth. Within a year, he sharpened his communication skills and was promoted to Team Lead. Competencies aren't just about what you’re good at now, but what you need to master for future success. Think of them as the blueprint for your career development. 💡 Key Competencies You Should Focus On: 💢Technical Expertise: Mastering the core skills required for your current role. 💢Communication: Expressing ideas clearly and collaborating with teams. 💢Leadership: Guiding teams and driving performance. 💢Strategic Thinking: Seeing the big picture and aligning with long-term goals. 💢Collaboration: Problem-solving and creating synergy within teams. 🔑 Key Action Points: 🖊️Identify the competencies needed for your next career step. 🖊️Compare your current skills with those required competencies. 🖊️Develop a plan to close any gaps through learning and experience. Feeling blocked in your career? It might be time to assess your competencies and create a growth plan. 📝 Start mapping your competencies today and take the first step toward unlocking your potential! #CareerGrowth #Leadership #CompetencyMapping #PersonalDevelopment #LifelongLearning #SkillDevelopment #LeadershipSkills #CommunicationSkills #ProfessionalGrowth

"I'm graduating soon/recently graduated, what advice do you have about navigating my post grad job hunt?" This is one of the most FAQs in my inbox right now! ⭐ Here's how I'd approach the post grad job hunt if I was a recent college graduate or soon-to-be May/Summer 2025 grad 1. Exclusively apply for rotational programs and roles that say "new graduate" or "recent graduate" in the title. Why? These programs/roles are looking for recent college graduates. Most job listings that are live now are looking for someone to start immediately, not in the next x amount of months until you graduate. New grad programs/roles understand that you won't be able to start until after May or December and help you transition into corporate life. ⭐ If you're not interested in these new grad programs, I'd recommend you begin your entry-level job hunt about 2-3 months before your graduation date (right now is a sweet spot for applying). → Where to find these roles? Here's a list of early career job boards to start your search on: https://lnkd.in/g5MPgA2b 2. Don't limit yourself This could mean to stop self-rejecting yourself for roles, diversifying your job search and not only applying for FAANG/Big Tech, or using your transferrable skills to help you land your next role. Find your perfect balance of being delusional, intentional, and practical as you apply for opportunities that align with your career goals. 3. Create the work experiences you need to get the job you want Stop dwelling on the lack of traditional work experiences you don't have and focus on what you DO have + getting more. When creating your resume, be sure to highlight your campus ambassador experience, passion projects, micro-internships, externships, certifications, etc. Consider freelance work to build up your resume and portfolio. Pick a skill you currently have (design, coding, writing, marketing, branding, etc) and sell your services on sites such as Fiverr, Upwork, Contra, Dribbble, or your own website. Stop waiting for permission to get your career started. You are 100% in control of your career - it starts when you're ready and willing to put in the work. ⭐ MORE TIPS: 💡 resume writing tips: https://lnkd.in/gn4Dg449 💡how to get specific on your job search: https://lnkd.in/gvdZwwkc #classof2025 #classof2024 #postgradlife #jobhunting #applicationtips #entryleveljobs #postgradlife #may2025grad

I've hired hundreds of people in strategy consulting, startups and the UN - hear my top advice for recent grads navigating a job search! #GetStarted 1) It starts before you graduate If you have limited work experience, hiring managers might still look at your grades and also at your internships or work experience - keep that in mind! 3) Identify different career paths /goals If you are like most people, this might be hard. You might think others have their plan figured out and only you don't know what to do - but the opposite is true. Most people have no idea what they want to do in life, so if you are able to identify different options that you would want to pursue, you can already chart a course towards that 4) Design learning experiments This is coming from design thinking (if you haven't read Designing your Life - it's a great book!) - instead of assuming that you like something, learn more! This works by seeking out conversations, by doing internships, maybe even seeking out volunteering opportunities, doing courses or learning online. Basically this is for you to make sure that you don't run after a theoretical image, but have more substance and test whether that's something for you 5) Build "career fuel" From wherever you start, start building either - Experiences and critical skills that are relevant for your field and make you a more attractive candidate -or Recognized leading organizations that are hard to get into that signal to potential employers that you are great talent In earlier stages, building relevant experiences might even be more important, but make sure that it is in fact relevant. E.g. if you want to go into strategy consulting, maybe a corporate internship is more relevant than e.g. working in hospitality 6) Make the jump or stick it out There are often two different types of ways to sabotage your career. You stay too long in a job that isn't relevant or you are jumping around from 1-2 months gigs way too often. Depending on the industry, people also look for your decision making and leadership skills. What else did I miss? Curious what others think! #TheInsider #careeradvice

It’s a tragedy how undervalued hospitality workers are when changing careers. 😔 They multitask effortlessly, think quickly on their feet, handle pressure gracefully, and consistently deliver exceptional service with a smile. Yet when they try to move industries, suddenly these skills become invisible. Why? Because hiring managers from other industries often don’t realize: 👉 A restaurant manager is an operational powerhouse. 👉 A chef who handles a £1M budget clearly understands finance. 👉 Front-of-house staff manage various customers expectations daily. 👉 Bartenders excel at sales and relationship-building. 👉 Hotel receptionists master multitasking and customer care. 👉 Event coordinators demonstrate logistics and project management experise. Transferable skills aren’t industry-specific—they’re human-specific. Hospitality professionals deserve better recognition. Next time you interview somebody from hospitality, look beyond the job title—take a moment, listen to their story, and you’ll see the heart and value they bring. Real talent is never industry-specific—it’s human-specific. ❤️

Before I was building communities in law…I was washing pots in a pub kitchen. When I was featured in LinkedIn News UK, I spoke about my very first summer job. I was a pot wash at the local pub. Not glamorous, but the lessons I learned have stayed with me ever since: • Time management and organisation, keeping pace during the busiest dinner rushes • Initiative and productivity, spotting what needed doing without being asked • Resilience, doing the tough, often thankless jobs with pride These are the same foundations I see in leaders today. Skills you pick up early on can set the tone for how you show up in your professional life. My advice if you are at the start of your career, or supporting someone who is: • Don’t overlook your first job, the skills you build are more valuable than you think • Focus on attitude as much as ability, it is often what gets noticed first (AIE – Attitude Is Everything) • Your first job is not just a stepping stone, it is often where you build the habits and mindset that shape your career For me, it all started with dirty dishes. For you, it might be something else. Wherever it begins, use it as fuel to keep moving forward and make it happen. #CareerAdvice #LegalCommunity #FutureOfWork #TransferableSkills #AttitudeIsEverything

🔷 A Microsoft Certification is globally recognized as evidence of real-world skills. It showcases a commitment to staying abreast of rapidly changing technology and positions professionals for increased skills, efficiency, and earning potential in their roles. 🔷 A recommended starting point is the credentials overview, where certifications can be explored based on role or level. 🔷 The following should be considered by those interested in Azure certifications for IT professionals: 🟡 Azure Administrator Associate Exam AZ-104 ◾ Demonstrate key skills to configure, manage, secure, and administer key professional functions in Microsoft Azure. 📌 https://lnkd.in/e9_M7id 🟡 Azure Security Engineer Associate Exam AZ-500 ◾ Demonstrate the skills needed to implement security controls, maintain an organization’s security posture, and identify and remediate security vulnerabilities. 🟡 Azure Network Engineer Associate Exam AZ-700 ◾ Demonstrate the design, implementation, and maintenance of Azure networking infrastructure, load balancing traffic, network routing, and more. 📌 https://lnkd.in/gjVPhCXA 🟡 Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate Exams AZ-800 + AZ-801 ◾ As a candidate for this certification, you deploy, secure, and manage Windows Server workloads across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments, including implementing and managing identity, security, networking, storage, and disaster recovery solutions. 🟡 DevOps Engineer Expert Exam AZ-400 ◾ Your responsibilities include delivering Microsoft DevOps solutions that ensure continuous security, integration, testing, delivery, deployment, monitoring, and feedback. You design and implement workflows, collaboration, communication, source control, and automation for this role. 📌 https://lnkd.in/gGB39j-a 🟡 Azure Solutions Architect Expert Exam AZ-305 ◾ As a Microsoft Azure solutions architect, you have subject matter expertise in designing cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Azure, including Compute, Network, Storage, Monitoring, Security 📌 https://lnkd.in/g6GmUz6j 🟡 Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty Exam AZ-120 ◾ Demonstrate planning, migration, and operation of an SAP solution on Microsoft Azure while you leverage Azure resources. ☁️🚀 Get trained, build confidence, and get recognized! #Azure #microsoftazure #AzureCertification #CloudComputing #AzureTraining #CloudSkills #AzureAdmin #AzureSecurity #AzureNetwork #DevOps #AzureArchitect #SAPonAzure

Sambil tengah cari kerja in corporate, ramai jugak yang amik kerja part time as a waiter kan? My cousins after degree, some of them weren't as lucky as others to get a job terus after internship. So diorang semua cari kerja as part-timer and diorang tanya akak, kerja yang mana will benefit them more? Retail ke F&B? Kalau akak, akak recommend F&B especially kalau kat restaurant. Letih memang letih, tapi kerja F&B lah yang paling berharga, kalau awak sejenis employee yang productive. Kerja dalam F&B, awak akan jumpa beribu-beribu orang yang lain perangai, lain pe'el. And this, works in your advantage. Dia bina apa? Your people skills + your resilience. Waiters deal with all sorts of manusia. Ada yang rude, ada yang terlalu banyak bercakap, ada yang tanya seratus soalan tapi last-last dia order air sirap limau je, ada yang umur 10 tahun tapi berlagak macam kedai ni atok dia punya, ada pulak yang umur 43 tahun tapi mengada-ngada. Waiters have seen it all. Waiters know how to listen, how to smooth over rough spots, and how to keep cool when things get crazy busy during peak hour especially lunchtime. Apa yang boleh ditulis kat resume awak instead of "Took orders to the kitchen. Sent food to table. Clean table."? "Effectively resolved customer complaints and addressed issues with tact and diplomacy, resulting in positive outcomes and customer satisfaction." "Developed active listening skills by understanding and addressing customers' needs and preferences promptly." "Increased ability to communicate effectively and empathise with customers from various backgrounds." "Managed multiple tasks simultaneously, such as taking orders, serving food, and processing payments, while maintaining accuracy and efficiency." Macam tu dik! Jadi waiter ke, kitchen assistant ke, customer service ke, you can use these to put in your resume. This shows yang you bukan waiter semata-mata, tapi sambil kerja tu, you sedang belajar and absorb very, very valuable skills yang - believe it or not - some orang corporate pun takde skills ni. Makanya, be proactive as you do your part-time job while looking for a corporate career. Semua yang kita lalui dalam hidup ni ada hikmahnya. Awak bukan waiter, awak problem-solver. Awak feeding hungry people. Awak satisfying customers. You are more than your title!

I am a Principal Data Engineer at Amazon with more than 12+ years of experience. Here are 5 pieces of advice I would give to people in their 20s, who want to make a career in Big Data in 2025: ◄ Stop obsessing over fancy tools [ Master SQL first ] - Become fluent at writing complex joins, window functions, and optimizing queries. - Deeply understand ETL pipelines: know exactly how data moves, transforms, and lands in your warehouse. - Practice schema design by modeling real datasets (think e-commerce or user analytics data). ◄ Get hands-on with cloud, not just theory - Don't just pass AWS certification exams, build projects like a data pipeline from S3 to Redshift or an automated ETL workflow using AWS Glue. - Learn Kafka by setting up a simple real-time data streaming pipeline yourself. Set up an end-to-end analytics stack: ingest real-time data, process it with Airflow, Kafka, and visualize with QuickSight or Power BI. ◄ System Design is your secret weapon - Don't memorize patterns blindly, sketch systems like a Netflix-like pipeline, complete with partitioning and indexing choices. - Practice explaining your design to someone non-technical, if you can’t, redesign it simpler. - Understand real trade-offs like when to pick NoSQL (DynamoDB) vs SQL (Postgres) clearly, with real-world reasons (transaction speed vs consistency). ◄ Machine learning isn't optional anymore - Go beyond theory: integrate real ML models into your pipelines using something like Databricks or SageMaker. - Experiment with ML-based anomaly detection, build a basic fraud detection pipeline using real public datasets. - Know basics of Feature Engineering, prepare datasets used by data scientists, don’t wait for them to teach you. ◄ Soft skills will accelerate your career - Learn to clearly communicate business impact, not just tech specs. Don’t say "latency reduced," say “users see pages load 2x faster.” - Document like your future self depends on it, clearly explain your pipelines, edge cases, and design decisions. - Speak up early in meetings, your solutions won’t matter if no one understands them or knows you created them. – P.S. I'm Shubham - a Principal data engineer at Amazon. Follow me for more insights on data engineering. Repost if you learned something new today!

You are never JUST a Data Analyst. When I worked at Amazon, my job title said Analyst. But my actual job included - Building databases + data tools (BI Engineer) - Developing models to find drivers (Data Scientist) - Turning user needs to a roadmap (Product Manager) - Planning and coordinating projects (Project Manager) And I liked it that way. I got promoted bc I did MORE than my job asked for. So if you’re a Data Analyst or Business Analyst, 3 skills that you can build NOW to level up your career: 𝟭/ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 You don’t need a PhD to build models. Start with basic ML models (logistic & linear regression). Start by learning basic Statistics. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥’𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦: 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢.𝘰𝘳𝘨/𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯/𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 Then build incorporate simple models into your job. 𝟮/ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 + 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 Building a database is complex and scary, right? Nope. It doesn’t have to be. I think about a database as 3 simple components: ↳ Design the data model ↳ Set up the database (I like Postgres) ↳ Load data into it with simple pipelines If you want a guided course, check out DataCamp’s Intro to Data Engineering: https://lnkd.in/eZV6gjYM If you’re looking for a free course, check out this 3-hour YouTube video: https://lnkd.in/eiHraCKj 𝟯/ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Find a small project at work & manage it as a Product. What does this mean? ↳ Understand stakeholder requirements ↳ Translate those into a Product roadmap ↳ Enlist the right people to work on the project ↳ Communicate progress and blockers frequently I personally like this book about the Product Management career: https://amzn.to/4jPHxC8 ——— Btw, I’m writing about my time as an Analyst at Amazon (+ how I got promoted). Sign up to get my newsletter in your inbox tomorrow! www.askdatadawn.com ♻️ Repost this if you found this useful!