Future-proof your career
Ensure that you're prepared for change and remain employable into the future with the six tips below. This will help you create a strong but flexible foundation that can adapt to changes and grow with time.
If you’ve recently lost your job, see what your immediate next steps should be on our redundancy pages.
1. Hone your transferrable skills
Develop a strong foundation of employability skills that can be applied across various roles and sectors. This will help you pivot and thrive as job requirements change.
2. Become resilient and confident
Being resilient means Successfully dealing with career challenges and adapting to change. Cultivate a growth mindset that embraces challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation.
3. Develop commercial awareness and labour market intelligence
Commercial awareness means understanding organisations and the markets they operate in. See our page on Researching the labour market. It also means understanding labour market trends, changes and challenges. This helps you make informed decisions, align your skills with market demands, and stand out to employers. You don't need to study lots of information, just take time to keep up to date on the latest news and developments. See our Commercial Awareness eLearning for more.
4. Keep learning and developing
Continuous learning through further study and personal development is a skill in itself. New experiences and qualifications will make you a more competitive candidate. Graduates are making up a higher proportion of the workforce, so extra learning can help you stand out. Use labour market information to understand what kinds of things would be most valuable for you to learn and do.
5. Seize opportunities
Take advantage of unexpected events and the possibilities they can open up. Be proactive in seeking challenges outside your comfort zone and be open to exploring new opportunities. Start by joining careers events and expanding your professional network.
6. Build a strong support network
Having the support of others and knowing where you can get help will make you feel more confident when making decisions, applying for jobs, and navigating challenges. This could be family, friends, colleagues, or support from The Open University. Get further advice and try creating your own mind map in Find support for your career and make connections.
I am always impressed by candidates who have considered long-term labour market projections, can identify the potential skills of the future, and then link this to how they approach learning new skills.
Sam Turnpenny, Recruitment Lead at Accenture
