If there is one thing I am constantly doing it is learning, whether it’s in the office or the gym. The ability to learn something new and then master it is one of the most valuable traits a person can have.
This especially comes in handy when you want to expand your knowledge past your college degree, whether it’s a deeper dive into a similar subject area or something completely new. One of the most valuable lessons learned in higher education is how to learn. That college degree is a symbol of just that. It doesn’t matter what you studied, you still figured out how to master a subject area. If you can do that, you can master any subject area with a little persistence.
So a take moment and think back to your days in school when you needed to master a topic whether it was in your physics or history class and remind yourself of how you used to master these topics. Did you make flash cards? Have a friend quiz you? Make a one-page cheat sheet? Were you an auditory or visual learner? Or did you learn best kinetically? All of these little tricks can still come into use no matter what you are learning.
Personally when I went and pursued my undergraduate degree, I thought I was going to have a career in the healthcare industry. I had taken countless chemistry and biology courses, none of which I use directly at my day job today. However, when I was pivoting careers from the healthcare industry to the tech industry, the skill set that did transfer was my ability to learn. I treated the computer system just like the human body. Both were complex systems and if you can break them down enough you can begin to understand how it all works together. Doing this gave me the confidence to tackle any topic as long as I put in the persistence, time, and effort
Tactically speaking you may be wondering, how should I go about actually learning this new subject area? Well first off, start with what you know about it. Even if that list is very little, it’s at least a starting point. Next figure out what you don’t know and break that down into small digestible components. Work on mastering those smaller, foundational, components. When you feel you have mastered those components move on to another aspect of the subject you do not know, and rinse and repeat this process.
Being a able to pick up any topic and master it will give you new found confidence in your work. You will no longer be intimidated by something you do not know, but more curious and excited to expand your horizons. Being a quick learner and proactively stretching my skill set enabled me to excel in jobs I wasn’t quite qualified for. My potential employers would notice this trait in my interviews and would be open to extending me an offer even if I didn’t study computer science or meet the prerequisite number of years of experience. This is especially true in an industry where the only constant is change. Tech companies want to hire someone that can keep up with the changes and adapt. So stop saying you can’t do something and get out there and start learning about whatever you’ve been putting off.