Upskilling Yourself While On Furlough Leave

With a significant number of people finding themselves with more time on their hands during this pandemic, due to furlough leave, it now provides people with additional time to think about their future career path and the steps they can take to succeed. 

Being on furlough is an excellent opportunity to develop your skillset, whether it be learning a new language or reading a book, there are endless opportunities that await. Ultimately, using this time to upskill will leave you in a better position for when you return to work, as well as enhance your CV.

Always remember to stay in touch with your friends, eat healthily and exercise to keep yourself occupied; other productive ways to spend your time, include:

Upskilling yourself

Take a digital course. Google Digital Garage offers a range of free online courses that let you learn at your own pace; some studies even accredit you with a certificate that can help you enhance your CV or LinkedIn profile.

Learn a new language. Duolingo is an intuitive app, available on both the Google Play Store and the App Store, that allows you to learn a language from anywhere. The exercises, tailored to help you learn effectively, entice you to stay motivated through unlocking new levels.

Read your way to success. Garrison Keillor once stated: “A book is a gift you can open again and again.” Therefore, now is a great time to dive back into a book; alternatively, you could read a journal or newspaper. Ultimately, this will enhance your English language and literature skills, which will come into use when writing emails.

Achieve success through audio. Podcasts are a great way to upskill yourself because you can perform other activities in the meantime, such as: going for a light stroll or a jog. Podcasts are usually free and are available on Spotify, BBC podcasts or PlayerFM.

Reassessing your goals

Ask yourself, where do you want to be in six months or even four years from now? With a career plan, you will have the motivation and direction to make your career goals happen.

Creating a career plan with certain milestones will allow you to identify your goals, whether it’s receiving a promotion or adjusting your work-life balance.

1st Milestone – Aim to visualise where you’d ideally want to be in your career path six months from now and think about the actions you’ll need to take for this to be a success. 

2nd Milestone – Now visualise yourself one year from now. What do you want to be doing? Will your career plan help you to achieve this?

3rd Milestone – Think about your long-term goals and how the previous two milestones will help you achieve your future. Are these steps feasible?

While having an extensive amount of time on your hands, it’s finally time for you to take control of your career path and skillset. It can be reassuring to take control, especially during these unprecedented times, to know that you have a clear visualisation of your career ahead, as well as clarity for when you return to work.

About Zenopa

With nearly 30 years’ recruiting experience within the healthcare industry, our team of consultants are ready to help and support you find your dream role. We recruit for sales, marketing, management, technical and engineering role within for various healthcare markets including, Pharmaceutical, Medical, Scientific, Animal Health, Dental, Engineering, Consumer Health, and Medical Communications.

If you would like to find out how we can help you or your company, call the team on +44 (0)1494 818000 or email enquiries@zenopa.com