Survey finds 70 per cent prepared to use own money to upgrade skills
A growing number of Canadians are developing their own personal brands in an effort to take greater control over their careers and differentiate themselves, according to a survey of 15,000 people by Kelly Services.
"As many individuals are moving out of the typical employment relationship, they are thinking about how to promote themselves and stand out from the crowd," said Karin French, vice-president and managing director at Kelly Services in Canada.
Personal marketing has become a feature of the workplace and respondents said the elements they consider as most important in building their identities are: verbal communication skills (70 per cent), resumés (64 per cent), technical knowledge (63 per cent), written communications (63 per cent), personal attire (52 per cent) and use of social media (39 per cent).
Seventy per cent of respondents are also prepared to invest their own money to upgrade their skills, instead of waiting on their employer to do so, and more than one-half believe they will change careers and re-invent themselves at some point in the future.
"Many employers offer training and other benefits to assist their employees with career change or advancement. But with job tenure shortening and greater mobility of the workforce, employees are taking the initiative to manage their careers, develop new skills and sculpt their personal brand," said French.
Those industries where employees are most willing to invest their own money to upgrade their skills include engineering, information technology, manufacturing, financial services and education, found Kelly the Kelly Global Workforce Index, which looked at 29 countries.
Across Canada, those employees most optimistic about keeping pace with technological and other changes in the workplace are in Quebec (79 per cent), followed by British Columbia (77 per cent), Alberta and Ontario (both 74 per cent), New Brunswick (72 per cent), Saskatchewan (68 per cent) and Nova Scotia (65 per cent).
Overall, 25 per cent of respondents describe themselves as “very active” in their use of social media for personal marketing while 35 per cent are “somewhat active.”
