Create Your Custom Tech Upskilling Plan

Your skills are what employers hire you for.

You don’t need to have every skill listed in the job description, but the more of them you’re proficient in, the better your chances.

Upskilling isn’t just for people making big career pivots. It’s important for experienced professionals, too. In today's rapidly evolving world, if you're not constantly improving your skills, you're at risk of being left behind.

Today, we’ll walk you through how to identify your skill gaps and develop an Upskilling Action Plan to help you become a standout candidate.

⚡ An Upskilling Action Plan is a strategic action plan tailored to enhance your existing skills and knowledge, ensuring you stand out in a competitive job market.

1. Conduct a Gap Analysis

The first step is to identify where you have skill gaps by performing a quick gap analysis. A gap analysis is a method for identifying the disparity between your current skills, knowledge, and experience and the qualifications required for a desired job role.

Follow the steps below to identify your potential skill, knowledge, and experience gaps 👇

1A. Start with ChatGPT 

Use the following ChatGPT prompt to list potential skills, experience, and knowledge gaps.

🤖 ChatGPT Prompt: I am targeting a [TARGET ROLE] role. Based on my resume, which I will include the text for after this message, can you provide me a table detailing what skills, experiences, and expertise I need to learn to be a competitive candidate? Please list it in a table in order of importance with 2-3 specific recommendations on how I can learn each area, including books, videos, courses, etc.

NOTE: You can upload images of your resume if you have ChatGPT 4

If you’re not sure which role you should be targeting see last week’s article.

Example ChatGPT Output for a Sales Engineer Role

1B. Review and compare relevant job descriptions

Using LinkedIn Jobs, find 5+ job descriptions for your desired role and note recurring must-have qualifications, technologies, and other commonly listed requirements. Look for the following:

• Type of Experience
• Technologies
• Certifications
• etc.

Then, ask ChatGPT to include those additional skills in your upskilling plan.

🤖 ChatGPT Prompt: Now, here are additional skills from job descriptions. Please include them in my upskilling table along with the appropriate priority and most relevant resources.

1C. Validate your plan with experienced professionals

ChatGPT laid a great foundation for your Upskilling Action Plan. However, to ensure that our plan is exactly what you need, you'll want to validate it and receive feedback from individuals who have experience in the role you are targeting.

Connect with professionals currently in, or hiring for, your target role on platforms like LinkedIn and request a brief 15-minute informational interview to gain insights.

• Ask their opinion on the most relevant skills required for the role.

• Share your plan with them to get their feedback and assistance in helping you prioritize which skills and technologies you should learn.

Questions to Ask

Technology & Methodologies: What technologies, software, or tools are essential for your role?

1. Are there any emerging technologies in your field that professionals should be aware of?
2. What methodologies or approaches (e.g., Agile, Lean, etc.) are commonly used in your role or industry?

Training & Education: What educational background or qualifications helped you get into this role?

1. Are there specific certifications or courses you recommend for someone interested in your position?
2. How do you update yourself with your field's latest trends and technologies?

Experience & Skills: What skills or experiences were most crucial for you to get your job?

1. In your opinion, what soft skills are essential for success in your role?
2. Are there any specific projects or experiences that significantly benefited your career?

2. Prioritize Which Gaps to Fill

Your time is limited, and you don’t need to complete every recommended course or certification. Prioritization is essential. Focus on the knowledge, skills, and experience gaps that are most critical to fill to land the job that you want.

Consider the following and narrow down your list:

• What gaps prevent me from being a competitive candidate for my target role?
• What are the most commonly listed must-have qualifications for my target role?
• What gaps can I realistically close in the next 2-4 weeks? In the next month?

3. Set Goals

Next, set realistic upskilling goals based on your essential gaps. Set 2-3 upskilling goals to complete over the next 8+ weeks:

There you have it. Now, you have a foundational Upskillng Action Plan to help you develop the skills needed to become a must-hire candidate for your target role.

If you could use help landing your next AE or SE role, we can help! Apply to work with us 1-on-1. We'll personally reach out to chat about how we can help you accelerate your job search.