Skills Development as Key to Thriving in the Gig Economy with Vicky Oliver

Are you feeling stuck in your career or personal development? There are different ways to develop skills, adapt to an environment and grow into someone better.

Vicky Oliver is a leading career development expert and the multi-best-selling author of five books, including 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions, named in the top 10 list of “Best Books for HR Interview Prep,” 301 Smart Answers to Tough Business Etiquette Questions, and Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers and Other Office Idiots. She’s a sought-after speaker and seminar presenter and a popular media source, having made over 901 appearances in broadcast, print, and online outlets. For more information, visit vickyoliver.com.

In this episode, Vicky talks about the hybrid nature of gig work and what you need in order to thrive in the gig economy.

 

What you will learn from this episode:

Discover how you can prepare physically, mentally, and financially before securing a gig Understand why skills and adaptability are important factors that can help you secure multiple promising gigs Find out the importance of having a good mentor and being with a good network

 

“Test it out. And then if you love it, take on another gig. Do baby steps with this.”

- Vicky Oliver

 

Valuable Free Resource:

How you can develop your skills, keep up with technology and find the right gig work with the help of a good network and the power of advanced technology: LinkedIn

 

Topics Covered:

02:08 - Challenge is finding a good mentor or a good network to surround yourself with and help you with your skills development

02:46 - Making the jump in their career without really being prepared for it: the common mistake business women leaders make when trying to take the next step to grow their career solo

04:45 - One free and actionable tip you can do when trying to prepare yourself for that awesome and fulfilling gig you’ve always wanted: I believe the most important thing is to keep all of your skills sharp, and particularly up to date. And that means learning. Learning new skills as you go along. So often, it's easy, especially if you're working full-time someplace and you've been there for a couple of years. It's so easy to not learn something new, you know.

07:15 - One valuable free resource to help you look for the right gig and grow your skills: LinkedIn

08:25 - Q: I might have asked myself about time management because when I really think about it and peel away the onion, the problem with being somebody that's always learning and absorbing new information is that it's going to interfere with your time management. A:  Let's say you get a new update, right? You know, you're there, you're on email, and you get a new update, right? You don't want to update because it's going to take time away from you.

 

Key Takeaways:

“The most important thing is to keep all of your skills sharp, and particularly up to date. And that means learning. Learning new skills as you go along.” - Vicky Oliver

“If you're a gig worker, and you're doing part-time jobs, and you're going from place-to-place freelancing, you really have to stay up on that technology. You have to be able to adapt and learn. And if you don't know it, know that you are able to figure it out as you go along.” - Vicky Oliver

“That's just a reality that we have to sort of recognize the technology, we must build the skills. And it is time-consuming to do it. And I would say you have to do it when you have the opportunity to do it.” - Vicky Oliver

“It takes a little bit of an adjustment, and you have to agree with it and it needs to agree with you. So don't do anything rash.” - Vicky Oliver

 

Ways to Connect with Vicky Oliver:

Website: https://vickyoliver.com/

 

Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown:

Website: https://www.sarahebrown.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/knowguides LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahebrownphd/