If you are looking for a job after college, you’ll want to land somewhere you can grow and spend time developing professionally and building relationships. There are many industries that are seeing an economic boom right now, from tech to finance, to travel. When it comes to pivoting into a new industry, one thing is more important than any other: having the right skills. In many industries, regardless of the area your degree is in, if you can prove that you possess the skills necessary to perform the job, you will be considered alongside those that have studied in that area from the beginning. In this blog, I will use the finance industry as an example of how you can begin to make your career pivot into a new industry using micro-credentials as a skill-building tool.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, finance is currently one of the fastest growing industries–especially if you include digital finance and fintech. In fact, the digital banking market size is set to reach $10.3 trillion by 2028. Now, if you do not already possess a Bachelor’s degree in economics, global commerce, or some other financial background, you may feel discouraged from considering this huge industry as a potential career option. This is where micro-credentials come in. Micro-credentials, such as Denison Edge’s courses in Finance and Accounting, allow participants to gain foundational, career-ready skills from a reputable organization. In most cases, they are open to anyone with any level of experience or background. With Denison Edge’s finance credentials, you can learn the basics of financial management, accounting, and creating financial statements. These are examples of the basic, foundational skills that employers are looking for.
Many credential institutions will provide you with a certificate of completion that you can share with employers to help prove that you possess the skills that you say you do. Denison Edge offers LinkedIn badges for those who complete our credential courses that can be displayed on your profile for employers and recruiters to see. These certificates and badges of completion are an opportunity for you to tell your own story that your prior education perhaps does not tell. For example–if you are trying to break into the finance industry–a recruiter might see several finance credential badges on your profile, showing that you learned basic skills like investment modeling and working capital management, and then went on to learn more specific skills like financial statement analysis and accounting. This shows that you have gone on your own finance journey, learning from the ground up. This is a much more convincing way to prove to employers that you possess financial management skills than just adding them at the bottom of your resume.
You may have heard of the “skills gap” that has been dividing the workforce throughout the pandemic. In 2021, Forbes noted that 95% of employers find it challenging to find employees with the necessary skills and talent for their jobs, according to research by Robert Half. As Mark C. Perna argues in the same Forbes article, micro-credentials are an opportunity to bridge that skills gap. As Perna writes, “micro-credentials can deliver win-win benefits to both employers and employees.” Employers receive applicants who have the relevant qualifications for the job, and employees receive the opportunity to upskill, develop professionally, and make career pivots where appropriate. It is in employers’ best interest to consider applicants with credentials under their belt, as long as they are in a relevant field and from a reputable institution.
Another exciting aspect about micro-credentials is that they are a way to learn more about a career and try it out without necessarily leaving your current field. In many cases, you will find that some skills translate to your current job, such as communication or organizational skills. If you think you might be interested in a career in finance, taking a credential course is a great, low-risk way to dive in and see how well that career fits your lifestyle. Regardless of if you choose to pursue a different career path or not, it can still be impressive to future employers to see that credential on your resume/LinkedIn profile, as it shows that you are taking steps to upskill yourself and expose yourself to different professional environments.
If you plan on pursuing a career in finance, or any other field new to you, we hope that you will consider micro-credentials as a viable option. They are an incredibly efficient way to master a large amount skills relevant to your desired career in a relatively short period of time. If you are interested in pursuing some credential courses in finance or a number of other areas, Denison Edge has a variety of courses open for registration–from finance to marketing, to supply chain management. You can find all of those credentials on our programs page. For now, if you are job hunting, good luck in your search. If you are just looking to upskill yourself in your desired area, there are many tools a few clicks away to get the job done.