How to Stay Up to Date in Your Field
<p>Have you ever had a customer come to you with a new piece of technology, application or way of doing things that you didn't know about? Have you ever talked to someone working in the same field as you and didn’t know what they were talking about? When we work alone, we tend to stick with our habits and never question them. How can you then stay up to date in your field in order to be current and competitive? It is often beneficial to question one's practices.</p>
<h3><strong>Courses and Training</strong></h3>
<p>As you may know, employers are responsible for providing training to their employees. Specifically, 1% of your salary must be invested in training. Now that you are self-employed, it's up to you to think about taking courses and training so that you are up to date in your field or can discover new tools. Since Quebec employers have to offer training, there are several places where you can take courses. For starters, several universities and colleges offer training for workers that want to take these courses remotely or in the evenings. Just search for the word "continuing education" or "professional training" in Google to see the list of courses offered in your area. Perhaps you would also like to take the opportunity to perfect your English or another foreign language that might be useful to you in the course of your work? In short, you have all the right reasons to want to develop and maintain your intellectual curiosity.</p>
<p> You don't have to spend 1% of your earnings on training, but it is nice to know what is going on in your field since you need to stay competitive. For example, if you are a content manager, it is important for you to be on the lookout for new platforms. Similarly, if you're an illustrator, you probably want to know about new graphics software.</p>
<h3><strong>How to Stay Up to Date in Your Field</strong></h3>
<p>Have you heard of the Websites OpenClassrooms, <a href="https://fr.coursera.org/" target="_blank">Coursera,</a><a href="https://www.lynda.com/" target="_blank"> Lynda.com</a> or <a href="https://www.skillshare.com/" target="_blank">SkillShare?</a> These are platforms where you can take online courses. There are courses and training for all interests, and some are even free. Tip: If you are a bit broke, Coursera provides access to all the content of a paid course for 7 days. Often, you can read most of the content within 7 days! People appreciate the flexibility of these courses, some of which are provided by major universities and by experts in their field. If you didn't know this and were looking for a course, we suggest you look at these sites!</p>
<h3><strong>Follow Experts</strong></h3>
<p>To help you get a clearer picture, why not follow experts on social media or their blogs? It's something that's easy to do and very beneficial. Do some research to find out who the experts are in your field or the websites that you visit the most often when you are looking for information. It could be the CEO of a company who gives his best-kept secrets as a young blogger and manages to break through with original ideas. The more people you follow, the more likely you are to be in the know of what's new in your field. These experts often offer e-books or training, so why not take advantage of them?</p>
<p> For example, Momenteo's team needs to keep up to date on social media management and marketing. We need to be on the lookout for new trends and tools. So, we follow various professionals to make sure we don't become obsolete. One of the experts we greatly appreciate is <a href="http://fredericgonzalo.com/" target="_blank">Frederic Gonzalo</a>, a Quebec lecturer and popularizer specializing in web marketing. We read his articles and attend his online training. We even subscribed to his newsletters, so we don’t miss anything. In short, find the experts in your field and follow them. They will most certainly give you a hand in staying competitive and up to date!</p>
<h3><strong>Professional network</strong></h3>
<p> Finally, don't hesitate to use your professional network to stay up to date in your field. Are you a member of a professional body or work organization? Do you know other people working in your field? You can probably meet with them to find out if they can recommend certain courses or training. For example, <a href="https://ottiaq.org/" target="_blank">l’Ordre des Traducteurs, Terminologues et Interprètes Agréés du Québec</a> has a page on its website dedicated to continuing education. These pages and suggestions can easily be a good place to start your research.</p>
<p> Otherwise, networking will certainly give you the opportunity to talk with other professionals and thus give you an idea of what the needs are. Surely there are events in your area. You may not feel comfortable networking but tell yourself that you are not the only one who feels that way! Start by preparing your presentation and goals and carry your business card with you. Don't stay on your phone throughout the evening! You never know which of the participants will result in a new contract!</p>
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<p>In conclusion, we hope that you now have some ideas so that you can find courses or interesting areas of business related to your field. There is continuing education in your area, online courses, experts to follow, your network, etc. And until you find the training that will meet your needs, don't hesitate to take a look at our blog posts designed especially for freelancers and self-employed people!</p>
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