If You Are Not Billing, Be Skilling

  • 1 min read


No matter what stage you are at within your career – whether you are a student, a first time employee or a seasoned executive. No matter what business you are in or want to be in. There is a stage for which you should always be considering, evaluating and preparing. Just like with sports there is a need in every career to constantly refine and improve your skills. Those that do so consistently will stand out in their career.

While I think it is important for everyone to seek to improve their skills, I think this is especially true for Millennials. Whether we like it or not Millennials should think of their jobs as a string of consulting engagements. In case you don’t know… consultants need to be billable. Consultants that don’t maintain a certain level of billable hours… often don’t get to remain on as consultants for much longer.

There is a corollary to this… Consultants that are not Billing need to spend their time improving their skills… aka Skilling. Most companies factor in a percentage of a consultants time for training.

For better or worse Millennials are being faced with companies that seem to change a little more quickly and a lot more cavalierly than the companies of yesteryear. Those that can adapt will Stand Out in their Career. By keeping skills honed and options open opportunities will be presented that can be acted upon.

Stay curious

A friend posted something on Facebook today where he said he was bored. I think he meant it in jest, but it got me thinking. There is no excuse these days for being bored. There is always something to occupy our time. That doesn’t mean those things should be able to lock onto and control our time, but there is no reason to be bored in this day and age. The simple cure for boredom is curiosity. Stay Curious.

The cure for boredom is curiosity.
There is no cure for curiosity.
~Dorothy Parker

By staying curious you open yourself up to new possibilities.

Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life. ~Dr. Linus Pauling

Curiosity may not always make you healthy, wealthy and wise, but my guess is that you’ll get at least one of these by following your curious intuitions. By constantly looking for new ways to build your skills you will gain new experiences and expand your world view. All good things.

As you seek to Stand Out in your Career remember this one simple tip:

If you are Not Billing be Skilling.

Picture of Jeff Shuey

Jeff Shuey

Jeff is an expert in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently consulting with Microsoft and partners to drive Community Engagement and Alliances. Follow him on Twitter @jshuey or on LinkedIn: in/JeffShuey

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