Staying on Top with Killer Creative Skills

Are you someone who is interested in staying ahead in a competitive field? With the market and the economy making everyone wonder about their job security, you may be thinking about how you are going to compete. The truth of the matter is that if you want to keep your job, and certainly if you want to advance, you should take a moment to think about what your options are going to be when it comes to keeping your creative skills sharp. No one progresses or advances without having a creative streak, and when you want to make sure that your name isn't the one that is brought up when people are talking about redundancy or letting people go, consider how to make creativity one of your most important assets.

First, always ask how you can do something better. If you have a process that you oversee, what can you do to make sure that there is more good information that is coming out of it? How can you do it faster? Chances are good that there are plenty of ways for you to streamline a process. At many companies, large and small, procedures are created on the fly, and they are considered to be written in stone. The truth of the matter is that procedures need to be shaken up and changed. There are very few businesses that stay entirely static, and if one thing changes, you might be surprised at what else should change as well.

Remember that there are also skills that you should pick up. No matter what your job is, make sure that you are always looking for skills to do it better. For instance, take a look at the job of being a graphic designer. Especially if you are a freelancer, you'll discover that you might be very tempted to leave your skills at Quark or InDesign. The truth of the matter is that you are going to need to be conversant in both. The more skills you have, the more widely available your work is going to need to be. Remember that there are plenty of new versions of old programs that can serve you well. Make sure that you have the newest versions of Illustrator and Photoshop.



Also keep in mind that clients are looking for a broad range of skills and options. Take a moment to make sure that you are going to be getting the results that you need from your work. If you need to, consider getting additional certification that will allow you to service more and more clients. You never know when something that initially sounds like a strange request or just something that you can't handle will show you how you are going to be running your business for the next few years! Keep an open mind and you never know what might fall in to.

Are you ready to take on the market the way that it is right now? There are so many different things that clients and customers want you to have, but remember that creativity, whether you are looking at it in terms of problem solving or process creation, is essential to what you are doing. Consider how you would rank yourself as far as creativity goes, and see what gaps you need to fill in.