The perfect position doesn&rsquo;t always come at the right time. Sometimes, we may not be as &ldquo;ready&rdquo; on paper as we&rsquo;d like to be for the application process. Whether it&rsquo;s things in our lives that are keeping it from being the ideal moment, or we don&rsquo;t have every requirement that the position calls for, it can seem like it&rsquo;s just not meant to be. But for those who are either currently in the process of, or about to embark on, the upskilling journey, there are ways to approach this position with confidence and use your current situation to your advantage. Here are just a few things you can try.
Know the Value Behind Your Choice to Pursue a Technical Certificate&nbsp;
So you&rsquo;ve just started, or maybe you&rsquo;re nearing the end, of that certification that&rsquo;s perfect for the job you&rsquo;re interviewing for. That&rsquo;s perfectly fine! Chances are, if you landed the interview, the hiring manager will be just as eager to learn about the proactivity and dedication that set you on this upskilling journey as anything else.
Make sure to have your talking points ready to go on just what it was that pushed you towards adding these new skills and talents to your repertoire. Any organization is going to love to hear that you took matters into your own hands to chase a dream job (like theirs!) or to simply better yourself as a professional. Don&rsquo;t dwell on the fact that you&rsquo;re not yet certified. Instead, shift the focus to your excitement about the process and your seriousness about the craft. By pairing a real enthusiasm for the opportunity at hand with the new skills you&rsquo;re learning, your potential employer will see you as a candidate that&rsquo;s soon-to-be-qualified, but already fully dedicated.
Demonstrate What You&rsquo;ve Already Learned From Your Certification
No, you might not have that shiny Google IT or Salesforce Admin certificate in your back pocket just yet, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean you haven&rsquo;t picked up a trick or two. If you&rsquo;ve already been taking the course, you absolutely have plenty to show. So then&hellip; show off a little!
During the hiring process, demonstrate just how much you&rsquo;ve learned. Take anything you&rsquo;ve already picked up from your certification process and use it in the interview to show that not only are you well on your way to mastering this field, but that you&rsquo;re a quick learner who is eager to broaden their skillset. The organization you&rsquo;re speaking with will be able to tell just how far down the road you already are, while knowing that you are the type of driven person any company would be lucky to have.
Keep Your Eyes on What&rsquo;s Next
Just because you&rsquo;re still waiting to finish your certification doesn&rsquo;t mean you can&rsquo;t take a look at your next challenge. An eye to the future is what has you upskilling to begin with, so lean into that desirable trait when you can. Employers love candidates who strive for more.
Take a look at other avenues for upskilling that you may be interested in in the future. Whether it&rsquo;s for the position you&rsquo;re interested in, or just other skills that you&rsquo;d want to add, it&rsquo;s always best to have a plan for your next big thing. Your potential employer will love to hear that even though you&rsquo;re not even done with your current certification, you&rsquo;ve already got plans for what you will do when you knock this one out of the park.&nbsp;
 Being in the middle of a certificate course doesn&rsquo;t have to be a burden when you&rsquo;re going after that great fit. If you play it right, you actually might even be able to use it to your advantage. So go ahead and apply for jobs while you upskill, because some lucky organization could always use a candidate <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/career-paths">who never stops improving</a>.

The perfect position doesn’t always come at the right time.  But there are ways to approach a new position with confidence.

Upskilling in Progress: 3 Steps For Highlighting Your Proactivity Before You’re Fully Certified

The perfect position doesn’t always come at the right time. Sometimes, we may not be as “ready” on paper as we’d like to be for the application process. But for those who are either currently in the process of, or about to embark on, the upskilling journey, there are ways to approach this position with confidence and use your current situation to your advantage.

It&rsquo;s easy to get stuck. To spend years in the same position and look back with the feeling that you haven&rsquo;t really gone as far as you thought. Sometimes we may wonder if we are stagnant in our careers because growth isn&rsquo;t possible in our situations. However, the truth is, it can depend on how we look at our current career. Could it be that it&rsquo;s the perfect time to reevaluate and take the next huge step? Jasmine Brown found it to be the perfect opportunity for growth.

After spending 12 years in the security operations space, Jasmine began to come up against that familiar feeling above. She felt stuck and wasorried that there was nowhere to go and she didn&rsquo;t have a path to something greater after all these years in this position. Jasmine identified some of her passions (in her case, computers and technology) and took the necessary steps towards turning these passions into a career.

Her drive moved her in the direction of a Google IT Support Certificate. She used this as her North Star in finding that career growth she was lacking after so many years at her old position. It was the hands-on experience and real-life assessments the course offered that pulled Jasmine in and helped her land a job as a Service Desk Analyst for a local law firm.

Rather than spend another 12 years feeling the same lack of satisfaction with her job, Jasmine <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/career-paths">took action and partnered</a> with the right people and tools to find a career that she truly feels room to grow within. Saying that she &ldquo;learns something new every day and is constantly challenged,&rdquo; Jasmine is well on her way to reaching her next goal of becoming a Network Infrastructure Engineer.

There&rsquo;s only &ldquo;no room for growth&rdquo; if you don&rsquo;t make it. Jasmine shows us all that we are in the driver&rsquo;s seat of our professional futures and we just may need a little extra foot on the pedal to help us get where we&rsquo;re supposed to go. True professional growth sometimes takes genuine action --&nbsp; find the right plan and apply proper dedication to turn a stagnant job into a blossoming career.

Hear Jasmine's story on how she upskilled in Google IT Support and obtained a position as a Service Desk Analyst at a local law firm.

Circle of Success: How Jasmine Found a Real Way to Grow Her Career

It’s easy to get stuck. To spend years in the same position and look back with the feeling that you haven’t really gone as far as you thought. Hear Jasmine's story on how she upskilled and obtained a position as a Service Desk Analyst at a local law firm.

Sometimes, we just want a little something new. Whether it&rsquo;s in our day-to-day life with smaller activities and hobbies, or big life changes like switching careers, it&rsquo;s normal to be on the lookout for a fresh start. When it comes to one&rsquo;s career, starting something new can be the difference between staying at a position you don&rsquo;t enjoy and finally pursuing your dream job. Eric McCracken is an example of what happens when we go after our next big thing.

After leaving the military in 2007, Eric spent his professional life in the maintenance field. Not fully satisfied, Eric knew that he could turn his passion for programming into something more. Driven to achieve more, Eric made it his goal to reach the role of Developer.

Eric then earned his Associate&rsquo;s degree in web and mobile development, but that was just the start. He applied himself even further and gained a scholarship to take our Coding from Scratch course. Using nothing but his own motivation to find a new challenge and conquer it, Eric passed the course with ease.

Though this would be more than enough to count Eric as a resounding success, he didn&rsquo;t stop there. Eric also volunteers as one of CareerCircle&rsquo;s lead facilitators, where he helps guide other scholarship winners using the lessons he&rsquo;s learned to help them take control of their own professional lives.
 Starting something new can be an anxious experience, but it should also be an exciting one. Much like the way Eric approached his new challenges, it&rsquo;s all about how we go after these new opportunities that makes all the difference. Start your next chapter by finding a partner who <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/">shares your vision for</a> a greater professional future.

Discover how Eric turned his passion for programming into a successful career and helps others do the same.

Circle of Success: Eric’s Path to a New Challenge

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Staff Writer

141 Articles

Upskilling in Progress: 3 Steps For Highlighting Your Proactivity Before You’re Fully Certified

Circle of Success: How Jasmine Found a Real Way to Grow Her Career

Circle of Success: Eric’s Path to a New Challenge

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