by guest author, Frankie Wallace
How it Helps in a Job Search
Niche skill-building isn’t limiting at all. In fact, it can lead to substantial growth in not just technical skills but in how you feel about yourself and what you bring to a company’s table.
Developing your niche not only enables you to land dream jobs, but it can also help you build your confidence and may even take you down the road to entrepreneurship. With that being said, you must be proactive about developing confidence in a particular niche and leveraging your skill set to grow your career.
Before we dive into how to develop your confidence in a particular niche and use that confidence to make intelligent decisions about your career, let’s look at the benefits of growing a niche skillset.
The Benefits of Growing a Niche Skillset
A niche skillset is a specific area where you have an incredible combination of exclusive experience, technical skills, and interpersonal abilities. This alone can lead to highly-selective employment opportunities.
- Examining their personal interests and passions
- Studying the market carefully
- Analyzing what their competitors are doing
- Exploring options outside of their comfort zone
- Learning what business owners are after in candidates in the industry they’re interested in
Niche skill-building also develops your confidence. This can be especially beneficial if you consider yourself an introvert because confidence can help you make the right career moves that result in leadership positions later on down the line.
So, the question becomes, how do you develop confidence in your niche once you’ve chosen it?
How to Develop Confidence in Your Niche
You can choose a niche skillset, but if you don’t grow your confidence in it, you won’t pursue the long-term advantages of having one as you should. Here are a couple of ways to help develop confidence in your niche:
Explore Traditional or Self-Education Options
Traditional education is an excellent option for developing your confidence and your technical and soft skills for your niche. Once it’s all said and done, you’ll receive a well-rounded skill set and access to a deep-rooted professional network that can help you develop your personal brand and land high-paying positions.
Also, if you aren’t interested in pursuing a traditional education, you can always embark on a self-education journey at your own pace. Just choose the niche skill you want to work on, start with an internet search, and you’re off.
Practice, Practice, Practice
We’ve all heard the saying, but it’s precious here: Practice makes perfect. The more you practice your niche skills and apply them in your real life, the better you’ll be at them. And the better you are at something, the more your confidence grows.
So, practice, practice, practice. Use every opportunity to apply your niche skills. Don’t beat yourself up when you struggle. Instead, look at every challenge as a way to become even better at your niche skill. After all, when you move through adversity, it builds character and makes you even more of a valuable asset to companies you pursue in your job search.
Now, let’s explore how you can use your niche skills and newly found confidence to make strategic career decisions down the line.
How to Use Your Niche Skillset and Newly Found Confidence to Make Career Moves
Here’s how you can use your niche skillset and newly found confidence to make strategic career moves:
Companies are desperate for you, not the other way around
So often, people are desperate for work. They’re scrambling for jobs, applying to any and everything that seems like a good fit. As a result, they end up at companies or in positions they want to leave almost immediately after getting the job.
When you develop an in-demand niche skillset and are confident in what you bring to the table, recruiters are desperate for you more than you’re desperate for them. Take advantage of this fact and only choose to pursue companies that are a right fit for you just as much as you’re a right fit for them.
Your niche skills and newfound confidence will also help you grow your professional network.
Grow your professional network
It’s incredible how easy it is to grow a professional network these days. Yet, at the same time, many people don’t actively network to build professional relationships that help advance their careers because they lack confidence. Luckily, your newfound confidence and skillset can help you push past feelings of inadequacy and embrace professional networking.
Use social media to find your tribe and grow a professional network of people who indulge in your niche. Attend industry events and activities to deepen your business relationships and hopefully learn about various job openings and opportunities to grow your skillset further.
Lastly, you can use your niche skillset and newly found confidence to step out on your own if you have to.
Step out on your own if you have to
You may find that the best company to work for is your own in your job search. Niche skills allow you to embark on a freelance or entrepreneurial journey confidently.
With a bit of research, you may find that you can make a lot more money working for yourself than for someone else. Of course, you must be interested in starting your own business and possess the drive and ambition necessary to make entrepreneurship a success. But the confidence you have now and seeing how sought after your skills and experience are may inspire you to at least look into the option.
Conclusion
Ultimately, developing your niche develops your confidence, which can be extremely helpful in your job search. It can also inspire you to step out on your own and make more money as a freelancer. Whichever niche skill you decide to develop, be sure to commit to loads of practice and continuing education to ensure you’re a top-tier candidate no matter who you work with.
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About the author
Frankie Wallace is a freelance writer from the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys writing about career guidance and education but occasionally goes back to her roots with socially active news journalism. Frankie spends her free time cultivating her zero-waste garden or hiking in the mountains of the PNW with her loved ones.
