Investing in My Career Skills

I've been wanting to focus on this goal. I want to hone the skills that I use in my profession. I am a software developer. What do I do? I develop applications. Web applications to be specific. But I am open to developing other systems. But right now, my goal is to continuously develop my web development skills.

My goal for this year is to finally become an Oracle Certified Java Programmer/Professional. In order to achieve that, I will need to dedicate my time to studying and refreshing my knowledge in Java programming. And when I am confident enough about my knowledge, I will take the OCJP exam. Many programmers have done this. It's a long road ahead. It won't be easy. But I know and I believe that I can do it. I've been using Java for almost seven years. This shouldn't be very hard for me. Or not. Of course it is just a matter of self discipline and the desire to achieve this goal.

After OCJP, I am planning to become an Oracle Certified Web Components developer. This is a long shot as of this writing. But I have this in my sights. After this, I can move on to becoming a certified Business Component Developer. The list goes on. The desire to become great in my field of profession should keep me on track.

Okay enough about the specifics. The purpose of this article is to discuss the need to invest in one's professional or career skills. Why do we need this? It's simple. To have a higher salary. To get paid more. That's the main gratification that we'll get from this. And aside from that, personally, I get to have a sense of satisfaction for every achievement that I make. I get to improve and reach a higher level in one aspect of my life. Investing in your skills will give you the tools you need in dealing with whatever hurdles you face during your professional career. You get to have self confidence or in other words, a higher self esteem.

God gave us only one life. One body. One brain. Let's not waste it. Let's look for ways to improve ourselves. Let's take care of this gift and make the most of it while it lasts. And one aspect of self improvement is developing your skill set, becoming very good, or even great at what you do. People are called "professionals" for a reason. Because they are expected to be very skilled with what they are supposed to do. Let's aim to become masters of our craft.

So I am going to ask you. What is your craft? What do you do? Do you have goals of improving on your skills?