Professional development covers a wide variety of learning opportunities, from seminars to academic degrees— and is not one size fits all. What makes professional development so compelling, is that there is something for everyone and every role. It doesn’t have to be done at once, and it allows employees and employers to keep abreast of current trends. Whether you are the manager or the staffer, here are a few reasons professional development is so important.
 
Keeps Your Skills Current

In today’s job market, there are thousands of open positions. So if you’re looking for a new role, there’s plenty to choose from. Polish your resume and get ready to apply. In addition to an updated resume, many positions also require a cover letter. While cover letters can seem like a lot of extra work, they can be a useful tool to help sell yourself and your skills. Here are a few ways to write an effective cover letter.
 
Know Why You’re Writing a Cover Letter

So much of your time and energy leading up to the early years of your career is spent learning and perfecting the skills needed for the job. Often — especially in STEM fields — those skills can be specific and require much hands-on training. But in order to achieve long-term success in any career, you must also develop soft skills. In fact, these transferable skills — skills that you apply to any job — are what hiring managers are seeking in their employees. Regardless of where you are on your career path, be sure to continue developing these vital skills.
 

While supervising a staff is not necessarily easy, managers typically find their groove after some time. In times of uncertainty, however, managing people can become much more challenging. As the manager, you’re expected to successfully guide your team through any uncertainty. Here are a few tips to help do just that. 

Today’s professional workplace may seem vastly different from those your elders were a part of. Everyone is looking to work faster, with fewer resources. Regardless of how well-equipped you are, you can easily find yourself overwhelmed, stressed, and sorely lacking work-life balance. While you may not be able to change everything about your work life, look to your Native traditions to help you manage stress and create more balance. Here are a few ways to do just that.

A negative workplace can become quite challenging. Whether you don’t like your boss, are having trouble with your colleagues, or feel unsupported by the organization as a whole, a negative workplace can make going to work a chore. The good news is that there are ways to prevail in a negative workplace. Here are a few to help you get started.

Aaron Yazzie shares many of the questions a lot of us have about the planet Mars. “Mars was once similar to Earth,” he says. “It once had water and was warmer as an early planet. It developed over billions of years in similar ways to Earth, but the question is, why did Earth develop life and Mars didn’t? Or maybe it did?”

When Tobin Beal was living in China and working as the CIO for General Motors (GM), he had an extraordinarily long to-do list. Among many other tasks, Beal was charged with developing information technology strategies and sales and marketing solutions to support the automaker’s success in a vital market and with its many joint venture partnerships with Chinese companies.

When Leona Anderson was a young girl in Los Angeles, she knew she was part Native American, as her father always told her this. Her father was born and raised in Broken Arrow, Okla., and he would visit his hometown for a month each summer and visit the Cherokee Nation in Bixby, Okla., to spend time with his sister. Her father’s visit was about reconnecting with his sister, but it was also about providing her with much needed assistance. “My dad would help her with projects around her house and garden,” says Anderson, this year’s winner of the Blazing Flame Award.

Have you ever looked at the clock and wondered where the time went? You might hope the time flew by because you were diligently focused on work, but we’re all guilty of wasting time every now and again. If you’re finding that time is marching on, but you haven’t made much progress on your to-do list, check out these tips to help master time management — and finally finish that checklist.