More Than a Box To Check: Why Professional Development Matters

With a combined 34 years of higher education experience, we know a thing or two about professional development. In the early days of our careers, neither one of us fully embraced networking or some of the opportunities available, but hindsight is 20/20 and we want early-career professionals to learn from our misgivings about these development opportunities.

Professional development may be a critical component of growth in your field, but it can get a bad wrap sometimes. For example, you may be required (yes, we said that word) to engage in professional development days or trainings that simply seem to be a check-the-box activity. This could be something like the annual online trainings on how to set up a secure computer password even though the computer won’t allow a password to be set up any other way. Who else fell for a phishing email about a free coffee and had to take another training? So, when you see a “Professional Development Opportunity” or “PD” from your Human Resources department, you may want to groan. However, we believe that for early-career professionals in higher education, professional development can be critical for growth and is worth discussing.

It is important for three key reasons…

1. It Sharpens Essential Skills

Essential skills can come in two forms: skills needed for the operational responsibilities within your job and those soft skills that help you develop as a person.

Some examples of operational-based offerings that we have provided within our community college system have been:

Utilizing AI in the workplace Supervising remote employees Grant writing Performing annual performance evaluations

These operational skills were generally agreed upon by both of us in terms of the value in general but also based on experiences we have had with staff we have supervised and how our jobs have evolved. We encourage you to take advantage of these types of opportunities that are similar across many colleges, although policy may differ from institution to institution.

In regard to soft skills, we recently discovered that our definitions and views vary quite a bit (as you can see from the comparison chart below). This illustrates that developing soft skills is an ongoing process and serves as a reminder that professional development can benefit you at any stage of your career.

Skill Jennifer’s Take

Tracey’s Take

Emotional Intelligence Key for understanding needs and adapting communication styles. Read the room and adjust as best you can. Creating a Sense of Belonging Builds inclusive spaces where students and employees feel seen, valued, and part of the team. Do people want to stick around, or are you losing team members? Dealing with Compassion Stress Recognizes the emotional toll of working with students in need and providing holistic care. Didn’t know this was a thing, as I have been called Wednesday Addams and Sister Michael from Derry Girls, but nothing wrong with acknowledging if someone is going through a tough time. Work-Life Balance Encourages modeling balance for students and colleagues, even when imperfect. As a working mom, I find some days you may just be out of balance, do the best you can.

2. It Helps Build Professional Connections

Networking can be tough. Honestly, for introverts, it can be the worst. Being asked to talk to people about various topics in small groups at conferences when you thought you were just listening to a presentation can cause dread (we may be speaking from experience). However, building a network of peers and mentors can truly change your professional career and open the door to new opportunities you may not have realized existed. These professional connections can be beneficial for future collaborations, job mobility, or gaining visibility in a particular area of higher education.

You probably have heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” As you navigate your professional advancement in higher education, you may find this to be true. This means you must talk to people and build connections even though it may be outside your comfort zone.

Start small:

Connect with someone on LinkedIn. Introduce yourself to one person at a conference. Talk to a speaker whose session resonated with you.

3. It Allows You To Stay Current with Educational Trends and Policies

The landscape of higher education is changing so fast, not only do you have to stay current, you have to strive to keep up or may want to get ahead of the next trend. We have a few challenges for you:

Listen to podcasts or read articles related to higher education (like these on HigherEdJobs). Challenge yourself to read one article every day. Think about what other colleges are doing. Challenge yourself to follow college social media accounts or view websites every month. Chat with a mentor or other professional you trust and find a place that will allow you to expand and explore new ideas. Challenge yourself to connect with someone who is currently serving in a role of interest.

As you continue to think about professional development, we encourage you to engage in opportunities that strengthen your ability to do your current job or prepare you for future roles. Professional development may even be a requirement of your role. If that is the case, instead of looking at it as a mandatory training, shift your mindset to think about it as an opportunity to advance and to explore opportunities that you find align with your long-term goals. Building professional connections and staying current are both areas that we wish we put a bit more time into when we first started in higher education and want you to learn from our mistakes (the learning curve can be steep otherwise). We hope you engage in meaningful professional development opportunities and become the best professional version of yourself; you deserve it!