Developing Skills

I have touched on this area from many angles, such as under Corporate Social Responsibility, Returning to the Job Market to name a few, however here is another angle to developing skills. When you hold a job or a position, there are certain skills which a person will develop, either through exposure to certain activities, or an inclination towards tasks which produce a reward which may be linked to feedback or urgency and there may be skills which do not get developed. Awhile aback while working in an audit environment,  there were certain skills and competencies to which I was exposed. Growth from earnings was extremely small and given long hours combined with studying for a qualification, there was little chance for development in areas other than the those which came with the job... I had the opportunity to learn a lot, as I was shifted to different departments where the deliverables were not the same and hence the work experience was different, so I was extremely grateful for that opportunity.  What was not forthcoming from the experience was personal growth or financial growth as well as the chance to leapfrog in the company. All along I had been saving small amounts, every month there was an amount put aside to a separate account, not an astronomical amount as there were monthly commitments, but a small sum which grew..... At that time, the rate of interest was high and the returns were paid quarterly so there was compounding of interest, which made my little nest egg grow.  While this may be one aspect of the scenario, what actually happened was that I researched the investments in the market taking into account the following:

• Investments/companies which did not involve current clients, (this was a conflict of interest)
• Required little monitoring (I had little time)
• Was independent to my current bankers (I needed to diversify, it made me feel like I was being prudent  and my current bankers did not have this product at the time).

The willingness to invest made me commit to certain activities, which developed a set of knowledge.  That initial type of investing led to other types of investing, practical experience which while it did not fall into the category of skills, was a type of development.