Newsroom
Why learning something outside your career field isn't a waste of time
January 28, 2016
"Before I can offer you the job, I need to know – can you drive a car with a stick shift?"
When I learned how to drive a car with a stick shift, I never thought it would be the final test to get a job in news reporting. I knew my interviewing, writing, and reporting skills were necessary, but because the station only had standard-transmission cars, it was also a requirement of this job to know how to drive one.
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Fortunately, my brother taught me how to drive a stick shift one summer because he thought it was a skill I should have. I didn't think I was going to use this skill – especially since most cars have automatic transmissions. But, on the day of that interview, I was sure grateful to my brother for making me learn something that, at the time, I thought was unnecessary.
I thought of that job interview recently when my daughter and I were discussing some of her classes in high school. She questioned one of the projects in an elective class, saying it was a waste of her time. It required learning a new skill – how to sing a specific song – and why she should do that, when the class has nothing to do with her chosen career field.
Well, there are numerous other reasons the project could help her in the future (besides the fact that she could change her mind about her career) either indirectly or maybe even directly as it did in my case.
Of course, it's not advisable to become too scattered – knowing a little about a lot of things without focusing on anything. However, there are good reasons to seize opportunities to learn something new when they are presented to you. Some thoughts to consider include:
- Will the skill increase my confidence?
- Will it provide some benefit that could be transferrable to other fields?
- Does it accomplish some personal goals?
- Does it increase your value to an employer?
If nothing else, the skill might come in handy someday, and it might just be in a job interview.