Develop Your Expertise

By: David Ross

Consider your role in your organization. While we all have job titles and specific duties, some people are dubbed the “experts.” Are you known as an expert in your field? Is your knowledge and expertise utilized within your organization? Or do you have room for growth in your position and the opportunity to become an expert? While expertise is usually acquired over a period of time, here are some ways to further develop your expertise:

Increase your knowledge about your profession and industry by joining professional associations and attending conferences and webinars. Joining professional associations provides the opportunity to keep updated with the latest trends and get a feel for best practices in your field. Attending annual or periodic conferences and webinars ensure that you remain up-to-date with information on an ongoing basis.
Take advantage of any opportunities to research a relevant topic and give a presentation at local or national conferences. Any research you conduct as you develop your conference presentation will augment your existing knowledge base. By presenting your information to other industry professionals, you may be viewed as an expert in a specific area.
Identify a topic or subcategory related to your work and specialize in that area. Sometimes it can be very overwhelming to focus on developing broad, widespread expertise. Start off with something more manageable such as becoming an expert on a system used in your company or learning the intricacies of one particular industry.
Subscribe to (and read!) industry publications and articles. Trade journals, magazines and other periodicals can reveal salient topics, legal issues and other important information you can share with your organization to showcase your expertise.

Experts are valued and sought after by organizations. Think about ways in which you can enhance and demonstrate expertise in your field.

Author: David

David Ross is a Senior Associate Director of Career Services for Wharton undergraduates and occasional blogger for "Penn & Beyond."