"Many people spend long hours working harder and harder on their sport or activity, only to hit a plateau that they just can't break," observes personal trainer Lisa Regan. "The answer could lie in doing something completely different." Sound advice -- for athletes or career professionals. Cross-training promotes versatility, giving you the edge in a dynamic economy.
Career cross-training
Cross-training gives athletes the baseline fitness to excel in any arena. Career cross-training gives professionals the same competitive advantage in the workplace. In both cases, a well-rounded training program gives people the agility to adapt to a changing environment. It's no wonder that cross-training has emerged as a management catchphrase. Cross-functional teams help companies negotiate a dynamic economy, and can help you advance your career.
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Advantages of cross-training in the workplace include:
- Versatility: In a cross-functional team, any employee can step in as a pinch-hitter for anyone else.
- Restructuring: A dynamic economy demands an agile workforce capable of responding instantly to market changes. Cross-trained employees have the skills to adapt and redefine their role within the company.
- Collaboration: Workers can collaborate more effectively if they understand what their peers need to perform their roles.
- Team-building: Walking a mile in a coworker's shoes builds empathy and forges strong relationships among coworkers.
Your career fitness
The company's benefit translates into a distinct competitive advantage for you. Incorporate cross-training into your degree or professional development program and you'll achieve the resilience you need to evolve and thrive in a rapidly changing economy. Cross-trained workers:
- Multiply their options on the job market
- Avoid redundancy as the company evolves, achieving greater job security
- Sustain their interest and engagement with a job through variety
- Carve a niche or specialty by bridging disciplines or functions
- Seize new opportunities as they arise
Cross-training fosters agility, which in turn leads to greater job security and advancement opportunities.
Cross-training for success
Online college degree and career training programs are responding to market demand by emphasizing interdisciplinary curricula. For versatile career training, try these combination degrees:
- Health care and criminal justice -- forensic nurse
Registered nurses can extend their career opportunities with legal certification courses or a master's degree in forensic nursing. Forensic nurses often work as sexual assault nurse examiners, for which they need SANE certification. Legal nurse consultants work alongside lawyers, collecting and analyzing evidence for medical cases. Law enforcement programs for nurses cover evidence collection and analysis, examination methods, and expert witness testimony.
If you are not yet a registered nurse, start with a bachelor's degree in nursing. Some four-year programs incorporate specialized coursework in forensics to help you prepare for advanced training and certification. The average earnings of forensic nurses are $26 per hour to start and $100 per hour with experience.
- Law and business -- entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs draw on the full spectrum of skills in launching a new enterprise. Chief among them are legal and business savvy. Joint law and business degree programs offer entrepreneurs the tools to set their venture on solid footing. Courses in finance, management, tax law, corporate law and international business law address the issues entrepreneurs face as they develop and execute a business plan.
Degrees in law and business range from two-year associate degree programs to advanced J.D.-M.B.A. programs. Examples include an online bachelor's degree in legal studies with a concentration in business administration and a dual M.B.A. in entrepreneurship and business law.
- Technology and business -- I.T. manager
Information technology managers ensure that companies have the technical infrastructure in place to meet business goals. To be effective in this role, I.T. managers need to traverse the realms of high-tech database and networking administration and business administration.
A bachelor's degree in management information systems is designed to bridge technical and business disciplines, with courses in business, accounting and communications as well as software programming languages, database management and systems analysis. Some I.T. managers go on to complete an M.B.A. with a technical concentration. I.T. managers earn an average annual salary of $118,700.
- Art and business -- Web designer
Designers with business training set themselves up for vast opportunity in the private sector. Across the economy, creative directors, media consultants, marketing specialists, product designers, CAD drafters and Web designers are applying their creativity to business problems. Web designers, for example, bring to the table not only artistic vision but also communication, technical and marketing savvy.
An associate or bachelor's degree in Web design offers a comprehensive curriculum, with career training in programming, online advertising and search engine marketing, as well as design fundamentals. Web designer salaries range from $47,000 to $71,500.
- Liberal arts degree -- management consultant
For the ultimate college cross-training program, look no further than a bachelor's degree in the liberal arts. A solid undergraduate liberal arts curriculum emphasizes transferable skills you'll draw on for the rest of your career: critical thinking, analytical reasoning, communication and problem solving. "A liberal arts degree has enormous value -- and it offers a level of career freedom unlike any other course of study," observes business and communications consultant Michele Menegay Marion, who developed her career on the strength of a bachelor's degree in French. "To an employer, it provides an underlying set of skills that can be molded and shaped to deliver value even when the nature of a job or the work itself changes."
Liberal arts degree holders go on to a wide range of careers that depend on analytical and communications skills. One lucrative path for liberal arts graduates is management consulting, which involves researching a business problem, developing a strategic response, and communicating recommendations to the client. For the most effective cross-training regimen, supplement your liberal arts courses with training in statistics or another quantitative field.
Versatile career training is the name of the game in a rapidly evolving economy. Transferable skills and continuing education can help you adapt quickly to changing circumstances. With career cross-training, you'll have the baseline fitness to compete effectively in any game.
