With rapid advances in technology, keeping up with career developments in your chosen profession involves continuing education.
This can be quite difficult - especially if you have put in years of hard work to get your degree or professional qualifications in the first place.
How many people do you know who, once they graduate, swear they will never study again? However, the pace of change in the world today is so fast, that you'll soon be left behind if you don't keep up with new developments.
So if you are struggling, now is the time to get your career back on track.
This is particularly important in times of economic uncertainty.
But it's not just the threat of redundancy which should make you consider ongoing training.
For a long time, the job for life has no longer been the norm.
In the past, it was enough to get your qualifications, get started in your chosen profession and work your way up to the level you wished to reach.
But nowadays, contracts are often short term and moving to a new company or even a new career is not unusual.
In fact, most people can expect to change careers several times.
So how can you make sure you keep on top of things? Once you have established yourself in your job, you should look out for opportunities to enhance your skills and develop additional ones.
There are a number of ways to do this.
You can look at what the company offers in terms of training.
Most organizations will have a training budget, but unfortunately this is often the first thing to be cut when times are hard.
However, you shouldn't assume that this is the case.
Forward thinking employers know that training is critical and will keep their schemes in place.
So the first step is to find out what is on offer.
Training doesn't have to involve long hours in the classroom or in front of a computer.
The company may provide training in office hours, which is naturally a very attractive option.
But if they don't, there are many short courses available, which will help you move forward in areas directly related to your career and also in what are known as soft skills, that is, things like communication and time management.
If there is no budget, consider investing some of your own money.
Make sure the skill you are working on is in demand, not only in your current place of work but in other companies and industries as well.
This will give you an advantage over other applicants if you find yourself out of work and looking for a job.
If you can't afford to fund your own training, look around you and see if there is anyone at work who can give you some on the job training.
This can be informal and doesn't necessarily have to involve a large time commitment on the part of the trainer.
You can learn a great deal just by watching or shadowing someone at work.
Also consider which skills you can work at when you are at home.
If you have a home computer with internet access, there are many ways in which you can gain new skills or expand existing ones.
Search for free course online and you'll be sure to find something which will help your improve your employability.