Employability security in SMEs and Startups and how to keep professional skills updated?

When a company interviews many candidates with experience and rejects them, there is a subtle message that comes out. Some of these experienced resources are literally unemployable to the jobs that they have applied as they lack “employability skills”.The two major skills that every employee should develop for employability security are

• Continuous Learning
• Continuous Improvement.

Very recently a survey has mentioned that there are a few hundred thousand jobs for the skills of “Android Development” and “iOS / iPhone Development” . However around 5 years back these technologies were nowhere near the main stream technologies. But today they are accounting for a few hundred thousand jobs. At the same time there are many other technologies that are becoming obsolete thus making those skilled in the older technologies “un employable”.So the only way employability security is guaranteed for any experienced employee is “continuously learning” and “continuously improving”. Continuously improve in the existing technologies and continuously learn the new technologies that are emerging in your domain.When you joined an SMB or Startup, the company might have hired you either because you have a skill or they felt that you have a potential to get the skill to do the job. The skill that is required today may not be the skill required tomorrow for the same company. That is true even for another company that is looking for your type of experience.So when a company is looking for experienced resources in a specific area, that does not mean that you have literally experienced in one skill and they are going to give you the job in that skill. It is an indication that there is a probability of the candidate to gain another skill based on the experience. But unfortunately if you do not have a “Learning Skill” with you, you will not be able to satisfy the requirement.So in a way your employability security lies in your ability to learn a new skill and not on the SMB or Startup. Actually Startups and SMBs provide you more learning opportunity than the large companies. And your experience in an SMB or Startup is valued more than your experience in a large company.If we go and practically check, SMBs and Startups might reject more candidates from large companies because their overall perspective on candidates on comprehensive exposure to work is much less. Large companies have more systems and processes so that employees may not get a chance to touch all aspects of the job. So you getting a job in SMB / Startup is very less if you are from a large company. But if you have an SMB or Startup experience, large companies would like you exposure as they just need to give you the systems and processes for making your work deliver for them.Overall You are sure of employability security if you are working for an SMB / Startup and continuously learning.