Home-based professionals are no different from professionals that work at traditional nine to five jobs when it comes to maintaining competence within their chosen area of work. Professionals have to stay abreast of the changing face of their profession so that they can better serve their clients and so that they can keep up with their competitors. Some professions require very little in the way of staying current with professional knowledge. Others require substantially more in the way of tests, certifications, continuing education, and the like.
One profession that requires quite a bit of effort in the “staying current” department is the practice of law. Lawyers must not only pass the bar exam before they can even begin to practice law, they must engage in continuing legal education on a regular basis. The requirements for continuing legal education vary from state to state, but most state regulations require that each attorney complete a certain amount of hours of accredited continuing legal education programming within each designated reporting period.
Fortunately, attorneys do not have to pass the bar exam more than once in each state where they intend to practice law. Some professions require testing every so often in order to remain in good standing with the Board that governs that profession. Some professions do not have any hard and fast requirements for staying current and aware of the latest professional knowledge.
Regardless of whether your profession requires continued investment in learning, it is important that you seek out and participate in activities that will keep you connected to other professionals and knowledgeable of the latest information in your profession. It could be as simple as subscribing to and regularly reading a business magazine. It could also entail attending seminars and professional events. Whatever it takes for a professional to remain current in your line of work,it is important that you do it. You never know when that article that you read yesterday will be relevant or useful.