Learn how to learn: develop your expertise with these 4 tricks

When one starts a new job, in a new field or not, even more so when you are at the start of your career, the main challenge is to understand what you are working on.

In this article, I will teach you how to get ahead in your career by developing your expertise in your field. I listed in this article a few actions you can take now to learn faster and be able to talk about your topics confidently.

All you need is a functional brain and the commitment to learn. Let’s learn how to learn!

I will teach you how to get ahead. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Reading (with intention)

The first thing I do for getting up to speed is to read.

There are various formats available: books, textbooks, online websites or forums (including Wikipedia), legal texts, research papers, etc.

First caveat: I believe that there is a hierarchy to the sources you should use. General resources like Wikipedia are great to enter a topic, to deepen thanks to a good textbook. Then, you can explore specific aspects with research and legal papers.

For instance, when I started working on EU energy policies, I bought a textbook (Energy Policy of the European Union, by Johannes Pollak, Samuel R. Schubert, Maren Kreutler), read all the Wikipedia pages on the Green Deal, skimmed research papers on carbon budget and the Nord Stream pipelines, legal paper from the Commission, etc.

In addition to reading, you should make sure that you are reading with intention.

Take note of what you read, underline your textbook, and try to apply as much as you can. Use the acquired knowledge to create content (more on that later).

Personal experience again: I always read books with a highlighter and a pen. I underline important passages and note my thoughts in the margins as I reflect on what I learn. This way, it looks like a discussion with the author.

Use the summer to read and learn. Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Take (online) classes

A great thing to do in the summer is to take online classes.

The great thing about online classes is that you can follow them from anywhere, and it is more visual and lively than a book. Sometimes, the class provides the possibility to interact with other students, as well as asking you to provide essays and other exercises.

Back in 2021, for instance, I followed Harald Heubaum’s (University of London) course on Global Energy and Climate Policy. This summer, I plan on taking a business growth class, as I try to build my own.

Create content

OK, we learned about accumulating knowledge. But how do you make sure that you actually learned something from it?

To know is not the same thing as to understand. Therefore, you need a way to prove to yourself that ingurgitating books and video courses did you good. You need to regurgitate (sorry for the digestive metaphor) what you learned.

I believe that regular content creation is the key to unlocking real expertise. Every time you create a social media post or a blog article, you make the conscient effort to search in your head for relevant and important information, to structure them, all the while putting valuable information for others to use. You learn you show your expertise, and others benefit from it too. A total win-win-win.

So don’t wait. Don’t wait until you “know enough” to start, because this day will never come. Start from week one. Read a book, make a social media post about it. Compare two research papers and give your conclusions.

A final remark on content creation: you don’t even need to start a blog or a website. A social media account is enough. Linkedin is probably best if you create in a professional capacity, but Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter are platforms you can explore too. It would be cool to have a TikTok account talking about EU policies, don’t you think?

Your best portfolio is already in everybody’s pocket: it’s social media. Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Teach

At some point in your learning journey—and probably sooner than you think you’ll know enough to teach others you turn.

As an example, here is a presentation on The Brussels Effect (see below) that I gave a few weeks ago.

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Teaching is like content creation, but times ten. Because not only do you have to create a class/workshop/course in an organised and interesting way, but you also have to answer questions à la volée from your students.

That’s the real test of expertise: are you able to give satisfactory answers to your “students”? If yes, you’ll know that you reach a point where you are credible in the topic, able to manipulate complex concepts and explore little-known details of the issue. Bravo.

But Alexandre, what about learning styles?

Ha yes, the theory of learning style—visual, kinesthetic, and the like. Two things:

• First, this theory has been debunked. So don’t worry too much about finding your right style, because chances are you don’t have one.

• Second, what matters is rather the repetition and variety of approaches. That is why the content creation part is so important. It forces you to be regular and committed. Reading tons of books won’t do you good if you don’t apply what you learned. Then, I advise you to explore text, visual, video, and audio formats to activate your brain in various ways (increase brain plasticity).

Want to go even faster? Take a coach

Here! You have all the information to bring your expertise to stellar levels and beat your competition. You don’t need anything else but to put in the work. Good luck!

Now, I know it can be hard to commit. And even with the right information it can be daunting to actually start. I feel you. I had the same problems.

That’s why I want to offer my help to some of you. I’m putting together a coaching service for young public affairs and EU bubble professionals. I’ll take no more than three of you for starts.

• What will you get? Dedicated coaching, including advice, access to my personal network, and all the knowledge I could have access to in my own journey.

• How much is it? The first three to contact me will pay nothing. Yep, nada, nichts, rien du tout. But there’s a catch: it is that you have to commit to the coaching.

• How to benefit from it? Be among the first three to contact me about it. You can reply to this email directly or send me a message on LinkedIn.

Wrapping up

Alright, let’s wrap up this post with a fictional example.

Let’s take the position of a young PA officer starting her first job in the field of EU Social policies. Here’s what I would do.

1. First, I’d go through the European Pillar of Social Rights Wikipedia page. Read through it to get an idea of what it is about.

2. See the bibliography for one or two important books on the matter. Note that the reference also lists important papers from EU institutions and various think tanks.

3. Make a Google search for relevant textbooks. Tip: email the EU-specialised libraries in Brussels asking for their best pick from social policy.

4. While (and not after) reading, start creating content. Post on a social media of your choice. Create a newsletter if you like the structure of it.

5. Keep on going. Read, discuss, write, create, repeat until… forever. You’re never done learning.

6. When you start getting known for your writing, people will ask you to intervene in conferences. Take on as many opportunities as you can. Voilà, now you're a decent expert.

7. Keep on learning!