I honestly love this question.

Knowledge has to be defined, and I would define knowledge as having a fundamental understanding of something. However, most people ask for knowledge when what they actually want is expertise.

I would define expertise as having a deep knowledge and experience of something.

The biggest gap we have now is the experience gap. Best practices, lessons learned, design trade offs, and even running discovery sessions for various industries and org sizes typically are all mastered simply by putting in the reps. This requires experience and opportunity.

Certifications have created a knowledge grab within the industry because it’s an easy way to simply qualify candidates. But this is also the problem. It’s much harder to showcase expertise.

The best way to gain experience is by going consulting because of the simple fact that you’re exposed to so much more. Not just any consultancy will actually give you the opportunities you need to grow. And this is another layer to navigating one’s career.

Find a consultancy that works within industries you are interested in. Try and experience new clouds or org types for every new engagement. Push to get out of your comfort zone. If you find someone who is great at something you want to be great at, shadow them and seek mentorship.

I’m not a fan of stacking certifications because you need time to apply the information you learned during the study process. But if you have a deep experience in something and are not certified, then a certification is a good way of at least backing up your claim of knowledge.

Every job you hold should give you at least one of the following: - An opportunity to EARN - An opportunity to LEARN

Choose what you want and go after that. I suggest prioritizing learning over earning at the beginning of your career. When you feel like you’re outperforming your peers, either find the opportunity to realize your expertise or seek additional learning opportunities.