As our world starts to become more modernized and connected to the Internet, we find ourselves with a growing need for more versatile employees to work many of the different professional fields that are out there. Costs of education are skyrocketing, and people with a wide variety of different skills seem to be more and more in demand every day, with competition growing fierce over the growing limited number of positions that are available to people.
This is where online learning platforms come in. Online learning platforms are becoming increasingly more relevant in the competitive job market field. Skillshare, Udemy, EdX, (good list of platforms at IMHO Reviews) are becoming more and more important with each passing year, as employers look for people who take it on themselves to further their own education.
So let’s dive in and take a look at the different ways these platforms can help build your career. You may find some of the ways rather surprising at first.
Rounding out a Skillset
Sometimes when you receive a formal education you might not get all of the skills you need to advance in a career. Typically, you really only get the skillsets that they teach you just to get your foot in the door, and then anything after that is left up entirely in the air for either you to decide what you need, or for your employer to ask for.
Now asking for your employer to help with additional training can work, but often times they might not be willing to foot the bill because it’s a gamble on whether or not you’ll learn it, they need it, or you choose to take your service somewhere else. This is where it’s all left up to you on how you want to round out what you’re capable of doing.
This is important for several reasons. The first reason being that you’re taking the initiative on your additional training and education and that you’re taking responsibility for it. This means that you can assess for yourself what’s most important for you to learn and what direction you want to go.
The second is that employers like it when potential employee’s take the initiative because it’s at no cost to them, and shows a dedication to your career. They don’t need to give you direction to you, and you’re already doing it for yourself. So in their eyes this just makes you more of a valuable asset than someone who just does the bare minimum when it comes to their training.
Of course, for employers this is a double edged sword, and nothing but a win for you. The more valuable you are as an asset, the more you have in the way of bargaining power when it comes to your wages. With more skills tied to your career, you can earn potentially more money because you’re leveraging the fact that you’re keeping your value with your employer instead of taking off to another one who is willing to hire you with higher pay.
Continue Development
When you first pick up a skill and career, the skills you learn to do that job can quickly become obsolete if you don’t keep up to date with the latest shifts in thinking. This is especially true when it comes to jobs and careers that rely on technology, such as programming, Computer Repair, Networking, Engineering, or anything else. While this isn’t true for every job that’s out there, often times new tools and automations become available down the line that require new, additional training to take advantage of the new systems.
By using Online Learning Platforms, you mitigate this need almost entirely, and on a cheaper level than it would have been had you re-taken a college or university course. While some careers need you to ‘up’ your certification every some odd years, some don’t and only require that you show a competency in your chosen profession.
By using Online Learning Platforms you’re essentially re-learning what you already know, but you’re also updating them with modern techniques and this can often be a mitigating factor when it comes to either finding, or maintaining employment. In today’s competitive markets, the employee with the latest skillset and knowledge is often the one that gets a position.
Reduce Costs
Let’s be honest: Formal education is extremely expensive still, even for a minor 18 month accredited certificate. Learning a skill from a university or college can take upwards of a few thousand dollars, and that’s just for tuition alone. The resources you need, such as textbooks, specialized tools and other reading materials, can take even more out of your wallet, and then you have to structure your schedule around the time for properly learning if you take classes physically instead of online.
With Online Learning Platforms you don’t need any of that. In fact, sometimes it can even be free if you use the right platforms. While often this means that you don’t get proper accreditation to show the skills you’ve learned a lot of the skills that you CAN learn just need a competency test to prove your education.
This can be a boon to you and your career. This means that a myriad of different skills are available for you to learn through different platforms, all at a reduced cost. Sometimes for as low as a monthly subscription to the Online Learning Platforms, and sometimes entirely for free as was mentioned.
All you’d need then is your time and willingness to learn; that’s it. As long as you take the proper time to learn then you’ll find that often the most expensive cost you can pay is wasted time when you should be learning.
And there you have it. Three major ways that Online Learning Platforms can help with your career. Of course, there are plenty more benefits that we could get into, but for the most part those three showcase at the LEAST how educational improvements are nothing but a boon to your job.
And honestly? It’ll continue to be that way from here on out. The one biggest thing we learned during the Covid-19 Pandemic is that people – employees and employers alike – are simply hungry for new, expansive ways to learn. Formal education is just far too expensive, and employers often expect the employee’s to take it on themselves to get it.
Online Learning helps to mitigate costs, while keeping up with the growing demand for a more versatile, intelligent, skilled worker to fill in many professional positions. The only thing that’s keeping you from advancing in your career right now is simply your willingness to learn.
So why not do yourself a favor and continue to learn the skills you need?
You may be interested in: 5 Reasons You Should Invest in Further Education