Education & Career Trends: 6 Free Online Courses for New Job Seekers

Edition: February 22nd, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS

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• Excerpts from article by Denis Manyinsa, published on Makeuseof.com

If you’re looking for a new job, you know that the competition is fierce. You need every edge you can get, and that includes upgrading your skills with online courses. Many of the courses are free, and they can be found on popular sites.

So whether you’re looking to learn basic skills like data entry or more advanced ones like programming languages (e.g., Python) or data analytics, there’s a course for you.

Here are 6 free online courses for new professionals looking to advance their careers and bag the perfect job. Please note, this is just as indicative list. There are many more options out there.

1. Google’s Applied Digital Skills

• Applied Digital Skills is a video-based curriculum that teaches you how to identify your digital literacy skills and apply professional approaches to managing and improving them.
• It allows anyone to practice basic digital skills using Google Workspace for Education apps.
• With the programme, you’ll acquire communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills.
• The course provides the skills you need to-
  • Identify your interests.
  • Create a list of skills and experiences.
  • Find jobs that match them.
• The curriculum aligns with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards for students.
• Plus, you don’t need prior tech experience, and you’ll be awarded an exam certificate.

Key learnings-

1. You’ll learn how to evaluate online sources and their credibility.
2. How to conduct yourself online.
3. How to create mind maps that demonstrate the relationships between topics on specific subjects.
4. It includes many lessons with projects like creating a budget, writing a report, and researching.
5. You’ll also access teachings on working with a team to complete a task.

2. Udacity’s How to Build a Startup

• Many startups fail because they don’t validate their ideas early on with real-life clients.
• To avoid this, this course teaches you how to search for real pain points and unmet customer needs. This will help you find better solutions and the most ideal business models.
• The curriculum comprises a series of very short and engaging videos centered on the Business Model Canvas, allowing you to organise your thinking around a startup business.
• The main goal is to teach you how to quickly develop and test ideas by collecting large amounts of customer and market feedback.
• This programme is aimed at people interested in creating their own businesses and those who’re looking to get a job at a startup company.

Key learnings-

1. You’ll learn about the key elements of building a successful business.
2. How to pitch your product or service.
3. What you need to think about when creating a business model.
4. How to think about the competition landscape.

3. Alison’s Career Strategy

• No matter where you are in your career journey, proper planning will help you attain your goals.
• This training programme will help you take control of your career by:
  1. Establishing clear objectives.
  2. Setting out plans for achieving them.
  3. Researching various career options.
  4. Making sound decisions about your future prospects.
• The course is a great choice for those looking to make long-term career-related decisions.
• It provides information about the possible uncertainties you might face while chasing your dream job.
• It equips you with the knowledge you need to make quick, effective, and measured career-related decisions for a safe career trajectory.

4. University of Washington’s Introduction to Public Speaking on Coursera

• If you’re looking to appear more confident and learn how to prepare and deliver effective speeches, this course is for you.
• This course will help you understand the fundamental principles behind great presentations and discover how to apply them to various contexts.
• The programme is a series of lectures designed to teach public speaking skills to professionals of all kinds.
• Since the course focuses heavily on verbally communicating your thoughts in a clear way, it’s especially useful for interviews.
• You can upload the practice elevator speech for peer review if you want some feedback.

Key learnings-

1. You’ll learn to formulate your ideas clearly.
2. Rehearse effectively.
3. Deliver an effective presentation with poise and confidence.
4. Develop your own personal style.
5. You’ll also gain skills for assessing your speech writing.

5. Alison’s Introduction to Job Search Skills

• This is a fantastic resource for those with little-to-no job hunting experience, as it covers the basics of what you need to know to start searching for work.
• The course will also be of great interest to professionals in career coaching.
• The course offers the job search tips you need to recognise a full-time job or internship.
• The programme provides steps to:
  1. Identify your career passion.
  2. Position yourself for the jobs.
  3. Identify what employers are looking for.
  4. Create relationships with potential employers.

Key Learnings-

1. You’ll get to know the significance of internships in your career.
2. What you need to know when looking for a job in another location.
3. How to identify and fix problems related to employment gaps.

6. HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Course

• Every business prioritises inbound marketing in some way.
• This programme focuses on executing the right inbound marketing plan by creating valuable educational content for each level of the buyer’s journey.
• This free certification course is a series of short video lectures and an exam at the end of the course.
• It offers knowledge around content strategy, lead generation, and automation strategies.

Key Learnings-

1. You’ll learn inbound marketing strategies.
2. How to use creative methods to direct people onto a website with the hope of attracting new customers.
3. You’ll also figure out how to use social media, blogs, podcasts, and other off-site methods of getting more traffic onto a website.

The listed free online courses for new job seekers should help you start preparing for your next career move. You can also earn certifications and apply for jobs after taking these courses. Find out what type of online course will best suit your needs by reading the descriptions.

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Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?

Career Trends: 5 Ways to Improve Your Written Communication

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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)

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