7 Free Ways To Upgrade Your Professional Skills
Mark Twain once said: “Never let formal education get in the way of your learning.” Any type of growth or personal development comes with the fundamental skill of learning, isn’t it? In today’s world where change is the only constant, learning becomes even more important for you to adapt and excel.
While enhancing your skills could up your career game, it is also important to fuel your passion. So, whether you are planning to focus on learning something new (just for the fun of it) or upgrading your professional skills or even to take your hobbies and creative streak to the next level, this list of websites would definitely help you choose your options. It has both free and low-priced websites, so dive into the sea of possibilities!
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Text: BankBazaar
1. Udemy
When it comes to online learning, Udemy is one of the top sources. It offers over 80,000 courses to more than 24 million students. Since its mission is to improve lives through learning, it features an extensive and multi-language library on a wide range of courses from business, entrepreneurship, programming, academics, arts to even health and fitness, music and games. However, Udemy courses are created by individuals; so, as long as you are a self-proclaimed expert, you can create and design your own Udemy course, promote it and earn student tuition charges. While none of the courses are university-accredited, they can largely improve your skills.
If you are on the other side of the table, i.e. interested in learning, then you would be pleased to know of the discounted rates. While the listing price of courses is usually in the hundreds, they often go on sale and range $19.99 to $39.99. So, if you have a course in mind that you would like to sign up for, just be patient and wait for the sale. (Psst! Just sign up for their mailer and they will notify you when a sale comes. There is more than one sale a month, so there is no need to panic).
2. Datacamp
Data science and anything related to artificial intelligence are the latest trend. So, if you want to get into this field, you’ve got to pick up the language of data. Actually, it’s important regardless of your career or the field that you are working in. Why? Because data is going to be the common language in time to come. DataCamp offers interactive R and Python courses on topics in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Through its online learning platform, it wants to make data skills and data fluency a skill for the masses. It currently runs on a subscription-based model and costs US$29 (~S$40) per month. One of the highlights of DataCamp is its career track courses. There are currently seven career tracks that you can choose from. The career tracks range from data scientist with R/Python to data analyst to quantitative analyst. The completion of one of its career tracks will significantly boost your knowledge and credentials for a data science related role.
3. HOW Design University
HOW Design University is the designer’s go-to source with a specific focus on design-related skills. For instance, you can learn about essential infographic design principles, Photoshop techniques, principles of web design, user experience design and more. HOW Design University also has its own brand of certification programs. You can get certified in search engine optimisation (SEO), marketing, branding, character animation, web development, and even graphic design.
4. HowStuffWorks
As humans, it’s our tendency to be curious about everything around us, yet, as we enter into the professional world, we start losing out on our curiosity quotient. We no longer ask questions about how things work, unlike when we were kids. Luckily, websites like HowStuffWorks remind us to be inquisitive and learn new things or gain fresh perspectives. From interesting topics ranging from space to life hacks, there is no limit on the questions that you can explore! Surely, you are bound to find some definitive answers on HowStuffWorks as long as you have a question in mind.
5. Duolingo
Singaporeans are known to be fluent bilinguals — most of us are fluent in both English and our mother tongue. But in today’s globalised world where the ability to communicate in more than two languages is an indisputable edge, why not spend time learning a new language? Moreover, learning a new language helps you understand the associated cultural practices, attitudes, values and norms. Sometimes, it even opens up new doors for you. Duolingo comes as a freemium language-learning platform that caters to over 300 million learners. It offers a good collection from popular languages such as Spanish, French, and German to exotic languages such as Hebrew, Swahili, and Hawaiian. It even comes with gamification to make learning fun. (Plus, you can even learn languages such as Klingon, High Valyrian and Navajo, if you happen to know what they are!)
6. Curiosity
Another website that is good at offering bite-size knowledge titbits is Curiosity. It has an excellent collection of most inspiring articles and videos from across the globe. So, what else makes it different? Its podcast format where you can just listen to it (like music) and gain insights into many genres of topics such as ‘Offbeat Adventures’, ‘Amazing Places’, ‘Mind & Body’, ‘Personal Growth’, ‘Puzzles & Quizzes’ and ’Science & Technology’. You can sign up for Curiosity’s mailing list so that you get the best articles curated for you each morning.
7. Investopedia
Investopedia is one of the leading sources of financial content on the web. While it offers a plethora of content, from market news, retirement strategies and investing in education to insights from financial advisors, it also provides useful resources to prepare for your finance exams such as Certified Financial Analyst (CFA). Even if you are unfamiliar or new to finance, you don’t have to worry about not being able to understand a thing. Investopedia is a good source to understand complex financial jargons. Also, its content is of a high standard and often cites scholarly works to back up its views. The only downside is that Investopedia only caters to an audience in the US market. However, Investopedia could be a good source for Singaporeans to get exposure to a different stock market.