5 Great Learning Sites for Getting Ahead in Your Career
Let’s face it. As company budgets have shrunk, training has gone by the wayside. Businesses have struggled to survive on current funding without excessive attention to improving processes. But career-minded professionals know it’s important to keep their education current. Here are a few sites that can help you hone your knowledge, whether you’re in the market for a new job or simply hoping to progress in the one you already have.
- YouTube—With 48 hours of new videos uploaded every minute, YouTube is a leader in instructional videos. Businesses and business professionals upload videos to help others as a great way to network and promote their product or services. The great thing about YouTube is that you can narrow your search to as specific an area of your field as possible. If you’re a hair stylist, you can learn about a new coloring technique. A computer technician may learn how to repair a specific model of printer. While instruction manuals are great, having someone show you how to do something on video provides a type of training you can’t get from book learning. Cost: Free.
- Lynda.com—No matter what your chosen field, chances are you’ll be required to use a computer or mobile device on a daily basis. Lynda.com addresses the constantly changing nature of technology by providing training on every possible software package possible. The site offers hundreds of software topics, taught by hundreds of professors, with each course broken into small lessons to allow students to more easily learn about specific functions. Whether you’re simply wanting to learn Microsoft Excel in-depth or you’re a software developer interested in learning more about Silverlight or Dreamweaver, Lynda.com can give you the education you need to succeed in your field. Cost: Subscriptions start at $25 a month.
- Treehouse—Treehouse reaches out to software developers, allowing them to learn about web design, web development, and iOS. Ideal for the many application developers out there, Treehouse makes learning software development affordable to anyone. Instructors walk students through application development from start to finish, with code challenges testing your learning. Memberships start at $25 per month.
- Google Talks—Professionals spend thousands of dollars each year traveling cross country to conferences that further their knowledge in their chosen field. Google Talks seeks to bring all of that to your computer screen, with experienced professionals in a variety of fields providing insight. Past guests have included Salman Rushdie, Jeffrey Sachs, Bob Woodward, and President Barack Obama. All past talks are available at YouTube for free.
- Manager Tools—Leaders need support, too. This supervisor-friendly site gives instruction on everything from hiring and firing to better communication with your employees. The cost of the podcasts and PDFs on this site are free.
By taking the initiative to further your professional education, you can add skills to your résumé that will be instrumental in your career development. With such an array of opportunities, you’ll be able to learn from the comfort of your home without straining your family budget.
This is a guest post from Stephanie Faris.
Stephanie Faris writes for Criminal Justice Degree Schools, a career site focused on helping individuals learn how to get started in the criminal justice field and featuring interviews with leaders in law enforcement.
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