Society is evolving so fast, and so is technology. Key decision makers in your future career want to see that you are familiar with current or even leading-edge technology. This will greatly increase your competitive stance in the candidate pool.
Today there are many options for you to upgrade your skills with minimal costs, made even easier with the advent of web-based technology, which you can access from your home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Here are the five best ways to upgrade your technical skills:
Educational institutions
Community colleges, universities and private colleges have always offered technology courses and have many to choose from. This option is for the professional who can commit a certain day and time each week to attend the lessons.
Programs like these also offer another venue for you to network and broadcast your career strategy and goals.
Online learning courses
Closer to home, there are many highly successful, well-respected and reasonably priced options online. Some of the more well-known sites include Udemy, Coursera, and Lynda. Online courses tend to be a good fit for independent and self-disciplined professionals.
Most allow you open access to start, stop, pause and resume a lesson whenever is the best time for you. That means even if you don’t have a full hour to spare, you can still complete a one-hour class – it just may take you a week or two.
YouTube videos
To complement these structured courses, many people have created their own YouTube instructional videos to help you with specific issues, honing in on particular components of software applications.
Simply type whatever you want to learn into the search box or check out some tech-specific channels like eHow Tech.
Technology coaching
Another more traditional approach is to hire an expert, preferably with certifications or designations, to attend your place of work or home for one-on-one technical coaching.
This provides the option for more customized, in-depth learning, while being able to ask questions to maximize your learning curve.
Friends and family
In every family or group of friends there is always someone who likes to tell you that they know computer applications inside out and can save you a fortune in training. By all means, test them out and see for yourself if they hold up to that promise.
And don’t discount the younger generation! They’ve grown up using technology and many of these skills are second nature for them.
If you feel intimidated, fearful or ill-equipped to use technology at work or in your job search, make a plan today to upgrade your skills. Your career advancement depends on it.
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