Professional development is crucial to propelling your career forward. When it comes to improving your skills, we must refresh our memory: we have an abundance of resources at our fingertips. And yes, free ones! Let’s look at options we can turn to while progressing our skills from home.
Take an online class
Assess where you’re at in your career and within your industry. Where are you headed? Are you noticing any gaps in your skillset? Are there extra skills you wish you had explored? Utilize this additional time at home to take advantage of an online course. Maybe you’ve mastered your hard skills, but don’t forget about exercising your soft skills. Check out Future Learn for some free soft-skills courses, and this packed list filled with a variety of free hard-skills courses. There are other helpful platforms such as Coursera and Udemy. These typically cost money, but they are well worth it if you are looking to receive a certification for your newly learned skill.
A reminder: don’t forget to add new skills to your resume!
Subscribe to relevant content
You might be an expert in your industry, but it never hurts to hear other perspectives. Take a moment to subscribe to podcasts and newsletters within your industry. It will help you stay up to date on news and innovations within your field. Allow your morning routine or commute to be filled with a 20-minute podcast and have relevant industry news waiting in your inbox by the time you sit down at your desk. The categories are endless, free, and easily accessible. Check out Feedspot as a great resource to see all your favorite newsletters, podcasts, and more all in one place.
Reach out to your network
It never hurts to reach out! Network with people in your industry and ask for any further advice on how to improve your skills. Schedule a meeting with them and have questions prepared for what kind of skills you’re looking to improve, and how to most effectively do that. This will ensure you’re receiving targeted advice for your specific field. See what your network is up to, and how they’re improving their skills from home.
To propel your career forward, you must be finding ways to continually improve. This is a perfect opportunity to brush up on certain skills while working from home. Utilize what’s right at your fingertips, take advantage of the time, and get to learning!