Just as many of us were getting back into the swing of things, adapting to the office once again, lockdown 2.0 has hit the nation. Without a doubt, it’s not an ideal situation and has left many us with more spare time on our hands. However, that spare time can be put to good use. Let’s make this lockdown more productive than the last.
Whether you’re still commuting into work or find yourself back working from home, lockdown is a great time for focusing on yourself, building your skillset and achieving personal and professional growth. It is therefore a great time to enrol in online courses. Be it learning a new language, or becoming an expert in coding, there are a variety of certified courses available that can add freshness and zest to your professional toolkit. We have put together a list of five top online courses ready and waiting for the month ahead.
1. Successful Negotiation: The art of negotiation is often viewed as some sort of mystical, innate quality. Not true at all. Closing a deal is a key skill within the corporate world and can certainly be studied and mastered. This course, hosted online by the University of Michigan, allows you to master this ‘art’.Its various modules and seminars focus on negotiation strategy, tactics and closing a deal. Plus, it’s not all watching PowerPoints and videos. The course allows you to practise negotiating live against other users. After sitting an exam at the end, you can receive a licensed certificate from the University of Michigan to prove your ability on your CV. Not bad eh?
Enrol here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/negotiation-skills
2. Google Digital Garage: When it comes to the digital skills that businesses now desire, it sometimes feels like the list is endless. Therefore, Google’s ‘DigitalGarage’ range of online courses will certainly keep you busy. Google offer an abundance of online courses specialising in the trending digital skills hot in the world of business at the moment. Google offer modules in a variety of different areas. These range from graphic design, search engine optimisation, digital marketing to some savvy new additions, such as making the most of AI in the corporate world. Who better than Google to learn these skills from? Google allows you to tune into courses at your own pace, as well as hosting live drop-ins and seminars to interact with experts in real-time.
Enrol here: https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage
3. Duolingo: You’re bound to have heard of this one. Duolingo is a classic for good reason, offering quick, on the go language learning through its popular app. It goes without saying how far knowing an extra language or two can take you in the professional world. Luckily, the team at Duolingo is adding new languages to be learnt, from classics such as French, German and Chinese, to Hungarian,Romanian and Swahili. Exercises can be completed in as quickly as ten minutes, making them perfect for on the go, if you’re still commuting into work. You’re able to receive immediate grading and rewards, making progress seem almost instant. It’s hugely popular for good reason.
Enrol here: https://www.duolingo.com/learn
4. Secret Sauce of Great Writing: Led by Shani Raja, a former Wall Street Journal editor, this course teaches you all things writing in a business context. These series of online videos guide you through how to perfect your writing style when crafting sales letters, copy letters, email pitches, company blogs and more. Raja focuses upon key ingredients to great writing such as style, flair, clarity and elegance. Writing with flair can dramatically improve your usefulness to a business, or boost your successes as an entrepreneur.Therefore, why not master the skill, led by an ex-editor of a top paper all for free?
Enrol here: https://www.udemy.com/secret-sauce-of-great-writing/?dtcode=zGbE2Xu3bonc
5. Social Media Marketing: Social media has quickly become a major aspect of businesses of all shapes and sizes. Therefore, companies are desperate for their employees to be skilled and trained in managing, tracking and analysing social media outreach. This online course, which covers all things social media, will look great on a CV and make you a vital cog to any business. The course guides you through the ingredients to maintaining a bold social media presence from all angles. It teaches you how to initially integrate social media into a business, how to prepare and share content as well as how to measure the engagement of your posts and build upon this engagement.
Enrol here: https://alison.com/course/social-media-strategy-for-small-businesses
Lockdown will soon be over. Imagine returning back to the office packing an extra punch by picking up a new skill and certification with an online course. This variety of skills will boost your importance to a job, improve your worth as a solopreneur or freelancer or, perhaps, give you the tools to start an exciting side hustle or new business post-lockdown. All these courses are a fascinating and free way to grow professionally and personally and will keep things fresh as the month of lockdown continues.
