You are never to old to learn new things.
You want a new job because your job no longer suits you for whatever reason. When you look at your marketability for a new position, one thing you look at is how current your skills are. When you have been in a job for a several years, you take for granted that what you know is enough. You figure that when you need to learn something new, your company will help you learn it because it’s part of what you need to do your job.
If you have worked at a job for a several years, you might have missed out on the latest versions of software or don’t know something new had come along. At least until you start looking for a new job. Then you see requirements for jobs need the newer version or something new and different.
Learning new skills is for everyone at any time. It doesn’t stop because you have reached a certain age, level of employment or status of employment. If you want to stay viable in a very competitive job market, you need to be as current in your skills.
To compete against all the other candidates, you need the skills needed for the position and much more. But much more will be covered in a future post. For now let’s concentrate on the skills.
Working doesn’t give you much time to take a class at a school. You have many things to do and school doesn’t seem to fit in but you need the information. You want to learn at your convenience and your own pace. Online courses are right for you.
I have selected four of the many places you have for online learning. Two of the choices are free, and the other two require a small investment. These options will not give you a degree, course credits or certify in a particular area. Some will give a certificate of completion.
http://www.gcflearnfree.org Learn the version of the Microsoft Office you want. This free site even offers a mobile app for your iPhone or Android if you want to refresh your memory on how to do something you don’t do often.
https://www.khanacademy.org This free site features subject areas such as math, chemistry, biology, history, JavaScript, and finance. Access the classes on your computer by the web.
http://www.ed2go.com This site is more structured as lessons to you two times a week to be completed at your leisure. Subjects include Quickbooks, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, language arts, health, law and many more. Check with your local library to see if they offer a discount toward the cost of the class. My city library offers the courses for free.
http://www.teachucomp.com This is a subscription site. For about $25 per month, you have unlimited access to all their offerings. Choose from Microsoft Office Suite, PeachTree, Quickbooks, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, HTML, Crystal Reports and Microsoft Project.
Taking the time to learn new things or update what you already know only makes sense. Whether you want a different job in your company or another company, or you want to do something else, you need to be able to compete with the best. Use some of your free time to get ahead. You won’t be sorry.
How can I help you in your job search?
image: Freedigitalphotos.net Stuart Miles
