Introduction
We are at a stage where most of us have been asked to work from our homes. For some, it might seem like a restriction, but for many, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Not wasting time traveling or in transit allows us to give more time to ourselves. On-site visits and going for offline meetings have been replaced with video conferences and online presentations. There has never been a better time to upskill yourself.
This leads to better jobs and even enables you to become more effective in your current job. Upskilling also does not just mean that you get better at what you are doing, it can also mean learning new things. For instance, you might upskill yourself on the latest technology, more advanced tools, or, you can even decide to learn completely different things such as project management and product design. You can even upgrade your digital marketing skills or learn a new language such as French or German.
There are two choices one has when it comes to training and personal development, individuals can choose to upskill for free in the comfort of their own home or they can take up paid courses as well. However, in this article, let’s cover how you can upskill with online courses, academic papers, books, and through other training mediums for free.
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5 Ways You can Upskill for Free
Here are the 5 different ways you can train yourself or learn in order to upskill for free:
Enroll in free online courses
This is probably the best option as courses are especially orchestrated to effectively teach skills and topics to students. There are many free online courses that are designed extremely well and flexibly planned to suit the needs of working professionals. Courses generally also come with certificates after completion of the program and that serves as proof of your accomplishment. If you do not care about certificates, you can also take up free courses offered by various well-known Universities (and companies) through edX.
If you want valid certification and a highly interactive program, you can join any foundational or advanced course such as the Full-stack program Development Program from here. You can also choose to take up courses that can help you learn project management, finance, data analytics, visualizing, reporting, or anything that leads to personal development.
Join free boot camps
This is geared towards individuals who are more serious about the skill they wish to acquire or professionals who want extensive training and who are willing to participate in projects and events. Boot camps are known for being highly interactive as most boot camps have teachers who actively engage with the students. Most boot camps are conducted live as opposed to pre-made material in online courses, thus being more personalised as well.
The Front End Masters boot camp is a great choice for those who wish to learn web development for free. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript boot camp through Front End Masters. However, if you want access to placement opportunities and a ‘pay after you get placed’ payment scheme, you can join the Ninjas Career Camp as well. Here, you get the option of paying only after you get a job.
You can also choose to take up digital marketing boot camps in order to meet the needs of this digital era.
Study using academic papers and books
There are hundreds of academic papers that are publicly available on different subjects, topics, and research that has been conducted. Going through research papers and academic journals is a great way of gaining extensive knowledge on a subject and covering topics.
Academic papers take a holistic approach towards learning, not missing out on anything and recording every single bit of information on the subject of interest. This is a great way to gain deep knowledge of the subject you wish to learn. There are also many books that can be downloaded for free or that are made publicly available by institutes and learning platforms. You can also choose to read it online if you are unable to download any particular material.
You can also study project management and operations management in order to prepare yourself for managerial or senior-level positions in the future.
Learn a new language
Learning a new language is fun and exciting. It is not only a personal accomplishment or an additional ability, but it also offers you a fresh perspective of the world around you. Once you learn new words and especially new phrases which represent different subliminal references, your mind starts getting wired differently.
Learning a second or third language increases your cognitive abilities and improves your mental capacity. It is a great idea to learn a language such as Spanish, German, French, Korean, Japanese, or even Latin. You can start learning a language for free from Duolingo or Busuu. Similarly, through other coding platforms, you can also learn a new programming language such as C++, Java, Python, or even R and Scala.
Watch videos uploaded by learning platforms on Youtube
There are multiple options for you to choose from when trying to train yourself or learn new things including Youtube. Youtube has made it possible for learning platforms to teach interested students all the foundational skills they require.
Youtube is free and does not even require you to sign up, allowing you the ability to watch a video on anything you wish to learn. However, rather than learning from scratch, Youtube should be used for doubt-clearing and problem solving more is great you can check the Coding Ninjas Youtube Channel to learn topics such as Pointers and Arrays.
You can also prepare for senior developer/engineer positions by watching videos on System Design.