Upskilling in the age of Coronavirus

Since we entered the madness of the Coronavirus world, so many things have changed, but probably one of the most impactful is that of employment. Whether it is the distressing fact of people losing their jobs, or people using their spare time to strengthen their skillset or future proof it even, upskilling is a word that seems to be getting used a lot.

Many people are seeing this period has a perfect time to develop their talents by upskilling to ensure that they are relevant for the industry they are currently in, or for those that are looking for employees.

Where do you begin? Well probably the best place to start is those places that are offering free courses or those that are more cost effective than usual:

For jobs considered in high demand, the WA Government have halved the costs of the following courses at TAFE:

• Cyber security
• Hospitality and cookery
• Trade and agriculture
• Education, community services and healthcare
• Tourism and events
• Pre-traineeship aged and disability acre

The Australian Government My Skills website has many Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses available from building and construction through to floristry.

Deakin University is offering free courses in subjects ranging from Digital Learning to Leading Strategic Innovation.

Other Universities through edx are also running a variety of free online programmes. Curtin University is including, Cybersecurity and Privacy; Online Marketing Strategies and Digital Branding and Engagement amongst many others.

Udemy has over 100,000 online courses for people to access, and at the moment are offering huge discounts to customers. Likewise Linkedin Learning has a free month trial running.

Australia Online Courses has 10% off courses booked in May, and with over 400 on offer, from beauty to children’s services there is a lot to choose from.

FutureLearn has hundreds of courses from top universities and specialist organisations, everything from Computer Networking for Teachers to Improving Mental Health through Nutrition.

Try checking out some popular Youtube channels including Ted Talks, Vsauce, HowStuffWorks, and Computerphile.

It’s a changing world, but you can change with it and take hold of your future. Good luck!