Ready to enter the workforce, or for a job or career change? Saylor Academy offers even more free courses in professional development online, including leadership, management, and communications. You can use Saylor Academy professional development courses to develop your skills and link to your resume, post on a portfolio or websites such as LinkedIn, or present a certificate in person.
Why should I take Professional Development courses?
Whether you are a job seeker, have landed your dream career, or have been in a steady job for several years, it never hurts to refresh your skills. Additionally, taking professional development and other training shows you take initiative and are invested in growing as a professional. These are great impressions to make!
How do I know what skills I need?
If you are a jobseeker or positioning yourself for a promotion, you want to demonstrate a balance of “hard” or technical skills for your field and soft skills. Hard skills can include software your company uses, equipment knowledge, or more specialized knowledge that might require a certification. In contrast, “soft skills” often come from experience and include communication and leadership skills. Soft skills are often considered transferable between fields or industries. Although you may not have the job experience necessary to develop these skills, you can learn the basics in order to apply and develop these skills in your current job or in school.
Find out what skills you need by:
- Surveying current job openings in your field or at your dream company
- Searching for sample job descriptions (BetterTeam has sample job descriptions available by industry and title)
- Reaching out to colleagues or contacts who are in the “next level” of your field ( a manager, for example, if you are an associate) or who are in the position you consider to be your dream job.
Once you have your list of skills, it is time to start learning!
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Managing a Team
Check out our Leadership and Teams course to prepare to lead a group, navigate conflicts, and coach your team to perform more effectively. Whether your team is a sports team, a small group for school, or a business, the ability to manage a team is invaluable.
Introduction to Management will help new and aspiring managers learn the role of management and strategies to help manage more effectively. For example, managers often need to assess the different personality traits of their staff, to better align their workforce with their business’ needs.
Organizational Structure, Change, and the Future of Management Adaptability to change is a key skill for the rapidly moving world of work. An industry can be disrupted nearly overnight, leaving workers and businesses in flux. Take this course to learn to lead a team or organization through planned and unforeseen changes.
Human Resources
Introduction to Human Resources Management will help prospective HR professionals learn the basics of HR management (which includes hiring and managing personnel needs for a business), and determine if HR is the career path for them.
Other Soft Skills/ Transferable Skills
Decision-Making provides the framework for making decisions in a business and management context.
Interpersonal and Group Communications– Communication skills are key, and are often the building blocks to relationships that will help you throughout your career.
Many of our courses are less than 10 hours long, so you could add your new skills to your resume in less than a weekend! Take a free course in professional development online today!
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Banner photo by: Adeolu Eletu