{"id":28834,"date":"2023-06-15T10:01:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T14:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=28834"},"modified":"2023-06-15T10:11:14","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T14:11:14","slug":"upskilling-invest-in-online-coursework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/upskilling-invest-in-online-coursework\/","title":{"rendered":"Upskilling: Invest in Online Coursework\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the COVID-19 quarantine days, career professionals wrote a lot of articles about using one\u2019s available time to build up and learn new business skills, and many people did just that. But this is a valuable activity to consider anytime, not just during a global pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, where should you start? Although completing an internship is a great way to develop skills and gain exposure to new ideas, you can also expand your knowledge through online courses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out the low-cost\u2014or in some cases, free\u2014opportunities available through the following online learning platforms:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coursera.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coursera<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classcentral.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Class Central<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/business\/learning\/blog\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn Learning<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.udemy.com\/courses\/free\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Udemy<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/generalassemb.ly\/browse?format=all\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">General Assembly\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/analytics\/academy\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Analytics Academy\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aws.training\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWS Training and Certification<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other platforms offer certifications that might be even more relevant for your industry or function but might require more of a commitment of time and money. Additionally, many universities offer access to their online courses, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uclaextension.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UCLA Extension<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find the right course or program for you, reflect on your goals and do your research, then consider these criteria:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your objective <\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why are you interested in enrolling? What do you want to learn? What skills do your target companies seek? Do you need a certificate of completion? Do you want to take one course or multiple courses?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Industry or functional standards<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask current and former colleagues, friends, mentors, and others for recommendations. Look at the LinkedIn profile of people in your target role to see what types of certificates and\/or coursework they completed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quality of content<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do the course reviews and ratings say? Who is the instructor, and what is their level of expertise? What are the learning outcomes?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Logistics<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will you need to purchase any materials? What is the price of the course? What is the class size? What is the format of the course: asynchronistic or synchronistic? What is the duration of the class\/required commitment (i.e., number of hours)?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, once you select and enroll in an online course, maximize your learning opportunity by approaching it in the following way:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Treat it like a \u201creal\u201d course. Show up! Have the discipline and dedication to listen to classes and complete your homework.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hold yourself accountable. Set goals at the beginning of the semester, and check in with yourself weekly. Allot sufficient time to complete the required work.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create a regular study space, stay organized, and avoid distractions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure out how you learn best, and actively participate.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When completed, add the course\/certification to your resume and LinkedIn profile.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What is the best way to showcase your accomplishments or mitigate your weaknesses? Start getting answers to all your questions by taking advantage of a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/consult\/\"><strong>free<\/strong>\u00a030-minute consultation<\/a> with an expert from mbaMission\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/who-we-are\/team\/\">team of consultants<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the COVID-19 quarantine days, career professionals wrote a lot of articles about using one\u2019s available time to build up and learn new business skills, and many people did just that. But this is a valuable activity to consider anytime, not just during a global pandemic.\u00a0 So, where should you start? Although completing an internship &hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/upskilling-invest-in-online-coursework\/\">Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;<i class=\"fal fa-sm fa-angle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":35538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Upskilling: Invest in Online Coursework\u00a0 | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/upskilling-invest-in-online-coursework\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Upskilling: Invest in Online Coursework\u00a0 | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the COVID-19 quarantine days, career professionals wrote a lot of articles about using one\u2019s available time to build up and learn new business skills, and many people did just that. 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