Freelancers can develop skill sets, and increase job and project opportunities with free courses
Being a freelancer is a continuous learning and developing process which is a result of changing needs of the labor market. Technological developments and globalization cause a rising competitive environment for freelancers. You can reach trends in the labor market from here.
Globalization and technological changes come with changing needs and wants of the labor market. Focusing on a skill set and developing oneself in an area helps freelancers and employers. From the perspective of freelancers, taking online courses helps to increase job opportunities by adding new skill sets and developing the already existing ones. In addition, Free online courses add something extra to your CV, and are a great talking point in interviews, as well as being a fun way to spend your spare time. From the perspective of employers, Online courses create a hospitable environment for development, and this eases the process of finding the perfect professional for their projects.
So, how a freelancer can develop her own skill sets and add new ones to them? Here are some websites to find free online courses that are appropriate for your wants:
1. Udemy
Udemy, Inc. is a global online teaching and learning platform that has over 57 million students and 213,000 online courses in over 75 languages as of November 2022. Students enroll in courses mainly to develop their job-related skill sets. Some of these courses also gave technical certification.
2. Coursera
Coursera Inc. is a massive open online course provider based in the United States that was founded in 2012. Coursera collaborates with universities and other organizations to provide online courses, certifications, and degrees in a wide range of subjects. It was estimated that approximately 150 universities would offer more than 4,000 courses through Coursera by 2021.
3. Edx
EdX is an American massive open online course provider founded by Harvard and MIT. It provides free online university-level courses in a variety of disciplines to a global student body.
4. Harvard and Stanford universities
While Harvard and Stanford universities provide over 600 free online courses; they also provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skill sets and study new and emerging topics.
5. Alison
ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online) is an Irish online education platform that offers certificate courses and accredited diploma courses for higher education, teaching workplace skill sets, and exploring new interests. Alison offers over 4,000 online courses in a wide range of subjects to over 25 million learners worldwide as of July 2022.
6. Linkedin Learning
LinkedIn Learning is a provider of online learning in the United States. It offers online video courses in software, creative, and business skill sets taught by industry experts. It is a LinkedIn subsidiary. LinkedIn courses are divided into four categories: business, creative, technology, and certifications. We also mentioned on one of our blog contents, some free LinkedIn Learning courses, read more here.
7. FutureLearn
FutureLearn is a digital education platform based in the United Kingdom that was founded in December 2012. FutureLearn’s online courses cover a wide range of subjects. FutureLearn, according to the Financial Times, was the first platform to allow students to earn credits toward a degree from a top UK university from their tablets and smartphones in 2016.
So, taking online courses helps freelancers to meet the needs of the changing labor market and develop skill sets. These individual developments will provide one with increasing job opportunities. Platforms that are mentioned above will help you to find the perfect course for yourself to be able to keep up with technological changes and globalization.