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Subject: WSJ: Free Resources To Not Let Your Education End At Graduation
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This ng came to mind while reading this the following article and what
humbleman posted. Keep up the good work psychohound!
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Don't Let Your Education End at Graduation
Continued Learning is Critical, and There Are Lots of Free Resources
By LINDSAY GELLMAN
August 17, 2014
Evin McMullen spends up to two hours a day commuting between her Santa
Monica, Calif., home and her job at a Los Angeles communications firm.
To pass the time, the 23-year-old listens to history and psychology
lectures on iTunes U and brushes up on her French with the app Duolingo.
While the courses make for great dinner-party conversation fodder, they
also serve a more practical purpose: Though she's not currently looking
skills and hobbies sections with her recent course work.
"It's nice to hear feedback from recruiters who say 'It's great you're
always hungry, and interested in that kind of skill acquisition,' " she
says.
If you're a new graduate fortunate enough to have landed a full-time
job, this season likely marks the first fall in recent memory when you
won't be going back to school. But that doesn't mean course work and
self-improvement need to end. There are a wealth of free and low-cost
educational resources available to anyone with the desire to keep
existing skills sharp or learn new ones.
Most people could benefit from courses in public speaking, computer
skills or writing, say career consultants. Even in fields where you
don't analyze data on a daily basis, courses in data analytics or
statistics are usually a good bet, says Christine Bolzan, founder of
Graduate Career Coaching, a career-counseling service in Boston.
Consider also a philosophy course, which will help you brush up on
logic, argumentation and debate skills, she says. And check out courses
in topics you either loved in college or never had the chance to study,
career experts say-you never know when the knowledge might come in
handy.
If you're not sure where to start, ask a mentor or higher-up you respect
what skills you might be building outside of work hours, or if he or she
could recommend a particular course or program-or even a book, says
Lindsey Pollak, New York-based author of the forthcoming book "Becoming
the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders." Then take the
advice and follow up, Ms. Pollak says. "Say, 'I took your fantastic
advice, and I gained all of this knowledge,' " she suggests, adding that
this is a smart way to build and strengthen relationships with mentors.
Job seekers can do the same with people in their network, she says.
Don't overlook training programs, workshops or other resources offered
at your company, Ms. Pollak says. There's a good chance such training
will be directly applicable to your job, or a future job there, she
says. Many companies offer computer training or workshops with company
leaders. Participating might also help you expand your network at your
workplace.
Look for night courses relevant to your industry or other areas of
interest at a local community college or state school, says Ms. Bolzan.
If you're considering graduate school down the road, keep in mind that
graduate programs might be more likely to accept state-school credits
than those from community colleges, Ms. Bolzan says.
Career experts recommend checking out your local chapter of Toastmasters
International, a nonprofit designed around helping members improve their
public-speaking and communications skills (go to Toastmasters.org).
Then there are online courses, which come in many flavors. iTunes U
offers free educational content, including lectures, from colleges and
universities. Khan Academy (Khanacademy.org), a nonprofit, is a free
platform for original tutorial videos and assessments, and users earn
virtual badges for mastering a given subject. Codecademy
(Codecademy.com) offers free, hands-on online programming courses and
exercises. Coursera (Coursera.org), a for-profit online educator,
partners with colleges, universities and other institutions to offer
courses that are free to take, but there is typically associated course
work-graded via machine or by peers-and there might be a charge for an
optional course-end certificate.
Know your industry-and know when you need to have a skill officially
certified, or when informal learning might be sufficient or even
preferable. For example, Ms. Bolzan says a recent grad intent on going
to law school, but currently working as a paralegal, should steer clear
of the paralegal certification, which is useful primarily if you want to
be a career paralegal rather than an attorney. By contrast,
certifications in the technology industry are often critical, she adds.
Most important, says Ms. Pollak, is not to wait around for the perfect
class or educational opportunity to fall into your lap. Instead, take
advantage of the low barrier to entry offered by free online courses,
for example, and dive right in, she says.
Ms. McMullen of Santa Monica does Codecademy lessons in quick burstsone
or two at a time, while waiting for a laundry cycle or food to cook, she
says. She uses her coding knowledge at the office, where, she says, "I'm
able to communicate with my team of programmers in their language."
"They don't need to use layman's terms with me," she says, "because I
understand the vocabulary and fundamentals of the software products
they're creating."
http://online.wsj.com/articles/dont-let-your-education-end-at-
graduation-1408234349
--
"Books are for everyone... Even people on the dumb list, like girls."
-Axe Cop, 'An American Story'
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