Continuing Education and Some Resources To Do It
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over the one who can’t read” – Mark Twain
Education and developing skills is something that drastically changes after we decide to leave the traditional school route. Many of us leave this system after high school, undergraduate or masters and that’s it. If professional development is required or created by our employer, we attend and participate, but many of us do not seek out education on our own. But continuing education doesn’t have to be in the traditional sense through a school, the internet has changed the way we can continue to learn.
If the recent times has taught us anything here at Moore Staffing, we have learned that seeking education to develop our skills is of the utmost importance. It is a great way to support or extend your resume, sticking out as a potential employee. (Come back soon for ways to fine tune your resume and stick out to hiring managers specifically. It’ll be series on our blog over the next few weeks.)
Continuing education does not directly have to align with your career either. Developing new skills strengthens other skill sets that may apply to your profession. In attempting to fill our day with meaning during these times, taking steps to explore education online is in everyone’s best interest.
To put one skill, reading, into perspective, here are a few statistics:
“Less than a third of 13-year-olds were daily readers in 2007, a 14 percent decline from 20 years earlier. For 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled over a 20 year period.” (From: here)
“21 million Americans can’t read at all, 45 million are marginally illiterate and one-fifth of high school graduates can’t read their diplomas.” (From: here)
On the opposite side of the spectrum billionaires and millionaires read more than 10x the average. Here is a great list of billionaires and their reading habits. https://medium.com/@samklemens/the-reading-habits-of-10-millionaires-and-billionaires-d2b2372143c8
Education is the greatest weapon in our arsenal. Many times it’s as simple as dedicating time to pick up a book. The billionaires of the world are a perfect example of how education, more specifically reading, correlates to your success. If reading isn’t enjoyable, audio books are a great way to receive the same content and pass the time.
Online resources are extensive and great opportunities to capitalize on. While motivating oneself to be on top of learning in this way is an adjustment, practice makes perfect and there are plenty of free opportunities to get in the swing of things.
There is a great quote about education from Andy McIntyre stating “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” And there are many aspects to this statement that are true, but we also realize many people are on a budget or don’t have the same access to education as others. For that reason, below is a list of mostly free, some paid for opportunities to learn almost anything online.
https://apps.apple.com/app/itunes-u/
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/
We recommend starting with something you’re passionate about or interested in to get into the swing of dedicating time to learning and producing work outside of your workplace. It will keep motivation high and add to the amount of fun in your day during times where we feel stuck. Then progress to other skills that may not be as intriguing but necessary or complimentary to your chosen or future profession. For example, our Marketing Strategist has been taking the Imagineering in a Box course on Khan Academy created by Disney. While imagineering and creating a theme park does not apply to her career, she has been developing and increasing her skills regarding creativity and the importance of genuineness.
Comment below what your favorite course have been and why! Wed love to gain some feedback on which learning channels have worked for you and provide others with suggestions on where to start.
