5 Professional Development Tools That Job Seekers Really Need
Professional development is more critical than ever for job seekers pursuing career advancement. Every professional is paid increasingly more for their experience and skills. The scale of their careers is based on training, feedback, and mastery of skills.
It’s an unspoken expectation that learning and skill enhancement generates career growth and creates more opportunities. It’s an incentive, and sometimes a requirement, for professionals to continually develop their skills with the latest standards and technology.
SHRM’s 2019 Employee Benefits survey showed a decline in the number of companies that support HR professional development efforts. It’s nice today if a company can pay for your development, but the world has shifted, and so have company policies.
One consideration is to look at professional development tools as an investment. Today’s professionals have quality options ranging from free or minimal-cost opportunities to others that may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
What Are the Professional Development Possibilities?
Payscale’s recent survey offered insight into what employees wanted from their professional development. The top three were management and leadership (32%), professional certifications (30%), and technical skills training (17%). Another survey reported that 86% of surveyed employees would change jobs to work for a company that supports professional development.
Easy obtainable professional development is available for a minimal cost and is accessible to everyone. Scores of professionals have learned skills and scaled them into another career, side business, or a life-changing experience. People have creatively taken content from low-cost platforms, mastered the training, and turned it into something valuable.
Here are some examples of platforms offering low-cost or free resources for professional development.
LinkedIn Courses
Every user who has an account can access one month of the premium membership and access all of the LinkedIn Learning courses for free. All users can access LinkedIn live streams from other users in and out of their network (as long it’s not for a dedicated LinkedIn group). Sometimes, the LinkedIn course facilitator or LinkedIn will unlock a course and make it accessible for free for a limited time.
Google Certificates
It is a low-cost option with two ways of participating. Most Google courses are 49 dollars per month for six months. Others are free, but the certification exam costs $200.
Books (Free App)
Your local library is still a great spot to get free books. Audible is a leading phone app to purchase audiobooks. Libby is a free mobile option with audio and e-books. You can use your local library card to sign up and sign out books via the app. You can find it in Google Play and the App Store.
YouTube
While this is a free resource, YouTube often offers you a selection of what’s popular in an industry or skill. However, it may not always be the most competent or relevant content for learning. Many people will watch and listen for hours before finding the right person or program to follow.
Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act
The federal program, WIOA, was signed into law in 2014. Laid-off or unemployed job seekers can receive grants to get training that leads to certifications in tech. Sign up through the Career One Stop site and find other options. There are free online college options available. But there are rarely opportunities for instructor feedback since enrollment sizes for some courses are in the thousands.
Pursue Free Professional Development With Caution
While the upside to free professional development tools is money savings, it takes more time to absorb the many perspectives offered on those platforms. Most people will consume content from several content creators to gain a holistic view and get the full breadth of learning or mastery of a skill.
Obtaining feedback on your progress while learning from free platforms is often unavailable. Rarely does free audio or video content provide everything required to become competent. There might be content to glean insights from in the comments from the facilitator or participants or during Q&A sessions, but you will need to seek it out.
Be wary of YouTube creators who are good communicators sharing personal experiences rather than those explaining techniques from more formal training. There may need to be more than listening to experiences to use the same skill in the working world.
Not All Professional Development Tools Are Quality
Some creators successfully offer resources and content through online coursework but may be relying on personal experience and have never passed an assessment to get a credential.
You can tell if a professional development facilitator lacks industry credentials if their offered program does not include feedback or assessments as a core part. Their content is the echo of other professionals who’ve done the work. Their delivery may have good intentions, but the content needs more depth.
Most employers or industries prefer well-vetted courses, even if it requires asynchronous learning and participation.
Watch Out for Scammers
Just as some people can access free resources for professional development, anyone can use the same professional development tools to teach.
Unfortunately, some people are scamming and misleading people in several ways. Through these programs come shallow information you can find online just as they did.
They want to get your money and credit card information to steal your money:
- They quickly push to collect money and personal information instead of identifying your learning needs. The promises are unrealistic, especially when it’s faster and easier than the standard industry training.
- Scammers are masterful at marketing using Facebook or YouTube ads to offer “limited-time” access to their program. They have a website for you to sign up, but it’s bait. Usually, when it’s too good to be true, it’s best to continue researching to find a program offering more value than the resource a scammer would supply.
- Desperation is the most significant vulnerability if the timing is vital. Many people rely on working on an updated license; continuing education is required before the current license or permit expires. Scammers know this and will offer illusions of cutting time to get what’s needed for industry compliance for less time and money.
An Investment in Professional Development Gets a Return
Professional development is an asset to people who have carefully considered the pros and cons, how far it will carry them forward, and if it fits their desired goals. It’s important to understand the career ceiling for each type of training and if a particular program will offer you the best return for your money. When you pay for professional development tools, you learn from professionals already established as specialists and experts with proven competency and industry knowledge.
You often obtain a certification as proof of your new abilities or skills. One way to find the best program for you is to contact or join a professional organization in your target industry.
They will tell you the type of certification associated with your desired job. They also can direct you to the best training choices and provide options to remain relevant in the industry. The cost for membership in these organizations varies, and they may have student rates if you’re in a training program.
Further Your Professional Development With an Internship, Apprenticeship, or by Volunteering
Whether you use free resources or complete a paid program, an employer will want proof you did the work. If your employer paid for your training, there would be an expected investment return. Employers may only recognize a skill if a certificate or license requires continual education or accreditation. Other times the employer or the industry standard may require an internship or apprenticeship in addition to the coursework.
In some instances, especially if you’ve learned new skills from free resources, volunteer work for newly obtained skills will help hone and improve them. Many non-profit organizations welcome volunteers from different industries to help them accomplish their goals and charity campaigns.
Take Your Career in a New Direction
If you know where you want to go next, talk to professionals who thrive in the space, and evaluate what has moved them forward so you can too. Consider investing in professional development tools with feedback and assessments leading to certification.
If you choose freemium training, look for other ways to learn by doing and receive feedback. Look for volunteer opportunities, or let Lensa help you find a career-advancing internship or apprenticeship.
