You’re here at uni to earn a qualification, but there’s no shortage of skills that you can develop in your spare time – skills that will supplement your core capabilities and make you a more appealing graduate hire. The hard part is determining what skills you should learn.
You can look at what skills are the most sought-after by organisations in your chosen field. You can look at the soft skills that will most help your career. Or, you can look at the skills that professionals are most eager to learn, as these reflect their importance in current job market.
This is where Lynda.com comes in.
Use Lynda to develop new skills
Whether you’re completing a course that leads into the healthcare, humanities, science or corporate sectors, adding a skillset that’s not directly related to your studies can enhance your employability.
The savvy engineering graduate, for instance, is more likely to excel in the workplace if their communication skills are strong. Similarly, a commerce graduate who can write code or a science graduate who launches their own blog is demonstrating the capacity to think outside of their specialist bubble. This ability to collaborate between cross-functional,is cross-disciplinary teams will make you invaluable in the modern workplace.
Lynda.com offers hundreds of short courses and video tutorials, weekly tip series, as well as learning pathways for beginners and experts alike. With 25-30 courses added per week, there are plenty of subjects to pique your curiosity or deepen your knowledge.
Many feature expert training from legitimate titans of industry, such as game designer Brenda Romero, media doyen Ariana Huffington, graphic design virtuoso Deke McClelland and innovation expert and entrepreneur, Guy Kawasaki. You can also find inspirational content from well-known influencers, like Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Weiner.
Add value to your CV by being adaptable
While your area of study allows you to focus on one specialist field, the world of work is changing rapidly. Increased automation and machine learning technologies are displacing traditional modes of work, so people who are willing to embrace change and upskill in areas where there’s a void to fill are going to thrive in a competitive job market.
Lynda.com can help you develop skills in areas such as videography, UX, statistics, innovation, sales or app development. Or you could focus on software programs like Photoshop, Excel or Premiere Pro.
Alternatively, you may just want to get your head across a useful productivity tool such as Evernote or excite your curiosity by learning a musical instrument!
Learn when you want, wherever you want
The great thing about Lynda.com is it takes the pain out finding tutorials on the net that you know will be worth your while. Sure, you can spend your time hunting down videos on YouTube, but this platform ensures you’ll be delivered high-quality, easily accessible and authoritative content.
Better yet, you can watch the same tutes as many times as you need, at any time of day, on each and every internet-connected device you own. You can even download videos to a mobile device to watch them later offline through the Lynda app.
Earn Career Ready Advantage rewards
Specially selected Lynda.com tutorials are part of La Trobe’s Career Ready Advantage ‘Learn’ section of the My LaTrobe app, some of which can earn you Career Ready progression blocks.
There are 24 ‘Learn’ activities, comprising engaging Lynda.com tutorials, TED Talks, podcasts and videos. Each Learn activity takes around two hours to complete and counts towards one Career Ready block. The more blocks you earn, the more rewards – such as work placements and mentoring opportunities – you’ll unlock.
Demonstrate your value to employers
While it won’t take the place of your degree qualifications, when you complete a Lynda.com course you will be offered a certificate. This can be useful if an employer seeks proof of your knowledge or training in a specific area. Better yet, if you connect your account with LinkedIn, you can add these certificates to your profile.
Where to begin?
Whether you’re looking for bonus business, software, technology or creative skills, there’s a Lynda.com course for you. Check out our top picks to find one that complements your degree.
Best courses to improve your study skills
- Editing and proofreading made simple
- Time management tips
- Writing under a deadline
- Reading faster on a computer screen
- Excel quick tips
Best courses for techies
- Learning data science – ask great questions
- Agile development practices
- HTML essential training
- Cloud computing: first look
- Developing with Javascript and PHP
- Get ready for your coding interview
Best courses for design nuts
- The science of logo design
- Learning print production
- Running a design business: pricing and estimating
- Learning type design
- Data visualisation: best practices
Best courses for creatives
- The elements of effective photographs
- Content marketing: podcasts and audio
- Learning video production and editing
- Lighting a video interview
- Illustrator CC 2017: essential training
- InDesign: elements of a layout
Best courses for the business-minded
- Creative thinking
- Think like an entrepreneur
- Writing speeches
- Problem solving techniques
- Google Analytics essential training
- Social selling foundations
Best courses for career development
- Communicating with confidence
- Developing your emotional intelligence
- Body language for leaders
- Learning to say no
- Turn an internship into a job
- Managing office politics
Best courses for personal development
At the end of the day, if you can adapt to job market fluctuations by adding new skills to your toolkit, you’ll not only add value to your career – you might just turn your passion into a vocation.
All La Trobe University students have free, unlimited access to Lynda.com – explore a course that suits you, today.
