The Expectation of Continued Learning
Ever since the introduction of the internet, learning has become something of an ever-evolving expectation. Before the digital void connected us to just about any topic we wanted to dig our fingers into, education was something that stopped after you were handed your diploma, at least for the most part. Maybe your company would send you to a week-long seminar to gather information and bring it back to your team once a year. But occurrences like these are rare and typically only reserved for or c-suite and management-oriented teammates. But with the introduction of the internet, our mindset around personal growth and continued education has completely changed. Even if we're not thinking of any topic, in particular, we do expect our employees to continue their trajectory upward.
LinkedIn LeaRning Makes Education Easy
Depending on your interest, you can find just about any education you want online. However, turning that education into a streamlined process is tricky. How do you know if the instruction you are signing up for is worth it? What if you're wasting time and money on a lousy program? Perhaps you can't find comprehensive enough training on the topic you are interested in. Maybe you have lots of interests and don't want to pay over and over again to broaden your educational horizons.
Enter the LinkedIn training courses. What are they exactly? Within the Premium LinkedIn Account Membership exists a world of access where employees can go to expand their knowledge on just about any business topic imaginable. With the paid-for membership, users get unlimited access to choose what they'd like to learn from in an extensive library of varying topics. Industry expert instructors teach each of the topics with passion and influence. Best of all? It's done on your own schedule. Whether you want to be learning from your computer, or hop over to your mobile app, you can learn when you want, where you want, and at what pace you want.
It's this ease of access that's giving sites like Lynda.com, Coursera, and Udemy a literal run for their money. As users complete these courses, which they can find all in one place, LinkedIn will automatically incorporate their achievements onto their profile via integrated certificates. This not only saves the LinkedIn user time but boasts their new skills to any job hunter who may stumble on their profile.
What's on LinkedIn Learning
The extensive list of educational topics is nearly incomprehensible. Learn anything from technical skills to interpersonal know-how, all of which genuinely benefit someone on the job hunt. The list is endless, with some of the most popular options being Excel (because for some reason, this software will always be a headache), project management foundations, programming, body language for leaders, online marketing foundations, even strategic thinking. Each course is taught by a business rock-star, from senior developers at Google, to best-selling authors.
Is it Worth the premium fee
Training courses on particular topics can run anywhere from $50 bucks into the hundreds, even thousands. With one $30 payment, you have access to hundreds upon hundreds of tutorials. What's more, if you choose to pay month by month, you can always learn a course, cancel your premium membership, and resubscribe whenever you decide you want to learn something new. And if you work for a company, they are much more likely to pay for your continued education if it's a simple $30 a month charge, versus repetitive and splintered course fees throughout the year.
If that's still not enough perspective for you, let me put it this way. The potential to move to the next level at your company, or learn a trade that will land you the job you've been wanting, or take your skillset to the next level, which will allow you to charge more for your services, is worth $30 bucks. Skip a couple of lattes, brown bag your lunch for a few days, or cancel the clothing box subscription. Some things are worth it, and friends, this is one of them.
If you are still struggling for a reason, LinkedIn lets you kick the tires for 30 days on a Premium Account for free every so often. Check your offers, and you might find a lucky chance to see what I'm talking about. You may even like it enough that the $30 bucks doesn't bother you.
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