YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
HOW MUCH VALUE DO EMPLOYERS PLACE ON UPSKILLING THROUGH SHORT ONLINE COURSES?
LISA MORRIS DIRECTOR, HAYS
Regular upskilling is vital for career success. This doesn’t necessarily have to be through formal courses. There are other ways you can ensure continual skills development. For example, you could ask for a stretch opportunity at work, follow industry leaders on social media, watch webinars and listen to relevant podcasts. There is a plethora of online tutorials available. Membership of a professional association can tick a lot of the boxes for skills building too.
JUSTIN HINORA EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT, HENDER CONSULTING
A long list of short courses completed will only be impressive if they are relevant and recent, and should not be misrepresented as being comprehensive if there are other more appropriate credible professional development courses available. Most employers do value employees striving to continually learn but can be put off by what might appear to be an obsession with just one medium provider as the solution to their professional development needs.
ANDREW SULLIVAN MANAGING DIRECTOR, SULLIVAN CONSULTING
Employers usually like to see people are interested in developing their skills. Short online courses are one way to do that. However, short courses are unlikely to be a deciding factor when selecting candidates. How relevant and recent a course is should also be considered. If you can show a course has improved your skillset in a particular way or you have applied the knowledge in your role, that’s probably more likely to benefit you.
ALEXANDRA ROSSER HEAD OF ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING, STILLWELL MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
Employers in industries that require employees to constantly upgrade skills to keep pace with technologies and/or in industries in which online learning is increasingly common tend to place greater value on online courses.
Courses by accredited institutions and which result in some sort of recognition of learning objectives achieved will be deemed more favourably.