January 18, 2019

Continuing Education – Prepping Yourself From a Technical Perspective

It’s always important to take time and freshen up your technical skills. We’ve put this blog post together to provide some of the training and resources to help.

Let the tech-prep begin!

Types of Training 

Training comes in all forms and when it comes to video-based training, consider Safari or Pluralsight, a technology skills platform that provides a variety of video training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals. If you prefer event-based training and are looking for something around development, then consider CodeSignal and Skillcrush. CodeFights was initially a competitive coding platform and is known now as CodeSignal. It has been adopted for use with interview prep. Skillcrush offers online classes in web design, coding, and other marketable digital skills with free coding-camp signups and games.

Are you part of an association? If not, consider joining an association to partake in local Meetups. User groups and professional associations have monthly meetings that are organized by group members. You can get involved and help organize a Meetup, while building your networking skills within the industry. Many Meetups host hackathons (codeathons); PMI chapters host Project Management Day of Service. Look into STEM nonprofits and groups, such as Tech4Good Meetups in your local area, Humanitarian Toolbox, Tech for Troops, Operation Code, Year Up, CompTIA’s IT Ready Program, etc.

You can also consider participating in online communities, i.e. Career Guru, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Slack Groups for IT, programming, marketing, finance, hardware and more with 2,000 communities posted by Standuply, as well as industry conferences and conference training days. The point is to get out there, network, get involved, and volunteer!

It’s important to keep two things in mind. Tech-prep takes time; consider the time needed for researching, taking on courses, training, or certification. Tech-prep, by always working towards new certifications!

Training Resources 

  • Brightalk: 100,000+ free talks in the areas of business management, finance, IT, marketing, research, development, and more; mixture of podcasts, RSS feeds, summit and conference recommendations.
  • O’Reily: It’s not the auto-parts place, but resources covering artificial intelligence, operations, data, UX design, finance, leaderships and more.
  • LinkedIn Learning: Learn technology, creative and business skills.
  • Coursera: Latest skills in technology, programming (Python, Matlab, R Programming, Data Science), life sciences, health, project management, business topics (finance and economics), soft skills, leadership, and psychology; with popular courses available for free.
  • Udemy: Over 100,000 courses for IT and software, programming, marketing, data science, design, business management, personal development and more.
  • Core OOP Interview Topics: Regardless of languages, many companies are seeking core knowledge in the staples of OOP, data structures, and design architectures.
  • Excel Easy: A quick and easy Excel tutorial for those looking to learn the program, or brush up on their skills.

Tech-prep is going to vary by person and we hope you find value in the resources provided here. It’s also important to remember to work on interpersonal skills, because how well you communicate what you know is just as important as knowing it.

No matter what type of continuing education you choose, making the time to focus on you and your professional development is always important. As always, Oxford is here to help you stay connected and take on new career challenges.

For the latest list of all in-demand skills, check out this report from LinkedIn.

Quality. Commitment.
Trust.

Whether you want to advance your business or your career, Oxford is here to help. With nearly 40 years’ experience, we know that a great partnership is key to success. Start a conversation today.