Technology, similar to language, is ever evolving and continues to have a significant impact on business. With the pace of change, we are witnessing a shift in education models in general. The traditional path through university, while creating a strong foundation, does not deliver all of the soft and hard skills that will be needed as business and technology change. It is important to continue learning throughout your career because simply cramming more schooling in at before launching into your chosen profession is not enough. Individuals must prioritize acquiring and developing new skills throughout their careers.
In the realm of working as a Project Manager (PM) or Business Analyst (BA) there are a plethora of learning steps you can take to become a better professional individually and as part of a team. You do not need to become a master of specific programming languages or technology stacks. By understanding the basics of things like HTML and CSS, the difference between JavaScript and Ruby, or the purpose of a content management system (CMS) will help you more effectively interact and work with other team members who are responsible for those areas. Learning about cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure can also give you a good idea of the online infrastructure that is used to power most of the world’s technology application these days. To get you started, we recommend:
- Udemy
- Udemy is focused on serving professionals who want to develop specific skills to further their careers.
- EdX
- EdX is partnered with leading universities and organizations to offer classes on technology, business, and other skills for the workforce.
- Codeacademy
- Codecademy offers free interactive programming sessions to help you learn programming languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP.
- General Assembly – Dash program
- The Dash program focuses on teaching you how to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is a free online course that teaches you the basics of web development through projects you can do in your browser.
- Thinkful
- Thinkful is a popular code boot camp that focuses on providing students with 1-on-1 mentorship throughout the boot camp.
- Frontend Masters
- Frontend Masters is a great resource for individuals interested in learning more about front-end web development specifically. They have online courses presented by various leading front-end teachers as well as professional engineers from different major companies.
Some of the most successful minds in technology even use these tools to continue to learn about technology. Bill Gates spends a minimum of five hours a week learning. Get out there and continue to learn. At a minimum you will be:
- A better problem solver
- You will be exposed to different ways of approaching or solving any issues.
- A better leader
- You will have a greater understanding of what others are responsible for.
- A better collaborator
- You will be able to contribute more ideas.
- Future-proofed for your career
- You will be exposed to where different careers and industries are going with technology and you will gain a greater appreciation for what is possible.
Keep on learning and let us know if you find any of these resources useful!
Photo by William Iven on Unsplash
