Coursera: your gateway to a new career

They say every day is a school day, and in this post-lockdown world, the phrase has never proved more true.The Stay at Home measures forced many to look more closely at their chosen paths and wonder if they were on the right road at all. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, there was an occupational shift in the employment market, particularly amongst men aged 35 – 49 and 50 – 64, who switched away from major industries and sought pastures new. Meanwhile, figures from Pearson’s Global Learning Survey found: ’68 per cent of employed women worldwide say the COVID-19 pandemic has made them rethink their career paths, with 48 per cent of all women planning to change jobs or start working in the next six months.’It’s a leap of faith that can pay off, especially with a little planning and help from Coursera, an online global learning portal offering more than 5,200 courses, professional certificates, and degrees from world-renowned universities, institutions and companies to help you start, switch, or advance your career.The truth is, it’s never too late to start learning, whatever your age and whatever stage your career. Why sleepwalk towards retirement in a job that no longer challenges you or rewards you financially, when Coursera can equip you with the skills to help you climb the ladder to more fulfilling levels, or begin a brand new work chapter completely?The website is packed with courses specialising in the fastest-growing sectors like project management or information technology, to suit all skill levels, from beginner to specialist.Add more strings to your bow in subjects like UX Design, Data Science, Social Media Marketing, Front-End/Back-end Development, or DeepLearning.ai Machine Learning.Explore your options with Coursera todayCoursera partners with more than 250 world-class universities and companies like the University of London, Imperial College, Stanford University, Google, and IBM, to leave you with career-advancing, life-enhancing skills.Sign up, and you’ll have access to hands-on projects which you can do at your own pace, anytime, and from anywhere on the planet.Flexible learning makes it easy to do the work while you’re still in your current job and slots nicely with busy lifestyles. Best of all, some of these courses can be completed in a single day, making it easy to boost your CV.And once completed, your new qualification will give you the edge when you’re searching for your next role in an increasingly competitive jobs market.Whether you’re looking to advance your current prospects or switch track to a new career entirely, Coursera has the top degrees to help you achieve your goals. Coursera offers degrees at all levels, and for all budgets – there are even a handful of options that you can enrol in for free. Are they worth it? According to the company’s Impact Report (2020), 87 per cent of people learning for professional development said that they experienced career benefits such as getting a promotion, a raise, or starting a new career. One Coursera student from the UK noted that completing a Scala software engineer course two years ago gave her the confidence to apply to jobs in this selected field, and said, ‘as part of my day job, I have to apply the skills I learned on the Coursera courses; I sometimes also refer back to the course videos or the assignments to check concepts or solutions that might be relevant to the real world problems I am solving.’A student from India said: ‘Even more important that knowledge is confidence, which I have gained through my learning. No matter what you are looking to learn or gain confidence in, Coursera has something for you.’Though in different fields, they both began their journeys on Coursera, and now it’s your turn. Join more than 107 million learners around the world looking to get ahead and begin an altogether better work life – your future self will thank you for it.Visit www.coursera.org and search for your next adventure