Upskilling and Learning During the Pandemic

 The pandemic has laid its hand on every sector and every life of people across the globe. Many of the companies are opting for furloughing, lay-off, salary freezing, hiring freeze, downsizing, and many more measures for business continuity while affecting the lives of employees. Learning During the Pandemic.

The number of jobs available for ‘entry-level’ or ‘new graduates’ has decreased by 68% from last year, Glassdoor reports. There is a high employment rate among recent college graduates who are applying for technical positions. Also, recent graduates prefer to work in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Given the pandemic situation, many professionals have lost their job too and are searching for jobs actively.

On the side, there are companies that have become more active in hiring as they are dedicated to certain verticals like e-commerce, delivery services, and cybersecurity. So, the demand for tech talent continues to grow. Having said that, graduates and professionals applying for high-salary jobs are major tech companies that are facing significant competition.

As a solution, the CARES Act has expanded unemployment benefits eligibility to pandemic affected business owners, self-employed workers, and independent contractors through its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. If you are unable to work as a direct result of the pandemic, you may get entitled to PUA benefits. State officials say that more than USD 37 billion in unemployment benefits have been already paid to California workers owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Though there are many benefits and allowances provided by the government of the respective country, it is also necessary for you to upskill yourself during this pandemic self-isolation period and social distancing. It is necessary to use the downturn period for professional benefits by upskilling oneself through credentialing solutions.

Given the accelerated digital transformation situation and big data world, you may opt for credentials in data science, risk management, cybersecurity, human resources, project management, and, etc. The present situation has provided a lot of ‘free time’ for many professionals as commuting and social gatherings are canceled. It is an opportunity to learn new skills, improve the current career so that one can think of stepping into a brand-new career post-pandemic.

As per BLS data, the best chances are for tech job seekers in financial services companies, education, healthcare providers, shipping, delivery, and logistic firms. As they look for developers who excel in cloud solutions, getting certified in cloud-related certifications are also the best choice.

For the professionals, IT sector in particular, earning a certification would be the best bet to build their careers in this new normal caused due to the pandemic. To figure out, which professional credentials might suit you, it is recommended to google your field of interest and know the certifications provided online for free and paid mode as well.

There are websites that offer cost-effective certification and webinar programming through a professional association. The credentials in software like Google Ads, Salesforce, HubSpot, Facebook, or Google Analytics are for upskilling. Moreover, LinkedIn learning, Udemy, Coursera, and other credentialing companies are providing global certifications for the benefit of professionals. It is best recommended to get certified through the global and best certifying organization.

To conclude…

Adding to your individual efforts, there are companies encouraging for certification programs. Randstad US is providing certification programs, training, and other professional courses while helping employees to upgrade their knowledge.

Also, apart from your industry credentialing, you can opt for certain courses where you can learn everything about pandemics. The one hour or a few hours online courses explain the best practices to protect your health, how your business can implement best practices to slow the spread of disease, and so forth. It helps you to main social isolation, help your colleagues or employees to take care of preventive measures in slowing down the disease spread.

Choose the credentialing solutions that work best for you and move ahead in your career life amid the pandemic situation.