Online learning has increased in recent years as the internet has allowed so many people to access affordable education with ease.
As a result, the online learning market is now flooded with so many different companies and courses willing to teach anyone a range of subjects and skills.
However, if you want to learn more skills using online learning, which skills are the best to learn?
Here, we are going to dive into some of the best skills you can learn online, including what they are and how learning them can be beneficial for you, and even recommend some places where you can learn these skills online.
So, check out the information below for some inspiration for your next online learning course!
Why Learning Skills Online Is So Beneficial
Having a wide skill set is super important in this modern world.
There is more competition for job opportunities and everyone wants to make themselves stand out from the dozens of applications each opening receives.
As a result, it’s important that everyone takes extra steps to really boost their skills and understanding in order to make themselves appear more employable to potential employers.
However, not everyone is given the same opportunities to learn a new skill set. Issues like poverty, race discrimination, sexism, ableism and so much more mean that some people are not given the chance to learn certain skills even though it would be incredibly useful to them.
Perhaps the subject or skill you want to learn about didn’t even exist when you were in school, or circumstances forced you to miss out on a fulfilling education.
This is where online learning comes in and some of the best skills you can learn online are fun and easily accessible.
Online learning platforms offer a wide range of courses, stretching across all kinds of subjects and niches, and don’t require any entry qualifications.
All you have to do is pay a fee and sign up – and you can access a course to help you learn a whole new skill.
As a result, online learning has helped make learning skills more accessible to a wide range of people.
It’s flexible so you can complete your course at your own pace (depending on the course itself), and fit your learning around your schedule and duties.
Online courses can also be pretty affordable and help those who cannot pay to access higher education still get important qualifications that can boost their employability.
Plus, it’s fun! You don’t need to take up online learning to boost your employability. You can take up a course or two just to learn something new or to sharpen up your skills in one of your hobbies.
So, there are many benefits to learning a new skill online – but which ones are the best skills you can learn online?
Top Skills For Employability
Ultimately, a lot of people take up online learning because they want to gather new skills to help them find a job.
Whether you did not have access to the right courses in school, want a completely new career change, or your work industry has completely changed and you feel left behind, a lot of people take up online learning to make sure they keep up with the competition in their industry.
So, which skills will help you really boost your employability?
Coding
Coding is one of the most highly demanded skills from employers these days because it’s used in just about everything.
Code is what powers everything digital and having this skill under your belt means that you are capable of building and fixing issues related to websites, apps, games, programmes, and more.
You will be able to write your own lines of code and learn the language.
Plus, learning to code also teaches you interchangeable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, which you can apply to pretty much any profession.
If you want to learn to code online, check out CodeCamp which helps beginners learn the basics for free or more advanced online courses at Udemy or Coursera.
Photo Editing And Manipulation (Photoshop)
A lot of jobs require photo manipulation and retouching, from graphic designing to interface designing, to digital marketing, and more.
Basically, a lot of companies love to have someone on hand who can quickly touch up images or design new images to use for their websites and advertisements.
One of the most commonly used photo editing software is Adobe Photoshop as it’s fairly affordable and offers so many options and all the necessary tools – so many, in fact, that beginners struggle to realize the full potential of the software they are using.
So, signing up for a course to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop is a great way to sharpen your skills.
Some example courses that achieve this can be found at Udemy and
A New Language
Languages are often overlooked when it comes to preparing yourself for your future career, which is why being able to speak a second (or third, fourth, etc) language can really help you set yourself apart from other candidates.
Knowing an additional language allows you to connect more with other people but also opens more doors for advancement in your company as you can use it to communicate with customers and colleagues in other countries.
Not only that but learning another language is proven to help boost confidence, improve your memory, and build on other essential skills such as listening, multitasking, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
All you have to do now is choose which language you want to learn! Places such as Duolingo, Open Culture, and EdX offer resources for a ton of different languages for you to choose from that will help build your communication skills.
Programming
The next step up from coding is programming, and this is just as valuable a skill as the former.
Coding is more like learning the language of programming, while programming itself is learning the process, planning, design, testing, and more.
So, coding is just one chunk of the bigger picture that is programming – so having both valuable skills under your belt will make you unstoppable.
Learning to code will help you create and develop programs, know how to test and debug them, and analyze the process overall.
There are a lot of programming courses you can opt for including Udemy, CodeCademy, and Coursera.
Microsoft (Excel, Access, And More)
From working for small, independent businesses to large corporations, you are bound to be forced to use one of Microsoft’s programs at some point.
Particularly in professions linked to accounting or business, you will probably be asked to use Microsoft to build spreadsheets, balance books, analyze data, or transform the data into graphs for presentations.
Documents are usually written in Microsoft Word; presentations made using Microsoft Powerpoint – the list goes on.
So, learning more about Microsoft’s products and programs will help you appear more employable and work more efficiently.
Luckily, it’s easy to achieve this as there are courses available at places like LinkedIn Learning and GoSkills, but there are also free online tutorials and resources available at places such as YouTube and Microsoft itself.
These courses are especially recommended if you are unfamiliar with computers and are struggling to adapt to today’s technological world.
Best Life Skills
Not all skills are industry specific. There are some valuable skills out there that you can apply to your everyday life outside of work and you can still add them to your CV as a way to boost your employability. So, let’s check out some examples!
CPR/First Aid
One of the earliest skills we learn is basic first aid and CPR but (if you are lucky) most of us go without ever really using these skills, so it’s easy to fall out of practice and forget important life-saving skills.
As a result, it’s a great idea to learn things like basic first aid and CPR through online courses.
Not only may this come in handy one day but you can also add your qualifications to your CV to help make you look more employable to employers.
This is especially useful because most offices need a designated First Aid person, professions such as teachers or dentists need to know CPR.
So already getting this qualification ticked off through an online course is a huge advantage for you to have!
Due to CPR and first aid’s incredible usefulness in emergencies, a lot of places offer free online courses such as First Aid For Free, or you can access paid courses through other platforms such as Lead Academy.
You can also find courses that specifically teach CPR and first aid for infants, children, and pets – so you can choose one that better suits your future career.
American Sign Language (ASL)
We mentioned earlier how learning an extra language can help you connect more easily with others and also boost your employability, but a lot of people forget that learning American Sign Language (ASL) is also a very good choice.
Approximately 1 in 20 Americans have some kind of hearing impairment or disability, which makes living incredibly isolating and puts them at serious risk if they cannot communicate in an emergency.
So, learning ASL will help you get all the benefits of learning an additional language while also helping you connect with some of the most isolated people in the US.
To learn ASL online, check out StartASL, or this amazing course available at Gallaudet University.
Budgeting
Whether it’s budgeting at home or budgeting for your own business, you need to learn how to budget efficiently – period.
As a result, it’s important to learn how to handle money so you can save while covering your expenses.
Not only that, but you can learn more about different budgeting models and techniques, how to implement guidelines, and adapt your budget structure over time to develop it to certain changes and situations.
This knowledge and skills work great for the home and for businesses, so opting for a budget course will help you be more financially responsible at home and make yourself more attractive to employers.
You can check out budgeting skills more targeted at personal finances, or select a course that is geared towards business budgeting – whichever you think would benefit you the most!
Best Creative Skills
Some people prefer to learn more creative skills whether for fun or because they want to boost their employability by bringing some variety to the skills they have.
As a result, it’s great to have at least one creative skill underneath your belt – so check out the examples below for some creative skills which are fun to learn and super useful to have!
Graphic Design
Learning graphic design skills allows you to express your creativity in a lot of fun and different visual images.
Not only do you get to create new images but you also get to learn more about typography, color theory, and the importance of layout.
As a result, having graphic design as a skill also makes you more attractive to employers looking for web designers.
Graphic designers are employed to do a range of different projects but each one allows you to be creative and tackle lots of different problems.
So, you can learn graphic design skills through a range of courses available on platforms such as
Photography
Another great creative skill that is fun to learn is photography.
Of course, you will need to have your own equipment which can get costly but opting for an online course allows you to learn more techniques you can try out to get the images you want.
You can even find courses that teach you how to take amazing photographs using your smartphone – helping photography become more accessible to all!
From an employability standpoint, businesses do value photography skills as it helps them sell products, boost their success, and help make their websites and advertisements far more appealing visually.
So, if you have a natural interest in photography, it’s definitely worth sharpening up your skills. Some great places which offer photography classes and courses are MasterClass, Udemy, and
Writing
The final skill we recommend you try learning online is writing.
Writing comes in all kinds of forms ranging from professional writing, creative writing, and content writing – so if you are creative and have a way with words, then a writing course could help you sharpen your writing skills.
Not only is this a lot of fun for people who enjoy literature, but writing is also an important skill employers love to see in their employees.
This is because the better your writing skills are, the more kinds of documents you can handle writing – including contracts, instructions, speeches, website content, copywriting, and more.
But having good writing skills is more than having good grammar and spelling. Online courses can teach you more about sentence structure, paragraphs, writing with intent, passive vs active voice – the list goes on!
So, if you are interested in improving your writing skills, try out some courses available at places like EdX, CreativeLive, and
Frequently Asked Questions
Which skills are most in demand?
Employers are always on the lookout for skilled employees, but different industries value certain skills over others.
There are more general skills that pretty much all employers want their employees to have, such as great time management or teamwork skills.
Some industries may prefer their employees to have high creative skills while others prefer critical or mathematical thinking.
On the other hand, certain skills like leadership skills are better suited for specific roles like management positions.
With the rise of technology, computer skills and digital literacy are quickly becoming more and more desirable.
In short, every skill is in demand somewhere but the above-mentioned skills are incredibly important to have.
What is the highest-paying skill?
If you want to learn valuable skills that will help you find a high-paying job, then skills related to online development and data are definitely ones you should look into learning.
This includes skills such as data analysis, software and web development, project management, and content creation.
What is a fun skill to learn?
Not everyone wants to learn new skills in order to make themselves look more employable.
Some people just want to learn new things because it’s fun and interesting, so what skills are generally considered more ‘fun’ rather than beneficial to your career?
These kinds of fun skills are linked more closely to hobbies rather than careers, such as learning to play a new instrument, learning art and graphic design, creative writing, and more.
These can be taught online but most of them require you to practice using tools you have sourced yourself.
For example, an online course about guitar playing won’t provide you with a guitar – which is probably why these kinds of courses are less popular than others due to people’s limited resources.
Ultimately, you should consider what you enjoy (music, writing, art) and then try some courses related to that.
