Spend even a few minutes on LinkedIn and you’ll see a lot of talk about the impact of the digital revolution on businesses and their employees. But what about the trickle-down effects on freelancers?
If you work for yourself, regardless of whether you’re an accountant, a public health consultant or a graphic designer, new technologies will undoubtedly transform the way you work — according to Goldman Sachs, AI is set disrupt 300 million jobs across the planet, which means the skills you have today may well be out of date tomorrow.
And you might already be feeling the effects: if you’re finding that the expertise required to do the job you trained for is changing, or if clients are commissioning you to fill organisational gaps they’ve never had before, it might be time to start thinking about how to pivot to meet the needs of the market.
The good news? Getting ahead of these changes can be as complicated or as straightforward as you make it. Here’s how to start levelling up — and quickly.
Short courses and microcredentials: a future-proofing fast track
There are lots of development opportunities out there, but for contractors, short courses and microcredentials offer the most bang for your buck.
Short courses are designed to deliver a mix of skills and knowledge that are relevant to both life and work. Microcredentials are university-level qualifications that can be taken as a standalone learning opportunity or credited towards a postgraduate degree.
These upskilling types are often a good fit for contractor work patterns. Here’s why:
- They’re short and sweet: Short courses and micros offer both a rapid and deep dive into a singular area of expertise, which means they’ll connect you to the skills you need (and none you don’t). These course types are also done and dusted quickly — an important consideration for time-poor freelancers.
- They’ll help you get ahead: Short course and micro-content is designed to respond to market needs. Quality offerings, such as those delivered by university providers, should also pre-empt the future trends and technologies that are coming down the pipe. Enrolling in courses that have a strong future focus will ensure you have the skills in place to pivot in the face of change.
- They’ll support you to add value: Who says you have to stay in your lane? Short courses and micros can add new skills to your toolkit that will increase your value proposition. Look for specialist learning that complements your core service offering — broad expertise means enhanced benefits for your clients.
- They’ll help you expand: Building industry-agnostic skills (that is, skills that aren’t specific to a single field of practice) is another way to broaden your professional appeal. Look for short courses on topics like behavioural decision-making or program evaluation — expertise that offers value in just about every industry on earth.
- They’re delivered by industry experts: Good quality short courses and micros should be delivered by people who know what they’re doing. Look for course presenters who are leaders in their field and whose experience is likely to add value to your learning.
Stay relevant with UTS Open
Get ahead of the market with a short course or microcredential from UTS Open. Powered by UTS and based on real postgraduate course content, these industry-leading learning opportunities will connect you with expert practitioners in your chosen field and help you build the skills to future-proof your business in a rapidly changing landscape.
