LinkedIn Learning is one of the favorite social network of professionals which offering a platform where you can access numerous online courses and grow your professional skills.
LinkedIn is a social network for professionals, which allows you to increase contacts and foster interpersonal relationships between professionals. On this platform you can look for work, make calls, create a new initiative or find clients for a new business.
In addition, in the profile of this social network you can share all your work experience, the history of the education you have had, the skills you have and validations of the people who have worked with you.
And LinkedIn Learning is the part of LinkedIn where they are focusing into the career development by participating into course and skill building.
How to access LinkedIn Learning?
If you have a LinkedIn Premium account, you can find LinkedIn Learning courses directly from the menu. On the other hand, if you are using a basic or free account, you will access the platform by clicking on the “Products” tab in the menu.
What does this platform offer?
It is a video course service to improve the skills of professionals. This personalized learning format will allow you to acquire knowledge in the skills most requested by employers in your profession.
The content of the courses is divided into three main fields: Business, Creativity and Technology. You’ll find courses on Adobe, Office, and soft skills; however, to access the vast majority of these courses, you will need to purchase Linkedin Premium.
Remember that each course you complete will be certified. So, you can add that course as an achievement in your profile and give greater added value to your training.
How LinkedIn Learning can give to your professional profile?
You can self-train as easily as you watch content on Netflix. That is the spirit of the LinkedIn Learning platform, which has 14,000 online courses available that are taught by experts in different areas such as: business, creativity, technology, productivity, leadership, management and even languages.
This educational platform can be accessed from the personal LinkedIn profile and costs $30 per month, an amount that includes the premium version and the learning modality.
As in any other virtual education tool, perseverance and discipline are required to meet the objectives.
In addition to acquiring new knowledge, recruiters consider that it is an added value for applicants for a vacancy because it reflects the desire to be in constant learning.
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LinkedIn is a social network that has a muscle of 630 million users, more than 30 million companies and 35,000 registered skills among its community.
Its learning version was born after the company bought Lynda.com, an educational platform that was recognized in the 90s.
Data from the social network shows that 80% of its users are looking for market information and trends, compared to only 20% who are actively looking for work.
This was an input for LinkedIn to decide to place a platform in which its community would be constantly growing and training, because this is what they are mostly looking for.
Linking the educational modality directly to the social network happened because at the firm they know that people spend more time on their social networks than on other websites, explained Rodrigo Oliveira, regional account manager for Latin America at LinkedIn.
The first step to start using the tool is to have an account enabled on LinkedIn, then you must pay the monthly subscription to access all the courses.
At the beginning, the same system will offer the first academic options to the user based on the information already registered on the network.
“The main recommendation for users is that they have their profile updated, so that the algorithm sends them tailored information,” said Oliveira.
Users are also advised to choose courses that suit and complement their training. For example, a manager might opt for leadership and teamwork training; Or a marketing specialist would look for communication issues as a priority.
In the educational course, the person will be offered analytics and reports that will allow him to measure the effectiveness of learning.
As in most virtual courses, it is essential that the user has the discipline and the ability to be self-taught to take advantage of this type of tool.
“This platform is interesting for people who are already in their last year of college or for any professional who wants to update themselves,” said Ronald Rojas, Telecable sales manager and founder of the marketing agency Pensaholic.
The training that is given in this network is based on video tutorials through which it is intended to explain the topics to users in a simple and intuitive way.
LinkedIn Learning is also available for in-company training. This works through the purchase of a corporate license in which access is given to collaborators.
The leaders of the organizations decide which courses are of interest to them and the tool searches for the options that fit those specific needs.
“Today knowledge is the key and being always in trend with what companies are looking for is the most important thing,” said Vanessa Quirós, human resources manager at Creative Drive Latam.
For recruiters, the fact that a person incorporates certifications from LinkedIn Learning or other platforms on their resume reflects the desire to stay current, the ability to acquire knowledge on their own and discipline.
Another point in favor is that many of the certified e-learning platforms teach courses that have not reached formal universities; Mostly related to technology.
LinkedIn works under the umbrella of Microsoft, which is why it is recognized by companies.
In the tool they claim to have recognized tutors with verifiable experience in their ranks.
In the list of e-learning platforms there are also the renowned Moodle, Canvas, WordPress, Blackboard. eDucativa and Coursera.
Do you dare to take the step of online self-training?
| Ability | take into account |
|---|---|
| Discipline | In most cases, people are used to having a teacher who reminds them about dates and there are already set times. In this modality, the person is solely responsible for the learning process. |
| Organization. | It is recommended that the person establishes how many hours a day or week they will dedicate to their online education. |
| Autodidact. | The student must be self-taught so that he can finish understanding the topics using other resources beyond the educational platform. Find readings, tutorials and cases are the best tools to complement your training. |
| Invest smartly. | Online education requires equipment such as computers, tablets and a good Internet connection. |
| Source: | EF queries. |