Seeing as the Furlough scheme has been officially extended until the end of October. This gives those of us in this situation (yours truly) some room to breathe.
For those who don’t know what the Furlough scheme is, it is the UK Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. this is a temporary initiative in which the UK government financially supports employers so they can continue to pay their employees wage, at a capped 80%. Long story short, you basically get paid for doing nothing.
I will admit being in furlough isn’t exactly an easy position to be in as it does make your current job status uncertain regardless of the scheme’s attempt to protect it.
That said, nothing is truly lost. You are getting paid to basically do nothing, which is a day I never thought would come in the 21st century. But then again, no one ever thought we’d have a global pandemic on our hands either, yet here we are.
Alas seeing as we now may be in furlough for a while. This is a really good opportunity to reflect on your professionalism and hone in on those gaps in knowledge and skill. As a result, I thought I would share some useful resources I came across that can help you fill in these blanks for little or no cost whatsoever.
1. FutureLearn
Futurelearn is an online learning platform hosting online courses and degrees from universities across the UK.
In light of the current situation, FutureLearn has launched some free short courses across many different subjects.
Advantages:
A variety of free online courses to choose from
Provided by Universities which means it’s backed by professional research and training
Disadvantages:
If you want to do an accredited degree or course it can be really expensive
The free courses can be limiting as it may be too specific to an industry
Oxford Home Study is another digital platform that has short accredited courses you can do. The beauty of these short learning opportunities is that they offer a certificate after completion.
As a result of the pandemic, they have made 46 of their courses free of charge that you can choose to do.
Advantages:
They have a short course in each main industry
They don’t require any entry requirements so are easy to enrol
Offer a certificate on completion
Disadvantages:
They only cover an overview of each course, providing a basic understanding
They don’t have a wide variety of courses to choose from.
OpenLearn is an online digital platform provided by Open University. This is an extremely useful site as it has over 1000 useful courses, interactives and videos to learn from.
Advantages:
They have a massively wide range of free courses to choose from
You can download the course onto your desktop and work from there
Read reviews from past students who have taken the course
You can earn badges with every course completed
No disadvantages included
Skillshare is another really interesting platform with many online classes to learn new skills. The beauty of this is that they can be one-time classes or persistent classes you can take, but have a focus on developing new skills. It’s a bit more on the creative side with classes and tutorials to help with different kinds of arts and crafts that fuel those personal passions we all have. So, a perfect chance for those in the creative industry to brush up their skills.
Advantages:
Mini workshops where you can learn on the go
The course is broken down into small lessons which are super easy to follow as you go
It’s a fantastic site for creatives to really advance their skills
Has courses and workshops in personal development such as improving habits, lifestyles, practising gratitude, meditations and interior design
Disadvantages:
The courses are limited to the creatives and lifestyle industry
the structure of a course is similar to watching a Youtube tutorial
There is no certificate on completion
Monthly cost
Udemy is also another online platform that has great courses you can do online. Likewise to Skillshare, this has a bunch of courses you can take at your own time. With a range of different subjects, providing the opportunity to develop yourself professionally and personally with a certificate on completion.
These courses aren’t free to take sadly, however they are priced reasonably and do have some free online tutorials you can take too.
Advantages:
they have a huge database of courses you can do
You receive a certificate on completion
Will almost always find something no matter how specific
Disadvantages:
Will have to pay to do most of the courses
Some of the courses can be really pricey
InsideSherpa is an online platform that lets you do online internships for free. The way it works is kind of like a course, however, they give you assignments to complete, which you would then upload to the site once completed. They tend to be real-life tasks that they will ask you to complete and also provide you with feedback on completion too.
Advantages:
They are free
They offer real-life internship assignments with real companies worldwide
You can also be recognised as an intern for them and share on your CV or Linkedin
You can do them at your own pace
Disadvantages:
There are limited internships to choose from
Many of you must have heard of Duolingo. It’s an incredible mobile app to help you learn a new language. This isn’t so much specific for furloughed workers, but there’s never harm in learning a new language. There are so many languages that you can learn from and that too simultaneously. The app has a unique and fun way of learning a new language, and with all the time we have, this could be a perfect opportunity to learn a new language and spice up that CV.
Advantages:
So many languages that you can choose from
Quick and easy to use
Can download on your phone and do wherever and whenever
Disadvantages:
You will get some adverts that you have to watch in between lessons.
This notorious university is offering some short courses that you can access. They have a variety that you can do and boost your CV with a Harvard University course.
Advantages:
Free short courses
Backed by Harvard University
Disadvantages:
You will have to pay for the certificate on completion
There isn’t much of a variety
All these resources combined provide a great variety of options for you to choose from, with the beauty of unlimited wifi (unless you’re me who had no wifi for two weeks, kudos to surviving!) you can access these at anytime.