Today, the demand for online education, including continuing education and professional retraining courses, is growing steadily. According to EdMarket forecasts, the size of the online education market is growing by 15-20% annually, and competition in each niche is intensifying. The study’s authors predict that by 2023 its volume will exceed 60 million pounds, while by 2020, its volume has reached 3.85 million pounds. In 2021, Internet marketing, programming and design became the most relevant areas of professional development.

The modern market requires constant development from its players, so this trend is relevant to the time. I have completed more than a dozen courses, and in our company, we always welcome the desire of colleagues to develop their professional skills and expand their knowledge. I share with the readers the main principles for choosing and taking online courses, which we have derived from our experience of participating in online training events.

Prioritize

Before choosing a suitable training course, answer the question: “What is my goal?” If you want to add one more “crust” to your package of documents, please note that obtaining additional online education is not confirmed by state diplomas in our country. This means that having a certificate of completion of such a training course when hiring will be more a bonus than a real competitive advantage. Employers primarily look at the job experience and real skills of the job seeker, not the number of lectures they listened to. Therefore, it is important to understand that courses are necessary solely to gain new knowledge that will help make your work better and more efficient. My advice: don’t go after certificates. Choose a good agency or expert practitioner who organizes training sessions. Such a solution will help you learn from truly valuable experience and gain real skills that will allow you to grow as a specialist.

Give preference to narrow directions

Today, the market for online training courses is extremely competitive. Many online schools and individual influencers offer training in unique copyright programs. As an enticing bonus, you are given the opportunity to gain more knowledge for the same money: for example, not just work with Instagram, but also SMM with basic digital skills as a gift. As tempting as such an offer may seem, it is important to remember that learning “little by little” only brings a superficial understanding of the subject. You will spend a lot of time studying different topics, but you will not get really deep knowledge in the chosen field. I would recommend identifying with a specific direction and purposefully studying only that. A great advantage of any training course will be a practical block in addition to the theoretical one. Completing assignments will help consolidate the material learned and transform simple knowledge into a ready-made skill.

Remember the importance of basic knowledge

One day, a colleague of mine shared with me his experience of taking online courses. This story happened long before he joined our team. The online class he attended then focused on social media promotion. At the beginning of the lecture, the speaker talked about the standard methods of attracting subscribers and monitoring their activity. One of the students asked the question: “How to create a community on Facebook?”

This is a clear example of why it is necessary to have a certain knowledge base before taking a new curriculum. This principle is constantly used in our life, but when approaching the task of choosing an online course, for some reason we forget about it. For example, no one enters the university immediately after graduating from kindergarten, but many are trying to retrain from a copywriter to an SMM manager in one course and without additional training. According to our agency’s experience, this strategy is often not successful. About 80% of people who change their profession abruptly without proper training do not complete their training.

Take advantage of the trial testing capabilities

If the course maker gives you the opportunity to participate in a trial lesson, then this is a great opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up. As a rule, even the first lesson will be enough to understand whether you like this program or not. Do not be afraid to change directions if you find that the topic does not interest you or lack the basic knowledge to master it. Don’t waste your time. Studying the market more closely and weighing the pros and cons before choosing a specific online course is better.