If you have plans of getting into the IT field, then perhaps part of the appeal for you is the diversity of the job possibilities that are out there. Virtually every business needs some IT specialists working for them, and some companies are composed of nothing but IT gurus. The way that you will secure a position with one of these companies is through IT training, and there is always more to learn. But where are the best places to go to find the IT skills for which hiring managers will be looking?
Codecademy
Codecademy is where many people who wanted to get into IT got their start, and it can be the same for you. Coding is a skill that you don’t need for every IT position, but it sure looks good on your resume. You can learn programming there, and it’s the perfect place to figure out whether IT is going to be your field. It has a reputation for starting its users with easy lessons, then gradually ratcheting up the intensity. The interactive learning method that it employs is one that has been copied by several other websites. You read, then you type some code into the browser, and so on. You can learn The Command Line, Javascript, PHP, Python, Ruby, HTML, and more.
EdX
EdX is a high-caliber resource for aspiring IT professionals. Harvard and MIT run it, so you know it’s for real. It’s a free open-source higher education program. There are 107 courses on the site, and more are sometimes added, or current ones are revised. The computer-science section will be your go-to as a person interested in IT. You can learn coding languages like Python, Java, and others.
Coursera
Coursera has many course options, and every one of them is free. It’s a library with classes offered by real professors, and although you don’t pay anything to learn, you can get a Coursera Verified Certificate, which runs from $30-100 per course. If you’re trying to convince a hiring manager that you actually have these skills, then you might want to have those ready to show them. If you pay for a Certificate, you sometimes also get access to exclusive content not available with the free version. If you already have some knowledge of elementary coding, Coursera is the place to go for more advanced lessons.
FreeCodeCamp
As the name implies, this is another free site with IT and coding courses galore. The established curriculum offers about 800 hours of lessons, and then you can try your hand at some projects working for nonprofits if you want to see how much you’ve learned. If you’re going to be applying for a prominent IT position down the line, that nonprofit work is going to go over nicely. You can learn DevTools, QA testing, jQuery, and others.
Even accomplished IT professionals seldom stop taking courses and sharpening their skills. The more lessons you learn, the better prepared you will be for the challenges of the workplace. This is what truly makes a difference when building a reputable CV. There are so many courses online that you can take for free or for a nominal fee, and when the time comes to prove what you can do, you’ll be ready.