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Everyone wants to advance in their career, but sometimes you get stuck in a job that doesn’t really give you any training or experience to help you climb another step in the ladder. Often you can spend several years doing the exact same thing, then find yourself baffled when you look for a new job and can’t understand the job description. Sometimes, you have to take matters into your own hands and learn new skills in your own time. If you want to stand out against the competition and take your career to the next level, here are a few skills that can help you.

Coding

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Even if you’re not applying for a job as a website developer, learning to code isn’t something that many people regret. As technology continues to make strides in development, taking a coding course will give you the one thing everyone wishes they had; the ability to understand all this technological jargon. Once you learn to code, you’ll become digitally literate in a way you never imagined possible, able to troubleshoot and invent creative solutions to problems that before would have frustrated or defeated you. These skills are invaluable to an employer who relies on computers to keep their business running.

Business and administration

By getting a business qualification, such as a Bachelors in Business Administration, you’ll be learning about a variety of skills that are invaluable in an office environment, and have a lot of options if you need to find a new job. Thanks to the internet, you don’t even need to physically attend your lectures if you can’t schedule it around your job; you can sign up for a BBA programme online and start learning about accounting, management and marketing, which are all essential business skills. Even if you’ve learned everything you should already know through experience, having a formal qualification can give you an edge over other applicants who have also just learned through experience.

Languages

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Businesses are always expanding, and the ability to speak at least one foreign language is always coveted by companies of all sizes. There are now so many ways for you to pick up this valuable skill in your spare time that there are no more excuses for putting it off. You can download several apps on your phone and learn a few phrases every few minutes, and language CDs are still a useful learning tool. However, if you prefer some interaction, you can hire a tutor to teach you at a time to suit you, or you could join a language club in your area and learn with other people.

Web design

So many people are starting their own businesses with websites, that becoming a website designer might be a prosperous career choice, or an easy way to earn extra cash each month. You don’t need a formal degree to become a web designer; online courses or intensive night classes at a community college will teach you the same technique for a fraction of the cost.

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