What to eLearn to Earn More Money
How online courses in technology are helping career changers earn higher entry level jobs
By: Chris Coleman
If you graduated from a high school in the U.S. in the past couple decades, I’d bet my Steve Wozniak-autographed-Apple-II-t-shirt you did not know what you wanted to do for the rest of your life. That’s pretty on-par with the statistics that reveal the average person changes jobs ten to fifteen times during his/or her career (Balance Careers). But being a ‘job-hopper’ today means you are less likely to be hired by future managers and could lead to a pay cut if you are transitioning into a new industry where you have less experience.
However, the rapid advancements in eLearning today are making it easier than ever to upskill fast and transition into entry-level jobs where you make more money. The secret is knowing what and where to eLearn.
Why eLearn?
First off, eLearning or e-learning — which is education via an online platform — is a booming, global industry, estimated to be worth over $300 billion by 2025 (BusinessWire). From finding out how to change the oil in your car, to how to understand your internet bill, we’re finding information faster online via YouTube. We are changing the way we process information; why would we not adapt the way we learn entire courses of study, like software development, to make it more visual, engaging, affordable and on-demand?
Not all eLearning is created equal
There are countless websites popping up that allow you to eLearn anything under the sun. But having served the last several years in leadership in the education sector, I believe we have a responsibility to teach what’s needed to fill the skills gap with the greatest impact on our future — technology.
Having a million one-off online course options are not helpful to your overworked, underpaid, unhappy nine-to-fiver who is looking for more money and a future-proof career solution. The best online schools are those who are using employer data to dictate the courses that they offer. Take Woz U for example, who meets with an advisory board of employers twice a year to ensure that their curriculum is on-par with the skill sets and roles for which the top technology companies are hiring.
What you should eLearn today to get hired fast
Six words and three sectors sum it up: software development, data science and cyber security. These are the fastest growing industries in the country whose open positions outnumber the qualified job applicants by the tens-of-thousands. This is why entry-level jobs in technology have the highest starting salaries (Business Insider, CNBC).
The case to eLearn Software Development
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the number of software developer jobs in 2016 was 1,256,200, which is expected to grow by 24 percent from 2016 to 2024.
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that in 2020 there will be 1.4 million more software development jobs than applicants who can fill them. (USA Today)
- It’s one of the highest-salaried job roles that you don’t need a degree for
- The 2017 median software developer salary was over $100,000.(BLS)
The case to eLearn Data Science
- The annual salary range for an average career in data science is $77,000 to $148,000.
- Harvard Business Review named Data Scientist the sexiest job of the 21st century.
- According to IBM, demand for Data Scientists will soar 28% by 2020.
The case to eLearn Cyber Security
- More than 1.8 million cyber security job openings are expected by 2022.
- The average annual median pay is $92,600 per year, with an estimated 28% year-over-year growth rate.
- By 2019, experts are predicting that cyber crime could tally a worldwide total loss in excess of $2 trillion — clearly there is a need for professionals in place to proactively protect against criminal hackers.
What subjects are beneficial to eLearn?
I want to reiterate that the best online schools have an informed, dedicated staff of career services and career training specialists whose job it is to help career-changers find the best professional path for their experience and long-term life goals. And just because you don’t have a background in math or statistics does not mean you can not “make it” in the tech sector. In fact, one of the most impactful and successful Woz U alumni I know had little to no prior coding knowledge and just so happened to be my Uber driver on the way to the airport.
Get curious about what options are out there for you and talk to people who either made the transition themselves or whose job it is to help people change careers. If you have any interest at all in a career in technology, there is no better time than RIGHT NOW to explore your options.
