Top Skills You Can Learn Online Quickly

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1 Sept 2023

In today's digital world, the internet provides endless opportunities to learn new skills and advance your career from the comfort of your own home. With an abundance of online courses, tutorials, guides and training materials, it's possible to pick up in-demand abilities without having to formally go back to school.

While mastery of anything takes considerable time and effort, there are many skills you can become proficient in through consistent practice and focused self-study over a relatively short period.

Coding/Programming:

Coding skills are among the most lucrative and sought-after abilities in the modern job market. Learning to code opens up doors to careers in software engineering, web development, data science, machine learning, cybersecurity, and more. While it takes years to become an expert programmer, you can gain fundamental coding skills in a few months of dedicated study.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Codecademy - Offers free and paid interactive coding courses and tutorials for languages like JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, SQL, C++, and Sass, as well as frameworks like React and Angular.
freeCodeCamp - A free site with self-paced coding tutorials and project assignments. Learn front-end, back-end and full stack development skills.
Udemy - Choose from thousands of paid coding courses at all skill levels. Topics range from basic programming to advanced systems like blockchain.
edX - Free courses from top institutions like MIT and Harvard that teach beginner through advanced programming in languages like Python, Java, and R.
Treehouse - Subscription-based video courses teaching web design, coding and app development skills. Covers topics like Android development, AWS, and PHP.
Udacity - Nanodegree programs focused on the most in-demand programming languages and coding skills, including react, machine learning and data science.

With consistent practice on these online platforms and personal projects, you can learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and more over a few months.

Digital Marketing:

Digital marketing is one of the most useful skillsets for promoting businesses and products online. Key areas like search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, email marketing, and social media can be learned through online training.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Google Digital Garage - Free digital marketing courses and certifications from Google covering topics like search, display, video, and mobile advertising.
Facebook Blueprint - Free social media marketing courses using Facebook, Instagram and Messenger from the source.
HubSpot Academy - Free and paid courses on blogging, web design, analytics, SEO/SEM, social media, email marketing and landing pages. Offers certifications.
Google Analytics Academy - Build skills in Google Analytics and earn industry-recognized Google Analytics certifications.
SEMrush Academy - Free online marketing webinars and paid search marketing courses to optimize SEO, PPC, content marketing, and competitive analysis.
Udemy – Choose from a vast catalog of paid digital marketing video courses teaching strategies across social media, SEO, PPC, email marketing, and more.

Within 2-3 months of online courses focused on the most popular digital marketing
disciplines, you can gain well-rounded skills for professional purposes or running your own campaigns.

Graphic Design:

Graphic design skills allow you to create captivating visual content like logos, ads, magazines, book covers, packaging, web graphics, infographics, and more. While becoming an expert graphic designer takes years, you can learn the fundamentals in a matter of months.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Canva - Free graphic design tutorials, courses and templates covering logos, presentations, social media posts, and other visual content creation.
Udemy – Paid courses teaching popular graphic design tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and best practices for logos, typography, posters, brochures, and more.
Skillshare - Affordable subscriptions for thousands of graphic design video courses on layout, branding, Adobe Creative Suite, and specific skills like packaging design.
Coursera - Build a graphic design skillset with free and paid beginner courses from major universities covering composition, color theory, and design principles.
YouTube – Many professional graphic designers share free video tutorials teaching photo editing, publication layout, poster making, and creating other visual content.

With foundational training from these resources and regular practice with design tools, you can gain proficiency in producing graphics for personal and business needs in a few months.

Copywriting:

Copywriting entails writing compelling text like marketing materials, website content, social media posts, ad copy, sales letters, emails, and more. While it takes time to become an expert copywriter, you can sharpen your copywriting skills significantly in a short timeframe through focused online learning.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Udemy – Paid copywriting courses for all experience levels cover effective content strategies for traffic generation, social media, email, landing pages, online ads, and persuasive writing techniques.
HubSpot Academy – Free and premium courses on writing blog posts, website content, meta descriptions, email newsletters, ad copy, and landing pages that convert visitors.
edX – Free online copywriting courses from top institutions like University of California Berkeley and Wesleyan University covering content strategy, SEO optimization, and engaging storytelling techniques.
Contently – Paid remote courses teach core copywriting skills for brand storytelling, writing headlines, establishing voice, and strategizing content.
Google Digital Garage – Free modules on understanding search intent, writing effective meta descriptions, and optimizing web content.

After a month or two of focused study and daily writing practice, you can gain proficiency in business or marketing related copywriting.

Microsoft Office:

Having advanced skills in Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is invaluable for both educational and professional purposes. You can significantly improve your abilities through online courses.

Recommended online learning platforms:

LinkedIn Learning - Video tutorials and courses that range from beginner to advanced levels in every Microsoft Office application.
Udemy – Choose from thousands of paid courses at all skill levels covering every feature of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and other Office programs.
edX – Free courses on mastering Word for publishing, Excel data analysis tools, creating engaging PowerPoint presentations, and leveraging other Office apps.
YouTube – Many channels offer free video tutorials on shortcuts, advanced functions, and tools for productivity and analysis in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more.
Microsoft Office Support – Free interactive tutorials, videos and guides provided by Microsoft covering core features and applications of Office software.

With a focus on your skills gaps through these online learning materials for 1-2 months, you can significantly boost your ability to efficiently use Microsoft Office tools.

Accounting and Bookkeeping:

Accounting and bookkeeping skills allow you to manage company finances, analyze financial data, manage budgets, oversee accounts, and identify cost-savings. While becoming a CPA takes years, you can learn bookkeeping and small business accounting basics in a few months through online materials.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Udemy – Paid video courses teaching small business accounting, QuickBooks, budgeting, reading financial statements, payroll, taxation, excel accounting, and more.
edX – Free online finance and accounting courses from top schools like Berkeley and Columbia covering financial accounting, managerial accounting, corporate finance, and financial markets.
Khan Academy – Free courses on accounting and finance topics like reading financial statements, debits and credits, accounting cycles, taxes, interest rates, present value, and more.
QuickBooks training – Intuit’s free courses, tutorials, and guides on using QuickBooks for tasks like invoicing, reporting, inventory management, tracking expenses, and reconciling bank accounts.
YouTube – Many professional accountants offer free video tutorials on small business accounting concepts and best practices.

Foreign Languages:

While gaining fluency in a foreign language requires months or years of study, you can make good progress in learning vocabulary, grammar rules, writing, and conversational abilities through online learning.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Duolingo – Free popular language learning app with interactive lessons in over 30 languages, from Spanish, French and German to niche languages like Hawaiian and Navajo. Offers bite-sized daily lessons.
Rosetta Stone – Effective paid interactive software for learning languages through immersion with no translation. Uses speech recognition technology to improve pronunciation.
Babbel – Paid subscription app offering lessons created by linguistic experts to build conversational skills in 14 different languages.
edX – Free online language courses from top universities like UT Austin and Indiana University. Offered for Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and other languages.
YouTube – Find an endless array of language lessons on YouTube like easy vocabulary tutorials, basic grammar lessons, and practical conversation tips.

With regular practice over 2-3 months on these self-paced online platforms, you can gain beginner proficiency and conversational skills in languages like Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and more.

Music Production:

Music production skills allow you to compose, arrange, record, and edit digital audio files. While it takes extensive time to become an expert music producer, you can learn the basics of music production through quality online courses over a few months.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Udemy – Choose from thousands of paid music production courses teaching tools like Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and popular plugins and hardware.
Skillshare – Affordable subscriptions offer extensive music production courses covering recording, mixing, mastering, and leveraging instruments like guitar and piano.
Coursera – Free online music production courses from leading schools like Berklee College of Music and University of Colorado Boulder.
YouTube – Many professional producers offer free music production tutorials on acoustic treatment, microphone techniques, equalization, compression, and more.
Producertech – Paid music production courses teaching Ableton Live, sound design, synthesis, and other electronic production skills.

With consistent practice using online DAW training, you can learn fundamentals like song arrangement, editing, mixing, sound design, and audio effects.

3D Modeling:

The ability to model and animate objects in 3D is useful for video game design, visual effects, architecture, engineering, and other fields. While mastering 3D modeling takes significant time, you can gain strong foundational skills through quality online tutorials.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Blender – Free and open-source 3D creation software with extensive tutorials for navigation, modeling, animation, rendering, game design, and more.
Autodesk – Software like Maya and 3ds Max offer free beginner tutorials on modeling, sculpting, animating, rendering, and game creation through the software.
Udemy – Paid courses teaching modeling, lighting, materials, animation and visual effects using Maya, ZBrush, Blender and other 3D software tools.
Skillshare – Photography and design classes with growing library of affordable 3D modeling courses using Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya and more.
YouTube – Many 3D artists share free tutorials on sculpting, retopology, character rigging, hard surface modeling, and leveraging tools like ZBrush.

With consistent practice using free and paid online 3D courses, you can gain modeling proficiency in 2-4 months.

Photography:

While photography requires continuous practice to master, online training can rapidly accelerate your skills in areas like lighting, composition, manual camera settings, editing, and more.

Recommended online learning platforms:

CreativeLive – Free live online photography classes and paid in-depth courses in camera basics, lighting, lenses, composition, editing, and business skills for photographers.
Udemy – Thousands of paid photography courses teaching skills ranging from understanding exposure to mastering PhotoShop or Lightroom.
Skillshare – Photography classes with memberships under $20/month cover fundamentals as well as specific skills like portraiture, landscape photography, editing workflows, and more.
YouTube – Many professional photographers share videos teaching everything from managing manual camera settings to establishing a photography business.
MasterClass – Photography courses available from iconic professionals like Annie Leibovitz provide suggestions and techniques on improving your skills.

After a few months of online photo courses focused on the fundamentals and your growth areas, you can take your skills to the next level.

Interior Design:

While formal interior design training takes years, you can gain fundamental interior design skills like spatial planning, layouts, selecting color schemes, choosing decor, and incorporating styles through online courses.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Skillshare – Hundreds of interior design classes available with an affordable subscription covering both principles and specialized topics like style approaches and room design.
CreativeLive – Free and paid courses on interior design fundamentals like color and lighting, as well as specific techniques for bathrooms, kitchens, DIY projects, and more.
Udemy – Thousands of paid video courses at multiple skill levels teaching interior design concepts, tools, and strategies.
YouTube – Interior designers share useful tutorials, suggestions and recommendations on elements like layout, lighting, furniture selection, and incorporating styles.
Decorilla – Paid short courses focused on interior design basics, evaluating layouts and spacing, choosing color schemes, selecting finishing touches, and adding personality.

With a few months focused on interior design principles and hands-on virtual projects, you can gain proficiency in residential design.

Cloud Computing:

With the rise of cloud-based services, cloud computing skills are highly valuable in technology roles. You can gain proficiency in administering cloud servers, deploying cloud apps, and managing data through quality online training.

Recommended online learning platforms:

A Cloud Guru – Paid courses with hands-on labs prepare you for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications. Learn to migrate apps to the cloud, consolidate data centers, and optimize cloud spend.
Udemy – Choose from thousands of cloud computing courses teaching AWS tools for storage, security, deployment, Kubernetes, and other cloud services.
edX – Free online cloud computing courses from top schools like Linux Foundation, UC Berkeley, and University of Auckland teaching Kubernetes, AWS architecture, and more.
Coursera – Specializations and programs for learning Azure, GCP, cloud infrastructure design, and deploying and managing cloud applications.
Linux Academy – Hands-on cloud training, labs and courses focused on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes and DevOps. Offers team training options.

Within 2-4 months of consistent study, you can gain in-demand cloud computing skills applicable across industries.

QuickBooks:

QuickBooks is the leading accounting and bookkeeping software for small businesses. While QuickBooks skills take months to master, you can learn basics like managing accounts, generating reports, tracking finances, and reconciling statements within a few weeks through online training.

Recommended online learning platforms:

QuickBooks Online Tutorials – Free video tutorials, guides and courses directly from Intuit covering set-up, invoices, expenses, reports, multi-user access, and syncing bank feeds.
Udemy – Paid video courses teaching the latest version of QuickBooks for tasks like customizing charts of accounts, entering sales, generating financial reports, tracking inventory, and more.
edX – Free online QuickBooks training like Basic Bookkeeping in QuickBooks from Western Washington University available through edX online education provider.
YouTube – Many accounting professionals share introductory QuickBooks tutorials on YouTube covering navigation, entering transactions, generating statements and reports.
QuickBooks Community – Forum to ask QuickBooks questions and find tutorials, guides and webinars from Intuit and experts.

With focused practice over 4-6 weeks, you can learn fundamental QuickBooks skills for small business accounting tasks and gain confidence in using the software.

AutoCAD:

AutoCAD is the industry-leading 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software used across architecture, manufacturing, engineering and construction. Getting started with AutoCAD drafting can be learned in weeks through quality online training.

Recommended online learning platforms:

LinkedIn Learning – Video tutorials and courses ranging from AutoCAD basics to advanced techniques like 3D modeling, customizing the interface, and programming.
Udemy – Thousands of paid AutoCAD video courses available teaching 2D drafting, electrical and mechanical design, visualization, rendering and collaboration techniques.
edX – Free CAD courses from institutions like Autodesk and Purdue University focused on learning AutoCAD tools and techniques.
YouTube – Many AutoCAD experts share tutorials on YouTube introducing the interface, basic commands, layers, dimensioning, layouts, and plotting.
AutoCAD Tips & Tricks – Autodesk’s tips, tricks and tutorials site to help beginners get started with AutoCAD drafting quickly.

Within 4-6 weeks of online AutoCAD practice, you can become adept at 2D drafting and documentation for architecture, engineering and construction projects.

Machine Learning/AI:

Machine learning engineering is one of the most in-demand tech roles, and you can start building skills through introductory online courses and tutorials. While you won’t become an ML expert quickly, you can gain proficiency in ML fundamentals and basics of coding ML algorithms over 2-3 months of study.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Coursera – Specializations and guided projects for hands-on practice with machine learning concepts, data science tools like Python and R, ML algorithms, neural networks, and deep learning.
Udacity – Nanodegrees in subjects like AI Programming, Deep Learning, and Machine Learning Engineer teach frameworks like TensorFlow in online cohorts.
edX – Free courses from schools like MIT and Columbia introduce machine learning and data science with Python, regression, classification, neural networks, and more.
Udemy – Paid courses for all levels teaching specific ML skills like natural language processing, image recognition, sentiment analysis, TensorFlow, and cloud-based ML.
Kaggle – A Google-owned platform for data science competitions and projects, code tutorials, discussion forums, and public datasets for machine learning training.

Focusing intently on these materials for 8-12 weeks can help you gain proficiency in ML basics.

Leadership Skills:

While it takes time and experience to become an exceptional leader, online courses can rapidly strengthen your leadership abilities. Leadership training teaches useful competencies around decision making, coaching, relationship building, communication, and managing change.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Coursera – Specializations like Business Leadership and Emotional Intelligence from University of Illinois teach strategies for influencing, conflict management, and driving change.
LinkedIn Learning – Video courses and learning paths focused on leadership skills like cultivating teamwork, coaching employees, developing emotional intelligence, and executive leadership.
edX – Free online leadership courses from top institutions like Smith College and Curtin University on topics like organizational behavior, effective management, and leading strategic initiatives.
Udemy – Thousands of paid leadership courses help managers develop skills like public speaking, executive presence, critical thinking, and strategic planning.
FutureLearn – Short online leadership courses covering decision making under pressure, organizational psychology, innovation leadership, and other topics.

With 2-3 months of dedicated leadership coursework, managers and individual contributors can greatly improve skills like emotional intelligence, presentation delivery, strategic thinking, and leading teams.

Project Management:

While extensive experience is required to become an expert project manager, you can learn underlying PM methodology and tools through quality online education over a short period.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Coursera – Specializations from leading schools provide project management fundamentals, Agile and Lean principles, budgeting, scheduling, and risk management.
Udemy – Thousands of paid project management video courses help you master tools like Workfront, Asana, Trello, Jira, and best practices for each project phase.
edX – Free online project management courses from schools like UMass Amherst and Wits University covering topics like Agile, Scrum, and Microsoft Project.
LinkedIn Learning – Video tutorials and courses teach project management approaches, leadership, budgeting, resource management, project tracking, and risk mitigation.
PMI – Project Management Institute provides paid online courses and certifications including the globally recognized PMP certification.

Within 6-8 weeks, you can gain project management skills to coordinate team initiatives, create timelines, track progress, and manage resources and budgets.

Technical Writing:

Strong technical writing skills allow you to clearly communicate complex information to technical and non-technical audiences through materials like user guides, whitepapers, API documentation, manuals, and more. You can rapidly improve technical writing abilities through online learning.

Recommended online learning platforms:

edX – Free online technical writing courses from top institutions like University of British Columbia, Delft University of Technology, and more.
Udemy – Thousands of paid courses on all aspects of technical writing like documentation, procedures, software manuals, medical writing, and more.
Coursera – Specializations from leading universities provide training in technical communication, writing computer documentation, technical reports, and user manuals.
LinkedIn Learning – Video courses, tutorials and learning paths focused on forms of technical writing like software documentation, medical writing, technical proposals, and policy writing.
Contently – Paid remote courses and intensives teach technical writing skills for industries like technology, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

After 1-2 months of dedicated technical writing practice, you can gain proficiency in conveying complex technical information through well-crafted documents and training materials.

Sales Skills:

Improving your sales abilities can have an immense impact on business revenue and income potential. You can make significant improvements in sales competencies like lead generation, pitching, negotiation, relationship-building, and more through online sales courses.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Udemy – Thousands of paid sales video courses help develop skills in prospecting, social selling, objection handling, closing techniques, sales funnels, and more.
LinkedIn Learning – Sales video tutorials, courses, and learning paths focused on social selling, sales fundamentals, account management, pipeline creation, and virtual selling.
Salesforce Trailhead – Free online sales training covering business development, relationship management, leveraging CRM tools, and consulting sales skills.
edX – Free online sales courses from top universities like Ohio State, UVA, and ASU focused on relationship selling, prospecting, negotiation, and sales fundamentals.
HubSpot Academy – Free and paid courses on sales prospecting, optimizing the sales cycle, outbound sales techniques like email outreach, and sales analytics.

With consistent practice over 2-3 months, these sales-focused eLearning materials can significantly strengthen your ability to prospect leads, deliver winning pitches, and close lucrative deals.

Product Management:

While extensive experience is required to become an expert product manager, you can learn underlying product design, development, and strategy skills through online PM courses. This can prepare you for associate product management roles.

Recommended online learning platforms:

Coursera – Specializations like Product Management from UC Irvine teach the product lifecycle, Agile development, customer research, UX design, pricing, and product marketing.
LinkedIn Learning – Product management video courses covering customer insights, product roadmaps, market analysis, presenting to stakeholders, and leading cross-functional teams.
Udemy – Thousands of paid product management video courses help you master analytics, development processes, product discovery, user research, and Agile best practices.
edX – Free online courses like Principles of Product Management from PolyU Hong Kong provide an overview of product strategy, design, and positioning.
Pragmatic Institute – Paid certification courses on product management processes, identification, development, and bringing products to market.

After 2-3 months focused on fundamental product management concepts, you can gain skills to contribute to product design, UX research, market analysis, roadmapping, and Agile development processes.

The wide range of specializations and abilities you can now learn online allows you to efficiently gain technology expertise, artistic skills, business acumen, and more without formal schooling. While mastery of anything requires extensive effort over years, you can make surprisingly quick progress in as little as 4-6 weeks through consistent online learning. By dedicating time each day to online courses, tutorials, and hands-on projects in your desired skills, you can pave the way to new opportunities and knowledge growth.