If you have been out of luck with accessing work with your current skillset, there are a host of quality free training opportunities that will ignite your career.

The pandemic has stalled a host of employment opportunities usually in abundance. Although this has pushed you into inactivity in the meantime, there are several opportunities for development online.

Free Training Opportunities to Take Advantage of if You’re Out of Work

The internet has radically changed the way we learn and train. So much so, there are a host of quality education opportunities that will set you up in a bountiful career, all of which are totally free.

Profitable Industries

The rise of automation and AI has contracted several industries that used to be reliable sources of employment. However, the silver lining is that this hasn’t contracted the labour needs of the UK market, only shifted it towards digital industries.

To put it simply, there are tens of thousands of companies with skills gaps because so few people have been trained in digital or emerging technologies. This means they are hiring in sectors that are only growing, and all you need is a small amount of training.

To make things even better, the government has outlined several ways of accessing quality training for free.

Common Emerging Roles

To give you a brief idea of what your potential career could be, we have shortlisted a few jobs that many companies are desperately in need of now:

  • Digital marketing

The rise of social media has carved an enormous gap in traditional marketing plans and techniques. However, it has also opened up a wealth of opportunities for companies to quickly attract huge numbers of potential customers.

In turn, if you have a basic understanding of social media and are willing to take on training, you could quite easily find an extremely rewarding career in digital marketing.

  • Software developer

If you are willing to put in the time to learn the basics, you can open up a world of opportunities that could set you up for life. Software is the umbrella term for any system you use on any type of computer, be that a smartphone, a desktop or an industrial production system.

However, already, much of what companies are developing is simply the regurgitating coding from past projects that others have posted online. In turn, you only need a simple understanding of how coding works to get onto the career pathway.

  • SEO specialist

A specialist arm of digital marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO) helps companies to target their audiences through search engines. This is not too difficult to pick up, but if you get enough experience there are now entire companies dedicated to consulting on making SEO work.

  • Data analyst

The internet and social media have led to the growth of personal data as a commodity. However, there is a stark difference between having lots of data and being able to use it.

A data analyst is an essential cog in the digital machine who analyses the masses of data out there to increase performance or help the company target the right audience for them.

Where Do I Go?

For a detailed breakdown of what support and resources are out there, including where to find them, head over to our support and resources guide.

However, here are a couple government-supported initiatives to help you access the necessary training to enter the careers detailed above, all for free:

National Careers Service will direct you to the best online courses and training for you. Additionally, they can help you access the right qualifications and even funding.

The Skills Toolkit is the government’s definitive list of free training courses and resources. Some are self-driven so you can go at your own pace, and others are led by an instructor.