Last semester, as my finals were rolling to an end, I could not help but daydream about my plans for the holidays. One of which is to learn something new. To learn a new hard skill that is marketable, and something that I can flaunt on LinkedIn. I’d seen enough of articles on high-demand skills for the workplace, corroborated with job ads that ask for such hard skills in a matter-of-fact tone.
New year, new me, time to hustle.
The first skill that came to my mind was Python, widely recognised as the gateway to programming and coding for newbies. For NTU students, we can learn Python from Lynda.com, and if you don’t already know, this is an online learning platform featuring a HUGE array of skills and tutorials of varying difficulty levels. Besides Python, you can learn InDesign, Photoshop, Excel, Tableau, and many more. I’ve even chanced upon tutorials that focuses on pivot tables for Excel in Mac 2016.
Yes, there are courses as detailed as this!
User-friendly interface
Out of all the online platforms that I’ve used, Lynda.com stands out with its neat layout and more importantly, a splendidly thoughtful interface.
What strikes me the most is the availability of transcripts that run in TED Talk style. I’m not a fan of speeding up videos, so a transcript is better for me to quickly skim through and understand what each tutorial video is about. This helps me to speed up or slow down when necessary. Having a quick idea of the learning points in each video enables me to go through the lessons at a suitable pace to maintain my momentum in online learning. I never realised how much I needed this feature until I tried it on Lynda.com. Huge props to their User Experience (UX) team for debunking prejudices I had against online learning.
Isn’t this similar to a TED Talk?
Option to learn offline
Apparently, Lynda.com realised that I’m not the only person who gets distracted really easily when there is WiFi around. Lynda.com understands everyone’s woes, and has responded by launching the offline learning feature, where users can download entire courses by clicking “View Offline” on its app.
Now we can learn offline or learn on-the-go, and save our mobile data usage at the same time. It’s also a great reminder for us to turn off mobile data on our devices to minimise distractions.
However, note that some features available online may not be available offline. For example, while accurate captions are available, transcripts are not in the offline version.
Certificates to display on LinkedIn
Congratulations for battling all your temptations to complete a course! Lynda.com has a handsome reward for you: a certificate to display on your LinkedIn profile. Here’s how mine looks like when I completed a beginner course on Tableau last year.
I allowed Lynda.com to share my certification on my LinkedIn profile, and now my profile has a stronger professional aura to it. Considering that internship hunting is starting soon (or has already started), I feel more secure leveraging on this certification as a selling point.
Check out my certificate!
If you haven’t already done so, it’s time for you to check out Lynda.com now.
How to access Lynda.com
(for NTU students and staff)
Access via Website:
- Navigate to www.lynda.com
- Select “Sign In” at the top right
- Select “Sign in with your organization portal”
- Enter ntu.edu.sg and select “Continue”.
Access via Mobile App
- Download the Lynda.com app from your App Store (Apple, Google Play or Windows)
- Open the app, and select “Already a Lynda member?”
- Select the “Organization” login tab, and in the input field under “Web Portal”, enter ntu.edu.sg and select “Log in”.
- This will redirect to a login page. Enter your NTU network username and password, and select “Login”. Follow the on-screen instructions to get successfully authenticated.
P.S. for NTU alumni who are members of the National Library Board (NLB), Lynda.com is available via NLB eResources (see this webpage for more details).
Feature image courtesy of Good Community Foundation
