Easy ways to improve your skills

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There are many ways you can get a better job, through education, support or training. The government’s National Careers Service is a good place to start. It can help suggest jobs you would be able to do and has a lot of advice.

Here are some other ideas:

  • If you want to get better qualifications or learn new skills, try Further Education. Some courses are free, including GCSE English and Maths. You might be able to get a loan to help you pay the costs of other courses.
  • If you prefer to learn online, FutureLearn offers courses in many subjects and many are free. This includes courses that will help you keep up to date with technology and business. It also offers professional qualifications.
  • You can learn better work skills and explore new topics with free online courses from OpenLearn.
  • Look in your local library. Many libraries offer short courses in useful business skills.
  • Consider asking a company if you can do a short internship. This will give useful experience you can add to your CV and might lead to a permanent job.
  • If you don’t have English as a first language and would like to speak better English, there are special courses called ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). They are across the country and there are often discounts for people earning low wages (sometimes the courses are free).
  • The charity called UpRising offers leadership programmes to young people to help them get into positions across business and politics.
  • People aged 16-25 from low-income backgrounds who want to work in a creative industry can find opportunities through a charity called the Creative Mentor Network.
  • If you’d like to learn how to be more confident, there are courses in body language and networking, search the internet for courses near you.

Image: Magnet.me/Unsplash

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