With summer in full swing, college students finally have a moment to calm down and breathe. But there are always opportunities for college students to keep learning. Many take summer classes to get ahead in the quest to graduate. But with summer classes comes the intense cost of summer tuition. Universities will offer summer classes at a discounted price because it is not the same as a full semester, however not everyone has the funding to take classes at this leisure. So how does one get ahead for the next semester without having to enroll in a summer course? The answer is LinkedIn Learning. 

LinkedIn Learning won’t substitute for an entire class or give you credit, but it is a very powerful platform endorsed by many universities. If you check with your career center, you may find that LinkedIn Learning is provided for free to your student LinkedIn account. 

Utilizing Resources

LinkedIn Learning provides professionally developed video courses that go into the fine details of many different topics. For example, I am a Business Administration major with a concentration in Finance. I can filter my search results to show numerous video courses dedicated to helping me learn about finance. From Personal Finance to Wealth Management and Corporate Finance, I have many opportunities to look around and find something I am interested in. 

Taking Initiative

Courses can be multiple parts and go for over an hour with quality information. You can set daily goals for how much time you want to spend on a course or complete it all in one sitting. When you finish each course, you earn a completion award that you can publish on your LinkedIn Profile. This not only gives you the recognition for expanding your knowledge, but it shows that you are taking initiative to learn outside the classroom and are willing to educate yourself further on your own time. Employers can look at your profile and view your accomplishments, or you can put it on your achievement sections in your resume. There are many opportunities to further your education, but you should be aware of this important platform. 

Helping Yourself

With everything going on in the world today, this generation needs to be able to compete with the limited amount of job spaces out there. Financial limitations are frustrating. Students can no longer afford pursuing every opportunity, such as going to summer classes or even taking certification exams. But we can always find ways to further benefit our skill development, and LinkedIn Learning gives us all that chance to take small steps towards the bigger picture.