How to Advance Your Career on a Budget

It doesn’t matter if you’re already in your chosen career path or working a temporary job that serves as a stepping stone to get to your career, there are always ways that you can advance your career, even when it’s on a budget!

Whatever you do, remember, time is money. Therefore, spending your time wisely now in order to invest in advancing your career will ideally earn you more money in the future.

Take online classes

There’s an online class for just about anything you can think of these days. While most of the masterclasses that are advertised on major search engines and social media sites are pretty pricey, there are a few sites that actually allow you to sign up for classes that are fairly cheap. Udemy and The Great Courses both offer classes on almost any topic ever created.

Perhaps you’re working the third shift somewhere but really dream of becoming a graphic designer who works remotely. The number of graphic design courses available to you right now, at your fingertips is beyond count.

Get certifications

While classes are certainly imperative to your learning new skills, so is being able to showcase your knowledge. That’s why getting certifications can really help advance you in your career. Not every class you take offers an official certification or completion record, so what are some of the certifications that can help you?

• Fundamentals of Digital Marketing (Google).
• Fundamentals of Virology (Alison).
• Fundraising for the Non-Profit (Alison).
• Financial Markets (Coursera).
• Machine Learning (Coursera).
• Race and Cultural Diversity in American Life and History (Coursera).
• Develop Your Emotional Intelligence (Alison).
• Learn What Content Marketing Is and How to Do It (HubSpot).
• Customer Services Course (Oxford Home Study Centre).
• Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour (Coursera).

Begin building your portfolio

The best way you can showcase your knowledge and your achievements is to maintain a career portfolio. It can be easy to get in a routine and forget to report your successes and accomplishments, however, maintaining your fresh portfolio is of utmost importance. When a new potential employer wants to see what you’ve been working on, you should be able to deliver a seamless, squeaky clean portfolio. Whether this is through a portfolio website you build for yourself or files you keep safe on your computer to send upon request, your work portfolio is backup and proof of your resume.