Berkshire (UK), April 2020 - With the current situation forcing us to spend the majority of our time at home, this is the perfect time to reflect on ourselves and use the extra free hours we have for self-improvement. While self-learning may seem overwhelming, there are plenty of skills we can learn from the comfort of our home by reading blogs, doing online courses, or using apps.
TheKnowledgeAcademy.com sought to find out what the most valuable skills one can learn in isolation are. They asked 431 HR specialist what skills they would suggest people immerse themselves in learning while at home and are the most beneficial in the long run.
Simultaneously, they also sought to find out how long it will take to get to a beginner’s level in each one of those skills. To find this out, they asked a number of specialists within each field (between 52 and 103) to say how much time they believe it requires to get a grasp of the skill if practiced for only one hour a day.
The experts have spoken: Some of the best skills you can acquire on your own are digital! We live in a world where technology is rapidly evolving, and we need to keep up with it. Coding skills are essential in many fields, and it can be very expensive to hire a developer, so why not use this time to learn how to do it yourself.
TheKnowledgeAcademy.com has learned it takes approximately four-and-a-half months before getting a grasp of coding, providing you take an hour every day to learn it. Other valuable digital skills you should look into learning more about are digital marketing (takes approximately three months to learn the basic skills) and SEO, which can be learned in only ten days!
However, an SEO specialist had this to say about this particular skill: "SEO is vital for the long-term success of nearly every business. There are so many great resources and guides out there on how to start improving the SEO of a website. The basic things like meta title optimisation, internal linking, and initial page-speed improvements can all be learnt within a reasonable amount of time. I would say if you are reading the right material, you could learn this in ten days or so.
"To master SEO however will take considerably longer. Google's algorithms are constantly changing, so you will have to keep on top of that and some things, like learning how to earn the most powerful links, will take considerable time, resources, and creativity."
TheKnowledgeAcademy.com also reveals that some of the most valuable skills we can learn on our own come from hobbies such as cooking, yoga, photography, and pottery. These are not only great for relaxing or benefiting our health, e.g. cooking and yoga, but we can also earn some extra cash from it through various social media platforms. In fact, you can learn the basics of pottery in only one day! And if you are willing to perfect the craft, you can turn it into a business.
One of the most valuable skills one can have is knowing more than one language. This will not only benefit you when on holiday, but many employers would appreciate you having this skill as well. Most bilingual people have said that with perseverance, you can gain basic knowledge of a new language in approximately two months.
