Acquire Digital Skills with Microsoft
3 mins read

Acquire Digital Skills with Microsoft

2020 has been a challenging year for anyone looking to enter or move within the workforce. In light of the increasingly difficult job market, Microsoft has launched a global skills initiative to help job seekers gain the digital and soft skills necessary to secure jobs in the top ten most in-demand jobs:

  • Software developer
  • Sales representative
  • Project manager
  • IT administrator
  • Customer service specialist
  • Digital marketer
  • IT support/helpdesk
  • Data analyst
  • Financial analyst
  • Graphic designer

This initiative brings together resources from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn and Github, three parts of the Microsoft Corporation.

LinkedIn Learning provides specialized learning paths for all ten jobs which allows you to earn a badge of completion that can be added to your resume. You can also access job search and interview prep tools.

For jobs which require Microsoft certification, Microsoft Learn offers a combination of individual modules and learning paths to help prepare for certification exams. In addition, Microsoft is offering exams at the reduced rate of $15 for those whose employment has been impacted by COVID-19.

Participants can schedule an exam through December 31, 2020 and then will have until March 31, 2021 to complete the exam. The discounted exams for this initiative award five fundamentals certifications and eight role-based certifications including Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365. These exams are available at least in part in seven languages – English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese (simplified) and Korean.

Finally, GitHub is providing free access to the GitHub Learning Lab, a bot-based learning tool that allows users to practice new software developer skills acquired from LinkedIn and Microsoft Learn courses. Visit opportunity.linkedin.com for more information. Para español, visite opportunity.linkedin.com/es-es.

Your library is hosting a workshop on Thursday, December 10 at 1 p.m. to help you navigate this opportunity – see the description below. Register online here.

Make Your Mark with Technology Skills: Build your marketable technology skills with a Microsoft certification. Learn about the Microsoft Global Skills Initiative to help job seekers reskill and prepare for tech careers with current job openings. Discover how you can access LinkedIn learning paths to help you prepare for fundamental and role-based Microsoft certifications, and sign up for deeply discounted certification exams available for a limited time. Act now and change your career trajectory!


Continued Learning

With your Plano Public Library card, you also have free access to all Lynda.com courses and learning paths which cover a broad range of careers as well as technical and soft skills. Learn more about how to access this resource in our blog post.

You can also explore our virtual programming for a variety of technology classes. For more career and job search resources, check out our Business and Career pages and visit our catalog to put items on hold for pickup.

Check out some of these technology skills series available for checkout from your nearest library location:

  • Sam’s Teach Yourself: A series of well-illustrated books that include self-paced tutorials to break up technology topics. Available topics include Java, HTML, and Android apps.
  • Teach Yourself Visually: A series of books with step-by-step screenshots to demonstrate common tasks and tools. Available topics include Excel, Word, and Office.
  • In Easy Steps: A book series focusing on clear and concise instructions for popular technologies and tools. Available topics include Excel, HTML, SQL, and electronics.
  • For Dummies: Practical advice for the nuts and bolts of common applications and tools, including step-by-step instructions and information. Available topics include Blender, cloud computing, Microsoft Azure, SPSS statistics and Office 365.

For more information about the Microsoft initiative, checkout the Official Microsoft Blog.

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