12 Money-Making Skills You Can Learn in Less Than a Year

Learning a new business skill is an excellent way to break into an industry. Not only can it make yourself more attractive to employers, but it might even earn you more money and responsibility in your current career.
But between work, family and life, the thought of spending years in a classroom can be overwhelming. Fortunately, you don’t have to. It’s possible to learn many in-demand skills in less than a year — some in just a few weeks or months.
Potential earning increases for adding new skills to your resume are wide-ranging, but the more skill you can bring to the table for an employer, the better your advantage over other candidates, the higher your value in your industry and the more negotiating power you’ll have when discussing your wage or salary. Enrich your career and increase your paycheck with these money-making skills.
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Project Management
Project managers oversee various projects from start to finish. Project management skills are useful in many industries, including healthcare and information technology.
Udemy’s Project Management Professional Certification Program takes around 60 hours to complete and costs $109.99.
Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
Becoming proficient in search engine optimization and search engine marketing helps you excel as a marketing professional and opens the door to opportunities in digital marketing and website development.
With SEO knowledge, you can develop successful internet marketing campaigns and provide multiple industries with website content. The SEO course and certification from ClickMinded is $999 for the year and three to six hours long.
Video Editing and Production
Learning video editing and production can open the door to opportunities with marketing and promotional companies, or help you land entry-level work in television and video editing.
Training costs and program lengths vary. For example, the New York Film Academy offers 15-week digital workshops with tuition starting at $2,200.
App Developing and Programming
Learning how to develop apps enables you to create your own web applications from scratch. You can work as an independent contractor developing apps for companies or get a job as an app developer.
You can find several free and low-cost online training opportunities — edX offers a variety of app development courses that last about six weeks. Courses are free, but you’ll have to pay to become certified.
Translation
Translators work in private and public schools, courthouses, hospitals and conference centers. Becoming a translator might be a great opportunity if you already speak and write in another language.
The University of Arizona offers an online Spanish/English Translation Certification program made up of three courses and it lasts 16 weeks. This program costs $2,475 in total, but there are many online courses and programs available for a variety of price ranges.
Data Analysis
Several industries use data analytics — including travel, energy, finance, education and health — to identify patterns and trends they can leverage for growing their businesses.
Online learning center General Assembly offers an accelerated one-week course and a 10-week, part-time Data Analytics course that comes with flexible payment options. Upon completing the course, you might be eligible to receive credit toward an online graduate program.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing technology is an excellent skill to learn because it’s one of the fastest-growing businesses in the IT industry. Cloud Academy provides a wealth of ongoing training to help you learn cloud computing and prepare for Amazon Web Services certification, starting at $39 a month. The course has no end date and you can learn as little or as much as you like.
Bookkeeping
A basic bookkeeping course teaches you how to manage a company’s financial accounts. Bookkeepers are employed in all types of industries, including healthcare, government, private businesses and retail.
Penn Foster’s online bookkeeping courses take about five months and tuition starts at $839.
3D, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Programming Skills
Consider a virtual reality (VR) certificate program if you want to learn basic VR programming and develop VR applications. Learning how to write VR programs opens the door to entry-level positions with software design companies.
University of California San Diego offers a professional certificate in Virtual Reality (VR) App Development that includes three courses over five months for $297 total.
Online Marketing
Companies with websites often need people knowledgeable in online marketing to increase traffic to their sites. Learning online marketing skills can help you snag a digital marketing job. Online marketing skills are also beneficial when launching your own business.
Udemy has a 30-day Online Marketing Crash Course for $39.99 that covers basic online marketing strategy, social media, blogging and more. Other online education options include eCornell, which offers a two-month, $3,699 Digital Marketing Certificate Program.
Information Security
Information security training paves the way for a career in cybersecurity. Work with government agencies, retailers and other businesses to protect sensitive information from hackers.
Boston University, for example, offers an online Information Security Graduate Certificate program, which students can complete in eight months. Tuition is about $12,000 to $16,000 -- and scholarship opportunities are available.
Graphic Design
Graphic design training lets you express your creativity and convey messages visually. Put your skills to good use as a freelancer or work for a web design company, internet marketing company, publisher or interior design company.
Udemy offers a Graphic Design Bootcamp that only requires 16 hours to complete with a certificate and the price starts at $149.99.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice.
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