‘I could do it in my own time’: the course provider students are using to upskill and switch careers

It’s been dubbed “the great resignation”, with professionals all over the UK contemplating changing employers post-pandemic. A recent poll found that one in three adults are looking to change jobs or careers in the next two years, and two-thirds (69%) feel they’ll need to upskill to do so.

But, given the time and cost factors associated with going back to education full-time, many are turning to online learning providers to fill their knowledge gaps at their own pace. Here, three students explain how training courses have helped them switch careers.

‘It was really amazing’
Charlotte Stevens graduated with a mathematics and statistics degree from the University of London. But after beginning her career as an insight analyst, she quickly realised that she wanted to learn more about data science and programming. “It’s really difficult to upskill on the job,” she says. “There’s always a lot of business as usual and it’s hard to carve out the time to do something more academic.” She found a master’s degree at a university in London that looked interesting but couldn’t afford to switch to part-time work, or to pay the £9,000 fees. Instead, she decided to study online with Coursera in the evenings, studying Data Science Specialization.

“It seemed like a much better deal,” she says. “It was almost an identical syllabus to the master’s course, and much cheaper. We took real-world data and built statistical advanced models on them, which were peer reviewed by the community. It was really amazing and I could do it in my own time.” Six months later, Stevens had amassed enough knowledge and experience to start applying for jobs as a programmer and data scientist, and was offered a new role. She continued to study, including Applied Data Science with Python Specialization, and made a series of career moves that took her annual salary to £175,000 before she was 30.

“That’s the kind of difference Coursera made,” she says. “I put the work in, I did the extra hours. But I had that opportunity because of the accessibility of really good quality modules.” Today, she’s taking a break from tech and has co-founded the UK’s first plant-based cheesemonger, La Fauxmagerie, with her sister. But she still has a number of food science courses on Coursera bookmarked for when she has time.

“I’ll probably just dip in and out of Coursera courses for my entire life,” she says, adding that she wouldn’t be where she is now without it. “It taught me self-discipline, and gave me confidence in my ability.”

‘I speak the language now’
When his father fell ill, 18-year-old Imran decided to join the family fashion retail business rather than go to university after his A-levels. Entrepreneurship suited him and he went on to start a number of businesses, including a children’s nursery, which he ran with his wife for almost a decade. Eventually, he sold the company and took a role at a primary school as a school business manager. “After four years, I felt like I was at the furthest point in my career in terms of what I could do with the background that I had. I wanted to do something more challenging,” he says. “I decided to take some time off and explore the job market.”

Imran had a wealth of experience, but he felt he needed more qualifications on his CV to formalise that knowledge. He discovered Google Project Management: Professional Certificate, offered by Coursera, which seemed ideal. “I’ve done some project management but didn’t have the professional qualification to go with it,” he says. “The course was six modules and I managed to complete it in just over six weeks. I really enjoyed it.” Imran has now started a second Google Professional Certificate around data analytics and is already working as a freelance project management consultant, putting his newly honed skills into practice.

“What I really liked about the project management course was it put you into real-life scenarios. I learned a lot more than I have in other learning environments I’ve been in,” he says. “And it’s given me the confidence to show that I know what’s expected in these roles. It’s given me the skills I can take into industry. I feel like I speak the language now.” His advice to anyone else thinking about switching careers would be to think outside the box. “Don’t be scared. Have a look at the skills you have right now. What immediate steps can you take and what’s stopping you from getting that little bit further? Is there a course or qualification or experience that you need in order to take a bigger leap?”

‘Career switching is empowering’
There’s a fearlessness about Sean Flanagan’s willingness to switch careers. After completing a degree in culture and media in New York, he worked for Vice Media for six months before joining WeWork in 2018. The company moved him to Dublin and then on to London, where he worked in the community front-of-house team. But he found he was increasingly interested in the technology sector and began to study the Google IT Support Professional Certificate with Coursera in the evenings.

“I remember I did have to make a commitment to make any progress,” he says, about juggling the course with work. “Once I decided to commit two hours a night, or 10 hours a week, it all sort of fell into place and I got it done within a year.” As well as the requisite technical skills, Flanagan also brushed up on his interpersonal skills, which helped him land his next role, providing IT support at the software company Braze. “I told them my experience was definitely still at a beginner level, but they saw my willingness to learn and were happy to bring me on.”

During the pandemic, he was also able to make use of some of the computer programming skills he learned with Coursera to tutor local children. He enjoyed it so much that he’s recently switched careers again and is training to be a middle school teacher in Long Island. “I’m teaching a media class, which links back to my undergraduate degree, with a little bit of programming and video game design thrown in.

“I think we need to shed any shame or guilt around career switching,” he says. “It’s empowering. And it’s handy to be able to study something online beforehand. You don’t have to spend loads of money on a degree. I’ve switched four or five times now and have always been quite happy about where I landed.”

Whether you’re at the beginning of your career journey or looking to enhance your skillset to make a mid-career transition, you can choose from a range of learning experiences on Coursera to find the programmes that are right for you.