How to Upskill for Free and Actually Prove You Can Do the Job
You’ve done the skills list, you’ve had a scroll through the job boards, and the same three bits of software keep turning up in ads you’d otherwise be able to do. That’s not a wall. That’s the third bucket.
The third step in all of this is to now start applying. Take bucket number one with the skills that you can, I guess, manipulate could be the word. Like I said, not the ones on your resume, but the ones from everyday life, and then see how they apply to the jobs that you find on something like Seek or Upwork.
– For working out where you’re actually heading once the work is sorted: Hema Maps
– For the camping gear that goes in the van: Snowys
– For a bed for the night when you’re between plans: Booking.com
Watch for the Pattern in the Ads
You might start recognising a bit of a pattern. Getting back to the email example, you go, okay, well, they need you to know how to use Klaviyo or ConvertKit. Okay, well, isn’t that a challenge for you?
That repetition is useful information, not a rejection. If the same tool keeps coming up across a handful of ads you’d otherwise suit, you’ve just been handed the exact thing worth learning first.
You Don’t Need to Spend a Fortune on a Course
So what you do in that case, if you start noticing something in a bit of a repetitive pattern, could you then go and upskill yourself? Now, that doesn’t mean spending a fortune on courses or anything like that.
It means get out the good old YouTube. It means get out the good old instruction manual in Google and see if you can work out what those particular software systems are. That’s all right, it doesn’t have to cost you anything.
Talking About It Isn’t the Same as Showing It
Then what you need to do from there is showcase that you can actually do it. Because look, everyone can talk, everyone can say I can sort out email software, but can you show them?
So what you then need to do is work out, well, how can I do it? How can I do it for free? How can I actually show that I have got a bit of practice in this and I’ve been really trying to upskill myself? Well, then that’s when you need to think outside the square a bit.
Think Outside the Square: The Email Software Example
Let’s take this email example. What we could do is go, okay, well, I’ve never used ConvertKit before in my life. No worries. I’m going to start googling it. I’m going to start working out what it is.
Maybe have they got a free trial account, and maybe can I send my auntie a couple of emails and then have a little bit of a screenshot of it to say, well look, this is what I can achieve.
All it does is it takes a little bit of thinking to then work out how I’m going to take my current skills in my standard 9 to 5 job and transfer them online.
Some Will Reply, Some Won’t, and That’s Okay
Then start applying. You’ll probably find some companies will get back to you really quick. You’ll probably find some companies won’t even get back to you at all. And that’s okay. That’s part of the learning process.
Keep moving forward. Keep upskilling yourself. And before you know it, you’ll be able to have a bit of a resume going with wonderful online work.
Your First Online Job Isn’t Your Last
Just remember the job that you get, your first attempt at online work, it’s not going to be your last. It’s going to be a learning process. So if it’s something that you kind of enjoy, but you can’t see you doing it forever, that’s okay. Use it as a stepping stone to the next one.
And remember to do this well and truly before the time comes that it’s going to be funding your holiday. Because like I said, who wants stress, eh?
- Forget Your Resume: The Everyday Skills You Can Actually Take Online
- Seek or Upwork? Where to Look for Remote Work Before Your Big Lap
Related reading
- From Airline Pilot to Freelance Writer: How I Got Online Work With No Experience
- How Margie and Tim Actually Fund Their Own Big Lap
Our Thoughts
Upskilling for free and then proving it with something small and real is the bit that turns a list of everyday skills into an actual paying job. A free trial and a couple of emails to your auntie is a strange looking portfolio, and it’s still more than most applicants bring.
Once you have those systems in place, you can repeat it and you can go over and over, which is really, really exciting when it’s the thing paying for your trip.
Which bit of software keeps showing up in the ads you’re looking at? Tell us, and tell us how you went teaching yourself, because someone reading this is about to face the same one.
👉Once you know roughly what you can earn, you can work out what you actually need. Our Big Lap budget calculator and planner is here 🙂
