Lifelong Learning Starts Now

By Nanette Wiser

The key to being a good employee is being a great learner. At every age and in this pandemic era, it’s essential to keep your skills up-to-date and relevant. Some professions may not translate to future opportunities. In my case, print journalism is nothing without the added skills of digital, social media and video. 

Lucky for all of us, Pinellas County offers dozens of opportunities to reinvent yourself for the new age. STEM and healthcare, robotics, cybersecurity, programming and AI are in need of educated workers. Manufacturing, automotive and construction job-training programs are available and older workers are welcome.

One of the best resources is Pinellas Technical College or PTEC in Clearwater and St. Petersburg, offering online and in-person classes. Voted Tampa Bay Times Best of the Best People’s Choice 2020 as “Best Trade/Vocational College in the Tampa Bay area,” it’s low-cost, offers career placement, has a network of 250 business and industry partners and is accredited. myptc.edu

St. Petersburg College also offers career pathways in engineering/manufacturing/building arts, digital design, business certificates (accounting), health sciences/veterinary technology, technology, science (biotech, environmental), public safety (crime scene tech, homeland security) and now robotics. Spcollege.edu

Online classes are plentiful such as Great Courses, MasterClass and via YouTube at universities such as Yale oyc.yale.edu and Harvard/MIT edx.org. You can learn any career on YouTube; of course, I also recommend additional classes on www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses.

Other top careers for 2021 are solar energy technician, nurse practitioner, software developer, physical therapist, data analyst, health service manager, gerontology/health navigator, digital content, information security analyst, mechanical engineer, rehabilitation counselor, drone pilot, HR professionals, IT professionals, market research analyst and accountant.

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