High-income skills can be learned online, for free, even without a degree
If you’re at a point in your career where you recognize the value of upskilling, want to make more money, and and desire to be in a career that has enormous potential, then you need to learn about high-income skills.
High-income skills are skills that you can learn which are highly specialized and provide tremendous value to employers (in your job) and to corporate clients (as a freelancer). These skills are in high demand globally, and are easily transferable across multiple industries, which is part of what makes them so special.
But perhaps most importantly, one of the reasons that high-income skills are so appealing to learn, is that in most cases, they can be learned and developed online, from home, and even without needing to obtain a degree.
Today, there are many accessible routes to learning these skills via certificates, workshops, bootcamps, and other forms of training, made popular by distance learning and career development platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning.
While there are many high-income skills to choose from, here are three that stand out as having exceptional potential this year:
1. Artificial Intelligence
If there was ever a skill that is of utmost importance to learn this year, it would be AI. Artificial intelligence can boost your salary by as much as 40%, according to the University of Oxford. The job board, Indeed, also suggests that Generative AI skills can lead to a 40% salary boost, making this a lucrative skill to learn in 2024. This evidences how much employers prize AI skills, as they undertake efforts to integrate it into their processes and workflows.
You can learn AI skills for free at:
- AI for Everyone by DeepLearning.AI
- Introduction to Generative AI by Google Cloud
- Generative AI with Large Language Models by AWS, via Coursera
2. Data Analysis
Next up is data analytics. The State of the Workforce Skills Gap 2024 report by Springboard, noted that data analysis skills are most needed by companies, followed by project management skills.
There is an interesting overlap between data analytical skills and AI skills, as both are needed for AI implementation. You can learn data analysis and data science skills online for free, within as little as six months on platforms such as Coursera. Professionals who work within data science can expect to make as much as $150,000 annually, according to salaries analyzed on Glassdoor and Salary.com.
You can learn this for free at:
- Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate
- HarvardX’s Data Science Professional Certificate
- AWS Data Analytics
3. Strategic/Critical Thinking Skills
High-income skills typically conjure up the idea of tangible technical skills such as the ones listed above. But it’s not only hard skills that you need to progress in your career and make significant money. To be financially successful and have a thriving career, you need soft skills too.
The same Springboard report revealed that strategic thinking and critical thinking skills, although soft skills, are in high demand by employers right now, with more than half of the 510 business leaders surveyed stating that their workforce lacks this skill set. Being a strategic thinker offers considerable rewards for your career, since this sets you apart as having leadership qualities and leads to major business opportunities.
Being proactive about learning strategic thinking skills will provide benefits to every aspect of your career, from deciding on a new job opportunity, to maximizing networking opportunities, to landing a promotion.’
You can learn this for free at:
- Strategic Thinking For Everyone Specialization
- Strategic Leadership And Management by the University of Illinois, Coursera
Soft skills such as strategic thinking are necessary to climb the ladder and secure higher pay
Which high-income skill will you concentrate on developing this year?