Learn Essential Professional Skills in 70+ New Free Courses

The most in-demand skills in today’s workplace have nothing to do with AI or programming concepts — they’re communication, customer service, and leadership. In an AI-driven world where many technical tasks can be automated, employers are giving more weight to people skills like communication, empathy, and critical thinking.  

According to the World Economic Forum, employees that build analytical and critical thinking skills will become increasingly valuable to employers, which is good news for both job seekers and upskillers. We launched over 70 new courses in our catalog that cover a wide range of professional skills topics like business strategy, career success, communication, leadership, productivity, and teamwork.  

Whether you want to get better at delivering constructive feedback in code reviews or feel more comfortable organizing team meetings and knowledge-sharing sessions, there’s a course that can help you strengthen your most critical professional skills areas. Read on to learn more about our new professional skills courses, what you can learn, and how to get started. 

What are professional skills? 

Professional skills are transferable non-technical skills that help you succeed at work and make you more attractive to employers. These traits and capabilities are also known as “business skills,” “people skills,” or “soft skills.” A few examples of professional skills include leadership, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.   

In tech roles we tend to focus a lot on, well, having technical skills. While the need for technical skills isn’t going away, professional skills like these are used just as often in the modern workplace. Even as an entry-level developer, you’ll often have to listen to feedback, ask clarifying questions, and provide progress updates. You’ll have to write clear and comprehensive documentation for code, including comments and README files. And you could have opportunities to lead a small project, even if it’s just a bug fix, which requires managing timelines and coordinating with teammates.  

Who are these new courses for? 

Folks at every level and career stage can benefit from strengthening and refining their professional skills.  

For people who are actively searching for a new gig, professional skills make you stand out during the interview process. In a recent UX research study, we found that hiring managers pay close attention to soft skills when hiring for entry-level positions. Specifically, hiring managers want to see that you’re a good communicator, collaborator, and problem solver in behavioral interviews. In other words, while your resume might get you in the door, your soft skills get you the job. 

Having a blend of business acumen and technical skills can also make you a shoo-in for a promotion into a management role. In fact, LinkedIn data shows that technology workers with technical and soft skills (like communication, teamwork, problem solving, or leadership) get promoted 13% faster than those who only have hard skills. The reason? People who demonstrate professional skills are often entrusted with greater leadership responsibilities.  

What can you learn in the new courses?  

Our professional skills courses are handpicked by our team to provide the most relevant in-demand business skills for technical learners like you. You can get started learning right away — all you need is a free Codecademy account to get started.  

Not sure where to begin? We recommend starting with the course Effective Stakeholder Communications for Technology Professionals. In this course, you’ll learn how to identify your project stakeholders, choose the right communication channels, and hone your stakeholder message (even when you’re presenting difficult information). As you’ll learn, successful communication is all about gaining trust so you can confidently deliver messages and tell stories to any audience.  

Once you’ve honed your communication skills, get better at presenting them in the course Building and Delivering a Great Virtual Presentation. This is focused on virtual presentations, so you’ll learn a bunch of best practices for creating slide decks, amplifying your message, and keeping your audience engaged — even when you’re on a video call. It also covers some common presentation snafus and how to prevent them.  

Maybe you shine when you present in meetings, but tend to trip over your words in written communications? In that case, try the course Writing with a Professional Mindset. This will empower you with tools for writing everything from a Slack message to a formal email and teach you to tailor your writing tone. 

This is just a sampling of some of the professional skills you can learn from our new courses. Be sure to explore all of the courses and read the rest of our professional skills tips on the blog.

The post Learn Essential Professional Skills in 70+ New Free Courses appeared first on Codecademy Blog.