Coventry University Online and FutureLearn launch free course to help boost career skills across England

Free online course produced for the Nesta CareerTech Challenge

Coventry University Online is announcing the launch of a new course, ‘Career Skills for the 2020s: Navigating the Online World of Work’, designed to help learners identify the career skills they need to upskill in their sector or to seek a new job online. The course is available to enrol and learn today on FutureLearn.com, the leading social learning platform.

With UK unemployment rates reaching almost 4%, and many professionals looking to upskill and reskill for new job opportunities in an increasingly digitised workplace, it’s more important than ever that individuals are confident about working online and embracing technology in their professional lives.

‘Career Skills for the 2020s: Navigating the Online World of Work’ has been built as part of the Nesta CareerTech Challenge, and is specifically designed for individuals across England without a degree who are working in jobs at risk of redundancy, or have recently been furloughed or made redundant. 

At a time of such uncertainty, the course also hopes to improve learners’ confidence in searching for work, or progressing within their current sector. It focusses on soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence and resilience, alongside the digital skills needed to work online. 

The first pilot run of the open course starts on Monday 12 October, with subsequent runs scheduled for Monday 16 November and Monday 4 January, so learners can join any time for the duration of the project. The team is also working with employers and other organisations to run closed versions of the course that are currently scheduled for Monday 16 November and Monday 4 January, which only people in England who meet the above criteria can sign up to. If you have team members or employees who might be interested, please contact: CuOnlineCustSupp@coventry.ac.uk

The course is also a sponsored course, which means that learners will receive an automatic free upgrade when they join, giving unlimited access to the course content and a printable digital certificate upon successful completion.

Alongside expert progression coaches, student experience officers and a global community of fellow learners, learners who take the ‘Career Skills for the 2020s: Navigating the Online World of Work’ course will have the opportunity to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and explore the skills they will need to build in order to progress in work or to seek a new job in the 2020s. 

The course also explores what makes a successful online presentation, how to write a CV and covering letter to share online, as well as digital tricks and tips to help learners find their purpose and identify what employers want. 

Tara Hawes, Project Lead for the Nesta CareerTech Challenge at Coventry University Online said, “We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the Nesta CareerTech Challenge, working with FutureLearn and the Behavioural Insights Team to produce a course that will really make a difference to people’s lives. Designed to improve learners’ digital capabilities while practising soft skills like communication and problem solving, this course is truly unique in that it specifically illustrates how these skills are important when working online, empowering learners to find a job or take their current role to the next level.”

Catalina Schveninger, Chief People Officer at FutureLearn commented, “At FutureLearn our mission is to transform access to education. In today’s jobs climate, where many are still facing uncertainty around present and future career paths, being able to readily gain job-relevant skills is more vital than ever. That’s why we’re excited to partner with Coventry University Online to develop this expert-led course that we hope will reach millions of learners as they adapt to this digitally-driven future of work.”

About Coventry University Online

Coventry University Online is a relatively new but already experienced provider of distance learning, delivering online courses at scale to global cohorts of degree students up to Master’s level. Coventry University Online is well versed in providing world-class and socially-orientated education flexibly, and understands the barriers that may exist for many adult learners. Ranked fourth in the world in the first ever global university rankings for online courses, beating Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the OU, Coventry University has also achieved the highest possible rating of 5 stars in the QS Stars Online Learning assessment – the only UK university currently to hold a rating in the category.

About FutureLearn

Here at FutureLearn, our purpose is to transform access to education. We do that by partnering with over a quarter of the world’s top universities to support millions of learners across the globe to develop skills and achieve their personal and professional goals. We’re a leading social learning platform founded in December 2012 by The Open University and are now jointly owned by The Open University in the UK and The SEEK Group. We use design, technology and partnerships to create enjoyable, credible and flexible short online courses and microcredentials, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. In addition to top universities, we also partner with leading organisations such as Accenture, the British Council, CIPD, Raspberry Pi and Health Education England (HEE), as well as being involved in government-backed initiatives to address skills gaps such as The Institute of Coding and the National Centre for Computing Education.

About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For Nesta, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. They use their expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society. Nesta has spent over 20 years working out the best ways to make change happen through research and experimenting and applied that to their work in innovation policy, health, education, government innovation and the creative economy and arts. Nesta is based in the UK and supported by a financial endowment. They work with partners around the globe to bring bold ideas to life to change the world for good.

CareerTech Challenge is an ambitious innovation programme led by Nesta and Nesta Challenges in partnership with the Department for Education.