Free In-Demand Skills to Help You Step into a New Career

Verizon Skill Forward

April 17, 2024

Business colleagues having a conversation. They are discussing finance charts and graphs on a laptop computer. They are both young business people in an office. Could be an interview or consultant working with a client.

According to research from the National Skills Coalition, one-third of workers don’t have the foundational digital skills necessary to enter today’s jobs in the tech industry and tech-enabled sectors. Additionally, many unemployed or underemployed people don’t have access to the tech training needed to apply for many jobs in the current market.

Skill Forward addresses each of those challenges. Brought to you by Verizon and edX, Skill Forward is a 100% free program that offers tech and non-tech skills training and certifications in a variety of in-demand areas, including artificial intelligence, business, coding, communication, finance, information technology, and more.

Participants can sign up with no prior work experience or college degree required and gain access to the more than 250 online courses. Participants also get access to a suite of career development resources, including a job board, résumé tools, networking opportunities, and industry-related events.

Verizon believes that quality education should be accessible, which is why it created Skill Forward to offer opportunities for people from all backgrounds to learn new skills and join one of America’s most dynamic industries.

Libraries and librarians serve as great resources for those in underserved communities or those without easy access to technology. Continued education is a large part of what you do. Verizon Skill Forward is another tool available to the public that can aid the unemployed or underemployed in achieving their ambition–whatever that may be.

The courses offered within the Skill Forward platform are expert-led, designed by leading universities and industry experts, and fully self-paced. Courses are available in Spanish as well. Upon completion, participants will earn instructor-signed certifications from leading universities and organizations to prove their proficiency in high-growth careers. These potential career paths include artificial intelligence, coding, cybersecurity, data analytics, leadership, project management, and more.

Registration for Skill Forward can be done at any time and is free of charge to all participants for the first 12 months. It’s a great way to develop valuable workforce skills across many areas.

Get started now.

Tagged Under

The Virtual Interview Lab at Do Space in Omaha, Nebraska

Acing the Interview

Tech library assists locals in finding jobs by providing access to digital tools

Tools for the Job

The role of libraries in upskilling adults

Latest Library Links

12h

Tania Otero Martinez writes: “Since a shocking plunge in math and reading scores on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, educators, administrators, and policymakers have grappled with how to address learning challenges following the pandemic. One factor that has largely escaped notice, however, is the role school libraries and librarians play in academic performance. School libraries are too often treated as a luxury rather than an essential part of the public education system with a proven impact on learning. It is time to turn around years of disinvestment in school libraries and librarians.”

Center for American Progress, Apr. 18
18h

Cynthia Hudson Vitale writes: “The Association of Research Libraries has issued a set of Research Libraries Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI technologies, and in particular, generative AI, have significant potential to improve access to information and advance openness in research outputs. AI also has the potential to disrupt information landscapes and the communities that research libraries support and serve. The increasing availability of AI models sparks many possibilities and raises several ethical, professional, and legal considerations. These principles will serve as a foundational framework for the ethical and transparent use of AI and reflect the values we hold in research libraries.”

Association of Research Libraries, Apr. 25
1d

Orlando Mayorquín writes: “Less than two weeks after a Pennsylvania school board unanimously voted to cancel a gay author’s anti-bullying speech at a middle school, the board voted Wednesday night to reverse its decision and reinstate the event amid pressure from parents, students and administrators. The 5-to-4 vote by the Cumberland Valley School District’s board came in front of scores of community members who packed a high school auditorium and, for several hours, chastised the board for having canceled the event featuring the actor and author Maulik Pancholy over what they said were homophobic concerns.”

New York Times, Apr. 24
2d

Kim Kardashian may have been the headline guest on the April 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, but the highlight of the show was a World Book Day segment about antilibrarian bills. Kimmel said “There are at least a hundred bills in various red states, three of which have become law already, threatening librarians with prison for the crime of lending books.” He then turned the segment over to real-life librarians to clarify that they give out library cards and offer storytimes rather than “grooming” children or spreading Satanism and meth. One of the featured librarians concluded the segment by declaring “You can have To Kill a Mockingbird when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!”

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Apr. 23
2d

Lauren Feiner writes: “The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3–2 to restore net neutrality rules, reversing a repeal ushered through during the Trump administration. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should not be able to discriminate against different kinds of content by blocking or throttling connection speeds or offering paid prioritization for different internet traffic.” The new rules are similar to those originally adopted in 2015 and repealed in 2017, but also include language preventing network slicing, in which internet service providers prioritize certain traffic by using 5G technology to create virtual subnetworks that prioritize certain subscribers who pay for a premium subscription.

The Verge, Apr. 25; Gizmodo, Apr. 25
5d

“A new Taylor Swift album is always a big event on the internet, including fans carefully reading into every line for hidden meaning—a little like close reading poetry. But while Swifties have celebrated Taylor Swift’s lyricism from the beginning, no album invites comparisons to literature quite like The Tortured Poets Department, if just for the title. Already, outlets have been putting together reading lists to pair with each song on the album. Here are just a few to get you started.”

Book Riot, Apr. 22
5d

Chris Hoffman writes: “When I was younger, I was told ‘never use your real name on the internet.’ But the world has changed, and I don’t follow that advice anymore. Likewise, there’s a lot of well-meaning online security advice that has outlasted its usefulness. There’s a core of truth to each one of the security practices I criticize below, but you shouldn’t blindly follow these old tips. At best, you’ll be wasting your time. At worst, you’ll be putting yourself more at risk. Read on to learn more about the five outdated security practices you shouldn’t use anymore.”

PC World, Apr. 17