Thursday, April 15, 2010

Learning With Lynda

In January, 2009 I was conducting a strategic job search. Even after getting my resume on Monster.com, Michigan Talent Bank and Careerbuilder, I wasn't receiving a lot of attention. But I remembered many years ago there was a company called MacTemps, which is now called Acquent.

Several years ago, I was contacted by Mariam McCarthy from Acquent about a position I had applied for. It had been a while since I've spoken to her but I decided to contact her again in my quest for a productive job search. Although she wasn't able to connect me to any jobs at that time, she did provide me with a powerful resource.

Mariam recommended http://www.lynda.com. I hadn't heard of lynda.com, and asked her to tell me about it. She said it was a website where you can choose from a large library of tutorial videos to watch an unlimited amount of times at your own rate, for only $25 a month. I checked it out and soon signed up for membership and have not regretted it.

Lynda.com allows you to choose whichever course you are interested in, watch only the videos you want to watch (or watch them all) and stop/start at any time. If you watch an entire course, you receive a certificate that you can download and print or e-mail to a prospective employer.

Lynda.com offered a variety of courses; Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Microsoft Word, Excel, Corel Draw, AutoCad, Joomla, HTML, CSS, Digital Photograpy, ASP, PHP, Database, Content Management systems, even blogging! As of this writing, they have 40,000 videos and are adding more every week. That's over 3425 hours of continuous training!

Although a large percentage of the courses are related to both graphic and web design, there are courses offered in photography and business, such as Microsoft Word for those who need to brush up on their skills. If you are an experienced designer, you can upgrade your skills while continuing your education.

Last night I watched the video on how Lynda Weinman got started and was fascinated by it.She and her husband Bruce, share many of the same philosophies as me, so I felt a sort of kindred spirit, a parallel universe, as I love art, design and photography as well as learning new things. I have learned a lot and have been able to apply what I've learned immediately in my websites. I love that I can study as much or as little as I want, anytime I want.

I highly recommend http://www.lynda.com to anyone who is passionate about learning without leaving the house!

Rene Bellis

p.s. Since completing several courses from lynda.com, I have been getting more phone calls from prospective employers. Coincidence? Maybe. Good fortune? Definitely!






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