Tag: continuing education

Advancing Your Professional Journey: Five Career Strategies for 2025

February 28, 2025 / / 0 Comments

In today’s rapidly evolving professional landscape, standing still is moving backwards. As we navigate the complexities of 2025’s job market, the most successful professionals are those who actively invest in their growth. Whether you’re looking to climb the corporate ladder or pivot into a new field entirely, here are five strategies to help elevate your career this year.

1. Embrace Micro-Credentials and Specialised Learning

While traditional degrees clearly still hold value, 2025 has solidified the rise of micro-credentials as career accelerators. Focused learning experiences—such as our Leadership and Management and Project Management short courses—allow you to develop specific, in-demand skills without committing to years of study. Upon completion, you’ll receive LinkedIn digital badges that you can display on your professional profile, instantly signalling your expertise to employers, clients, and your professional network.

The most forward-thinking professionals are stacking these credentials strategically, building expertise in complementary areas that make them even more valuable. For instance, combining our Starting up in Business course with Project Management would create a powerful skill set for entrepreneurial ventures within larger organisations—with each achievement visibly showcased through your growing collection of digital badges.

2. Cultivate Cross-Functional Literacy

In 2025, the most promotable staff members are those who can understand and communicate effectively across different professional disciplines and departments. This doesn’t mean becoming an expert in everything, but rather developing sufficient literacy in adjacent areas to collaborate effectively.

Our Effective Communication and Interpersonal Skills course addresses this need directly, helping you bridge gaps between departments and specialisations. When technical experts can speak the language of marketing, or when HR professionals understand financial considerations, they become much more valuable to their organisations—able to translate complex concepts into business outcomes that leadership can understand and support.

3. Leverage AI as Your Career Multiplier

The AI revolution has moved beyond hype to practical implementation. In 2025, career advancement belongs to those who effectively harness AI tools as force multipliers for their expertise.

Our Introduction to Conversational and Generative AI course will give you a solid foundation from which to  navigate this technological shift. While our Introduction to Copywriting and Content Writing short courses both include how to work effectively with AI tools to enhance your content creation capabilities.

Rather than fearing automation, successful professionals are identifying repetitive aspects of their work that AI can enhance, freeing their time for higher-value contributions. Whether it’s using AI for research synthesis, data analysis, content creation, or workflow optimisation, becoming proficient with these tools demonstrates both adaptability and efficiency—qualities employers increasingly prioritise when making promotion decisions.

4. Master Impactful Presentation Skills

In an era of information overload, the ability to communicate ideas clearly and persuasively sets career-focused professionals apart. Our Presentation Skills course develops your capacity to influence decisions, secure buy-in for your initiatives, and establish yourself as a thought leader.

Whether you’re pitching to clients, presenting to executives, or leading team meetings, these skills create visibility and demonstrate your value across the organisation.

5. Cultivate Strategic Relationships Through Genuine Value Exchange

Networking in 2025 has evolved beyond transactional connections. One of the most effective career accelerators is meaningful professional relationships—a skill set developed through our Effective Communication and Interpersonal Skills course.

The course emphasises authentic relationship-building strategies based on genuine value exchange rather than extraction. You’ll learn to identify key relationships that could support your growth journey, and consider what unique perspective, skill, or opportunity you can offer in return.

As we navigate 2025’s dynamic workplace, remember that career advancement is rarely accidental. By deliberately implementing these strategies and investing in targeted skills development through continuous education and lifelong learning, you position yourself for sustainable growth rather than hoping to be noticed.

The most successful professionals don’t wait for opportunities to find them—they systematically build the skills, relationships and evidence that make them the obvious choice when doors open. Explore our full range of short courses today to discover how we can support your career journey. Or book a spot at our free online open evening on 2 April and try one of our taster sessions. As a bonus, we are offering a 10% discount on all our short courses for anyone who attends the open evening and enrols with us on the night. We look forward to seeing you there!

Summer Term 2024 at City Short Courses

April 2, 2024 / / 0 Comments

 

Thank you to all who attended our Short Courses Open Evening last week. We had a great time meeting new students and introducing them to what we do here at City Short Courses. Many students took advantage of our free  taster sessions, which ranged across our six subject strands:  Business and Management; Computing; Creative Writing; Creative Industries; Languages; and Law. There were tasters in everything from Learning Python to Italian, Business Writing to Major Event Management.

If you didn’t have a chance to join us, never fear! There’s still time to browse our full range of 120 courses and book on for the summer term. Why not try Presentation Skills, or brush up on your French in time for holidays. Or you could consider applying for our year-long Novel Studio programme and finish that novel you’ve always wanted to write! Whether it’s personal development or adding a new skill to your CV, we have something for everyone here at City Short Courses.

If you’d like further information before making your decision, just email our team at shortcourses@city.ac.uk. If they can’t answer your questions, they’ll contact the relevant tutors and make sure you get the answer you need.

Your short course journey starts HERE. We can’t wait to welcome you.

 

Study Skills – How to Study Effectively as an Adult Learner

February 28, 2024 / / 0 Comments

With Lifelong Learning still firmly on the government’s agenda, Short Courses and Continuing Professional Development has become increasingly valued. But what happens if it’s been a while since you studied as an adult? What if the last time you were being taught you were still at school? What if you’ve never been taught how to study effectively?

Because it’s not just what you study, it’s how you manage your approach to study that maximises the educational impact. That’s where Study Skills come in. Read on for our top seven tips.

  1. Time Management

You can’t do everything all at once. Planning is essential. Make a timetable or use a digital calendar to block out specific parts of the day for studying each day or week.

  1. Set Goals

Work smarter not harder. Make sure you have clear, achievable goals for each study session and for your overall learning objectives. If you have exams coming up, or a dissertation, or an essay due, break the goal down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Regularly review and adjust these goals as needed.

  1. Note-Taking:

Effective note-taking is essential when listening to lectures or studying texts. Use short hand and abbreviations, summarise key points and organise your information logically. Highlighting key words can help to make your notes more useful when you revise.

  1. Critical Thinking:

The ability to analyse and evaluate information critically is a crucial party of studying well. Always ask questions, challenge assumptions, and seek evidence to support claims. Try applying critical thinking skills to real-world situations and academic tasks.

  1. Strategies for Effective Reading

When faced with multiple text books to read, the task can seem overwhelming. But if you can break down your reading assignments intop smaller sections and set specific goals, things become more manageable. Skimming texts initially to get an overview before reading in detail is also a very useful skill. When reading in more detail, highlight important passages, make notes, and summarise the main ideas in your note book.

  1. Utilise Resources:

Take advantage of all available resources in your place of study, such as textbooks, online courses, academic journals, and library resources. If you need support or want clarity on a particular subject, ask your tutors or seek advice from relevant online communities. Your university or college may have additional learning tools and technologies available so always find out what’s on offer.

  1. Keep things in Perspective

Studying can become very time-consuming. Make sure you also get enough sleep, eat well and exercise. Meditation or mindfulness techniques can also be very beneficial. Take reguar breaks and allow yourself time to recharge to prevent burnout and maintain your overall well-being

By developing these study skills you will enhance your effectiveness as an adult learner and make the most of your continuing educational journey.

 

 

For anyone interested in our short courses, we are running a free Open Evening and Taster Sessions on March 26 from 6-7.30pm. Register HERE.

 

 

Copywriter embraces her heritage through City’s Chinese Mandarin short course

January 20, 2016 / / 0 Comments

By Natasha Cohen

My name is Natasha Cohen and I’m a copywriter at Ocado, the online supermarket. I undertook two years of Chinese Mandarin classes at City, University of London and am currently continuing with a bespoke course.

I decided to take a course in Mandarin because I’m half Chinese but never learned the language. I realised that I wanted to be closer to my culture and heritage beyond family and food (which are brilliant in their own rights, of course).

The City short course ticked all the boxes for me: the institution has a good reputation, it was easy for me to get to, the course content was appealing and the price was right.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the course when I first started, other than learning words and grammar. What I’ve come away with is a foundation of knowledge about the essential structure of the language, which means that I can continue to learn in my own time.

I’ve also met some great people on the course and will definitely stay in contact with them. I’m quite a shy person but the environment at City is very supportive, and once you realise how much your language skills are improving, it’s a real confidence boost. Since starting this course I’ve been pushing myself to try new things and not be afraid of making mistakes.

There have been a few times when I’ve been able to surprise myself and use Mandarin ‘in the wild’. Not so long ago I visited a Chinese restaurant in Brussels where the staff only spoke French and Mandarin. At school I took GCSE French and am still okay at basic conversation, but nothing in my vocabulary covers Chinese food. After I asked the waiter ‘Do you speak English?’ in Chinese and he responded with mild panic, I was able to muddle through in Mandarin. I was nervous but I got by and it was a great moment. The waiter was relieved, too.

My current plan is simply to continue to study Chinese! I’ve been told that it takes five hours of study a day for 88 weeks to become fluent in Mandarin. With a full-time job and other weekly activities and distractions, it’s going to be a long journey for me – but I’m definitely in it for the long haul.

City offers short language courses at all levels in everything from Chinese to Arabic, Russian, French and Spanish. To find out more visit our language short course page. Or follow our twitter updates on @cityshortcourses.

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