It’s only natural: as the new year dawns our ambitions awaken and our optimism for positive change flourishes. You’re feeling the pull to reimagine your career — now, how to make it a reality?
Commitment and consistency will see you through the months ahead as intentions transform into actions. While the emotional climate is favorable, you can take bold strides forward by setting aside time each day to act and reflect on your goals — goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. And if you’re really serious about career change or career advancement, you’ll need to make skill-building a key element of your goals so you’re prepared to unlock next-level achievements.
As you chart your course, use the following tips to turn ideas into action.
Rebecca Szymczak, aka Cardsy B, author of The Saturn Diaries and tarot reader to the stars, consulted her tarot deck and has tips for which signs should utilize February’s Aquarian innovation to pitch new initiatives and which signs should work with the mid-month Mars/Pluto conjunction to make moves. She also has some insight into partnerships — this year, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for romantic connections — but is advantageous for business relationships as well.
February begins with Imbolc, the Pagan celebration of the peek into spring, which reminds us we’re beginning to emerge from the slower winter period to bring new ideas to life. We then move into the new moon in Aquarius on February 9, waking up our drive to innovate, especially in humanitarian efforts and social strategies. This is a good time for all signs to plan team brainstorming sessions and look at departmental structures. Right before Valentine’s Day on February 13, Mars will conjunct Pluto in Aquarius, making it an increased time of ambition, but also a time to be mindful of your approach regarding power plays. We have the full moon in Virgo at the end of the month, bringing some much-needed grounding after a big month of shake-ups and transformation.
Whatever your sign, change and expansion around partnerships is on the way this month. Aquarius season is the innovator and changemaker — so read on to see what the cards have in store.
User experience (UX) design separates a good product from a great product.
Harnessing skills like user research, wireframes, and prototyping, UX designers have a unique perspective when it comes to understanding the interactions between users, business goals, and visual and technology elements. For companies, their work fosters brand loyalty and repeat business. For consumers, it means frustration-free online experiences, intuitive mobile apps, efficient store layouts, and more.
Watch or read below as design experts from The New York Times, PayPal, Zola, and other top companies share how they design simple, user-friendly, and beautiful products.
As businesses embrace artificial intelligence, a new challenge looms: preparing the AI-ready workforces necessary to leverage this new technology — before their competitors do.
It’s not going to be easy. In a fast-moving landscape, even the most tech-forward companies are scrambling to keep up — not to mention stumped on developing and deploying training for a technology that’s been accessible to the general public for just over a year.
For instance, 70% of business leaders currently don’t believe their teams have the skills to effectively and safely use generative AI. And 59% agree that their organization lacks the tech talent to meet their digital transformation goals.
What’s more, workers’ eagerness to build their AI skills far outstrips their skepticism. A survey by Adecco Group, our parent company, found that 62% of workers believe that AI will have a positive impact on their jobs — and that 67% of them expect their employers to help them learn how to use the technology.
Education Technology (also known as “EdTech”) refers to an area of digital technology devoted to the development and application of tools (including software, hardware, and appropriate technological processes) intended to promote education.
Put another way, “EdTech is a study and ethical practice for facilitating student learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.”
Although this developing field may sound like a specialized niche, its potential implications are far-reaching and affect many segments of the population. Read on to find out if you’re among those most likely to benefit from the advancement of EdTech, and how you can contribute to its growth.
Utilizing Educational Technology to Advance Your Career
Utilizing Ed Tech to advance your career offers numerous benefits, making it a pivotal tool in today’s workforce. One of its key advantages is accessibility, as Ed Tech provides convenient access to educational resources anytime, anywhere. The personalized learning experience it offers tailors educational content to individual needs, fostering a more effective and engaging learning environment. Additionally, collaborative features enable individuals to connect and learn collectively, fostering a sense of community and expanding networking opportunities.
A JavaScript framework is a collection of JavaScript code libraries that provide a web developer with pre-written code for routine programming tasks. Frameworks are structures with a particular context and help you create web applications within that context. JavaScript is a powerful coding language used in both frontend and backend development.
It is completely possible to build strong web applications without JavaScript frameworks, but frameworks provide a template that handles common programming patterns. Each time you have to build an application, you don’t need to write code for every single feature from scratch. Instead, you can build upon an existing feature set.
All JavaScript frameworks, like most other frameworks, provide some rules and guidelines. Using these rules and guidelines, any developer can make complex applications faster and more efficiently than if they decided to build from scratch. The rules and guidelines help shape and organize your website or web application too!
For example, think about a potter’s wheel where you can build pots. The potter’s wheel is your framework; it has certain consistencies that you have to work with. The wheel rotates, and you can use that rotation to build pots of different shapes and sizes.
You can build pots, plates, cups, bowls, or even cylindrical sculptures. But you can’t build a house with it; you need to find a different framework for that.
As the founder of a career mentorship platform for women, I spend my days speaking with people who want to change careers but aren’t interested in starting over. They’re terrified that taking risks might mean losing everything they’ve achieved. They agonize about explaining “gaps” on their resume during an interview or at networking events.
Lucky for them (and you), I have good news: changing careers doesn’t mean sacrificing your past. It means building from the experience you have and leveraging that in a strategic way.
What’s more? There’s a simple (seriously, it’s four steps) way to incorporate both your career change and past experience into your elevator pitch. It’s the perfect solution to that dreaded question: “So, what do you do?” for those of us who, frankly, have done a whole lot.
There’s no better feeling than stepping into the new year with fresh perspectives and a re-energised soul. And there’s no better time to get a fresh start on working toward your goals.
If progressing in your career is on your 2024 to-do list, register for our new Break into Tech series. This week-long virtual event series will give you an inside look at what it’s like to really work in tech.
Then, take advantage of our exclusive Break into Tech discount to get $750 off a bootcamp or $250 off a short course in your local currency.*
HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR DISCOUNT
Attend a Break into Tech event.
Find your course.
Start your application and jump on a call with our Admissions team.
Mention code BiT-2024 to activate your discount.
Start your course between January 22 and April 30, 2024 (inclusive).
We also offer a variety of financing options, so be sure to talk with your Admissions Specialist to see what you qualify for. We’re here to help you find your best financing fit and can’t wait to help you make 2024 your best year yet.
*TERMS & CONDITIONS
Students must be 18 years or older.
Discount eligible for legal residents of Singapore, Australia, and the U.K.
Discount amount of $750 off a single bootcamp and/or $250 off a single short course.
Discount amount applies in student’s local currency.
Discount is applicable only for bootcamps or short courses. Paid workshops aren’t eligible for the discount.
The discount can only be applied to one bootcamp and/or one short course per student.
The discount isn’t available for those already enrolled in a bootcamp or short course, and can’t be applied retroactively.
Prospective students must start their course between January 22 and April 30, 2024 (inclusive) to be eligible for the discount.
Discount may not be applied to the non-refundable registration fee.
Withdrawals will forfeit deposit if using the discount during enrollment.
Tech skills are in high demand, leading many people to consider going back to school for tech skills. Most of the fastest growing roles today are tech related, including AI and machine learning specialists, data analysts, and systems engineers, according to The World Economic Forum.
So, you might be wondering: what’s the best way to go about gaining those skills? Should you take the higher education route and go back to university? Should you do a tech bootcamp? Are tech bootcamps really worth it?
It’s important to choose the right education path based on your circumstances and learning style. Let’s dive into the details of a coding bootcamp vs. degree and help you determine which is right for you.
In August 2023, Daniele Grassi was appointed President and CEO of General Assembly to lead our continued evolution and ensure we continue to provide clients like Adobe, Disney, Booz Allen Hamilton, BNP Paribas Cardif, Guardian, L’Oreal, and Microsoft the best-in-class talent and training solutions they’ve come to expect from us. Gretchen and Jourdan are strategic hires brought on to help advance our expansion mission.
Meet Gretchen
Newly hired Gretchen Jacobi, Head of Enterprise, brings over a decade of expertise in innovative talent development and talent supply strategies. She’ll be focused on helping businesses rethink the way they build and retain talent through customized upskilling and reskilling solutions, as well as scalable emerging talent pipelines, including Hire-Train-Deploy and apprenticeships. She’ll also expand our public-private partnerships with governments and nonprofits, which have driven economic mobility for over 10,000 workers traditionally locked out of high-demand careers. Prior to joining GA, Gretchen held roles at Revature, as SVP, Head of Mid-Market, and at Flatiron School, as VP, Business Development and Head of Career Services.
“As the half-life of skills becomes even shorter and AI continues to boom, global companies, workers, and entire economies are grappling with how to remain relevant, competitive, and productive. GA addresses this challenge by partnering with the most forward-thinking enterprises and governments in the world to invest in their most precious assets — their people. I’m thrilled to grow GA’s reach and impact at a time when solutions to the skilled workforce crisis are more needed than ever.”
– Gretchen Jacobi
Meet Jourdan
On the consumer side, Jourdan Hathaway has recently joined General Assembly as our new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). With more than 20 years of edtech and professional services experience in marketing and executive management roles, Jourdan will lead our global marketing organization. This includes brand, product marketing, growth and demand gen, performance, journey nurture, and revenue operations for our product portfolio of bootcamps, short form courses, and workshops. Jourdan’s expertise in creating an outstanding learner experience and operating a business at scale will support her efforts to drive demand for our offerings. She’ll also work side-by-side with our Sales and Product teams to help unlock future growth. Prior to joining GA, Jourdan spent 12 years in online education at Wiley University Services, most recently as the SVP of Operations.
”This role allows me to blend my passion for shaping the future of work with my expertise in marketing, operations, and technology. I’m excited to join General Assembly, long known as a pioneer in the career transformation space, and to help shepherd the business into its next phase.”
– Jourdan Hathaway
Both Gretchen and Jourdan will serve on our executive leadership team, reporting directly to Daniele Grassi, President and Chief Executive Officer.
“I’m thrilled to welcome industry veterans Gretchen Jacobi and Jourdan Hathaway to General Assembly. Too many businesses continue to report that they can’t find the skilled workers they need. As the problem widens, we need to find new solutions. I’m confident that Gretchen and Jourdan’s complementary contributions will make a significant and positive impact on the next phase of GA.”
