Learn professional skills for today’s workplace with the University of Cambridge
Today’s world of work is a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment – the recent pandemic has only escalated the pace of change and has added to the list of challenges facing people looking to find the right skills to help them return to the civilian work force.
Help is at hand from the University of Cambridge, which is offering a dynamic new programme of flexible short online learning courses designed for busy professionals – giving them the opportunity to harness the latest research, innovation and thinking from top Cambridge academics in a real-world context that can be applied directly to the workplace.
With courses covering a range of topics – from business skills to engineering – Cambridge Advance Online brings together the academic prowess of the University of Cambridge, and the publishing and assessment strengths of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, giving professionals the chance to develop their skills and specialise in emerging areas that will help them get on in today’s rapidly-evolving job market. And the great news is that army personnel can claim a 10% discount on the course fees (see below for more details).
“Our certificated courses will reflect the Cambridge experience and values, with low student to tutor ratios and academically rigorous standards,” said Professor Graham Virgo
Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education). “They will allow direct engagement with academics at Cambridge and are centred on rich interaction between students and subject experts. Each course will offer the opportunity to join live sessions with academics and interact in collaborative exercises with learners worldwide.”
Starting from April 2022, Cambridge Advance Online courses offer a flexible way to fit learning around busy professional lives. Courses feature the latest in learning design theory and best-in-class learning technology, with a focus on real-world applications. Each of the courses offers a balance of academic-led seminars, collaboration with peer learners and individual study to challenge and support students in achieving their individual career goals – and ultimately lead to an online certificate from the University of Cambridge that will prove their success.
Students will also have the opportunity to enhance their professional networks, both while they are taking the course and long into the future. All learners are invited to join the Cambridge Advance Online alumni networks, once they have successfully completed their course, to continue sharing their ideas as well as sharing job opportunities.
Kickstarting creative thinking
There has been increasing recognition of the importance of creativity in the workplace over recent years. Creativity is often cited as the most valuable skill employees and leaders need to have, and as a key determinant of organisational performance and staff satisfaction.
Cambridge Advance Online’s six-week course on Creativity, Problem Solving and Design Thinking – led by Professor of Design Nathan Crilly – draws on cutting edge research to explore effective thinking skills that can be applied directly to the workplace.
This course introduces the relevant thinking skills and biases that render creative processes and tools easier to understand, distinguish, apply and manage. Building on this, students will have the opportunity to progress a project related to their own work context.
“Independent of what sector you might be working in,” says Professor Crilly. “Knowing how to structure the creative process, knowing how to work through it, knowing how to facilitate creative sessions, these are the sorts of things we are looking at so we can develop individuals’ creative confidence and abilities but also their capacity to talk about themselves creatively and describe the creative techniques they can use.”
Aimed at professionals from a range of different industries who are looking to bring innovative solutions to their organisations, this six-week course is due to start in April 2022. More course dates will be added for June and September 2022. Download the full brochure here.
Communication skills for a post-pandemic world
Businesses and organisations worldwide are facing a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment – known as ‘VUCA’. This situation has been exacerbated further by the Covid pandemic. The intercultural competence needed to deal with this volatile environment is seen as an emerging set of skills required in every workplace with diverse teams and in international organisations and businesses. Becoming culturally competent in a globalised, VUCA world can open new markets and networks, promote mutual enrichment, and improve productivity and efficiency.
Cambridge Advance Online’s eight-week course on Intercultural Business Communication and VUCA – led by Kasia Lanucha, an Intercultural Trainer and Coach at the Centre for Languages and Inter-communication at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering – is designed to explore communication in a post-pandemic world.
“The professionals on the course will learn about the impact of cultural differences in our interactions and how to apply some strategies and tools to become immediately more effective,” says Kasia Lanucha. “They will learn about the difference between national culture, generational culture, professional culture or organisational culture, which all have an impact on the way we interact with others.”
Participants from around the globe will draw on various models to analyse their own experiences in order to develop a personal development plan to address effective interactions in their own workplace.
Ideal for professionals looking to enhance their skillset and become more agile when working across different cultures and social groups within global organisations, and dealing with VUCA related issues, this eight-week course is due to start in April 2022. More course dates will be added for June and September 2022. Download the full brochure here.
A roadmap to success
Cambridge Advance Online’s programme of premium courses for professionals also includes a suite of technical topics, including:
Product-Technology Roadmapping: The course is based on decades of research and practice of roadmapping at the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge. Course tutors bring extensive experience from helping organisations globally to develop roadmaps and roadmapping capabilities under various contexts and for different purposes. They will provide learners with key principles and the understanding required to develop roadmaps for effective technology and product planning. There will be a strong focus on the practical application of an agile and efficient, ‘fast-start’ approach, and support will be available throughout to help learners develop their own roadmap by the end of the course. Download a course brochure here.
Leveraging Big Data for Business Intelligence: Making data-driven decisions to stay ahead of the curve is imperative to the success of any business. Led by Senior Software Engineer and University of Cambridge researcher Russell Hunter, this course will help professionals to understand big data, user-driven events, data science techniques and machine learning and apply this in order to inform successful product feature development and strategic business solutions. Learners will be able to apply their learning immediately in the workplace, making proactive changes that secure strategic and financial success based on real data. Find out more here.
Control Engineering: Aimed at working engineers, this short course – led by Jan Maciejowski, Professor Emeritus of Control Engineering at the University of Cambridge – is unique in that it provides an ambitious overview of control engineering in just eight weeks. Relevant examples will be drawn from a range of applications to give context to conceptual information and participants will be encouraged to apply their learning to their own work through discussions and project work. Download a course brochure here.
These courses are a perfect opportunity for people who want to advance their careers and connect with other professionals around the world – guided by some of the University of Cambridge’s top academics.
Find out more about other Cambridge Advance Online courses here.
Enrolment advisors are able to offer advice and determine which course is best suited for potential learners’ goals or business needs. Schedule an appointment with an Enrolment Advisor here or email [email protected]
Forces personnel are entitled to a 10% discount on all Cambridge Advance Online course fees, using the promotional code Thanks10.