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Just before the start of the new academic year, Google made a major announcement that could change the future of work and higher education: the launch of a series of professional courses that teach candidates how to do the jobs that are currently most in demand in the world of digital.
These training courses, which are called Google Career Certificates, are based on teaching fundamental skills that can help job seekers find employment immediately. However, instead of spending years obtaining a traditional college degree, these courses are designed to be completed in about six months.
"College degrees are out of reach for many Americans, and you shouldn't need a college degree to have financial security," writes Kent Walker, senior vice president of global affairs at Google. "We need new, accessible vocational training solutions - from enhanced professional programs to online education - to help America recover and rebuild itself."
Walker later revealed the following on Twitter:
"In our hiring, we will now treat these new career certificates as the equivalent of a four-year degree for related roles."
To date, the cost of these courses has not yet been disclosed. However, the price of similar programs offered by Google on the Coursera online learning platform is around $ 49 per month (so if you take that as a reference, a six-month course would cost just less than many college students spend on textbooks in just one semester.) Additionally, Google said it will fund 100,000 scholarships to support the new programs.
It is therefore interesting to emphasize how digital education is acquiring an increasingly central role in the future of education, awakening a sector that seemed to have reached a stalemate in innovation. In this context, the breakthrough of the covid-19 just accelerated the digital transformation process that was already underway. A transformation that will be impossible to avoid for the world of university, professional and specialization training.
A CERTIFICATE, A JOB
A major criticism of higher education over the years has been that universities do not adequately provide students with the real-world skills they need in the workplace leaving them moreover in debt for years to repay student loans.
In contrast, Google says their courses, which would cost a fraction of a traditional college education, prepare and help students instantly find jobs in high-income and fast-growing professional sectors.
In addition to the three new programs that the US technology giant intends to offer, the communication also refers to the median annual salary for each of the positions presented. These are:
- Project Manager ($ 93.000)
- Data Analysist ($ 66.000)
- UX Designer ($ 75.000)
Such programs are intended to provide participants with the essential skills they need to find a job without "requiring any degree or previous experience to take the courses". Each course is designed and taught by Google employees working in their respective fields.
"Google's new career certificates are built on our existing programs to create IT support career paths for people without degrees," namely IT support specialists profiles with median annual salary of $ 54,760. "Launched in 2018, the Google IT Certificate program has become the most popular certificate on Coursera, and thousands of people have found new jobs and increased their earnings after completing the course."
Furthermore, after the completion of a program, Google promises support in the job search as well. The company says attendees can "choose to share [their] information directly with selectors” belonging to organizations such as Walmart, Best Buy, Intel, Bank of America, Hulu, and obviously Google.
Additionally, Google claims it will offer hundreds of apprenticeship opportunities to participants who have completed the course. And starting this fall, the company will offer its IT support certificate in high schools of vocational and technical education in the United States.
While traditional degrees are still deemed necessary in fields like law or medicine, more and more employers have reported that they no longer see them as a must - Apple, IBM and Google, to name a few.
THE GEEKS ACADEMY
In an interview given to dunp by Antonio Venece, director of the Geeks Academy, he explains how the idea of ??founding Geeks in 2016 was born from the need to bridge the gap between the lack of specialized professional profiles and youth unemployment. In fact, the Italian Unioncamere states that about 38% of job offers in the field of software development do not find profiles. Today we are forced to import more than 3% of these professionals from abroad. Same thing in the ICT sector.
Geeks Academy was therefore founded to bridge the growing gap in skills in the field of computer coding, artificial intelligence, data sciences, web security, blockchain, gaming and digital marketing, and the consequent lack of professional profiles. The goal, in fact, is precisely to be at the forefront and to provide through the various study programs lasting 6 months, which range from the acquisition of basic, intermediate knowledge to a comprehensive specialization, a preparation that allows to obtain understanding on issues related to the various paths and an immediate job outlet.
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