26 Money-Making Skills You Can Learn in Less Than a Year

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Skarie20 / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Skarie20 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Learning a new business skill is an excellent way to break into an industry. Not only can it make yourself more attractive to employers but also it may even earn you more money and responsibility in your current career.

But between work, family and life, the thought of spending years in a classroom can be overwhelming. Fortunately, you don’t have to. It’s possible to learn many in-demand skills in less than a year — some in just a few weeks or months.

Potential earning increases for adding new skills to your resume are wide-ranging, but the more skill you can bring to the table for an employer, the better your advantage over other candidates, the higher your value in your industry and the more negotiating power you’ll have when discussing your wage or salary. Enrich your career and increase your paycheck with these money-making skills.

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JohnnyGreig / Getty Images

Project Management

Project managers oversee various projects from start to finish. Project management skills are useful in many industries, including healthcare and information technology.

Udemy’s Project Management Professional Certification Program takes around 60 hours to complete and costs $109.99.

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eclipse_images / iStock.com
eclipse_images / iStock.com

Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Becoming proficient in search engine optimization and search engine marketing helps you excel as a marketing professional and opens the door to opportunities in digital marketing and website development.

With SEO knowledge, you can develop successful internet marketing campaigns and provide multiple industries with website content. The SEO course and certification from ClickMinded is $999 for the year and three-to-six hours long.

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katleho Seisa / Getty Images
katleho Seisa / Getty Images

Video Editing and Production

Learning video editing and production can open the door to opportunities with marketing and promotional companies, or help you land entry-level work in television and video editing.

Training costs and program lengths vary. For example, the New York Film Academy offers 15-week digital workshops with tuition starting at $2,200.

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Viktoriia Hnatiuk / Getty Images/iStockphoto

App Developing and Programming

Learning how to develop apps enables you to create your own web applications from scratch. You can work as an independent contractor developing apps for companies or get a job as an app developer.

You can find several free and low-cost online training opportunities — edX offers a variety of app development courses that last about six weeks. Courses are free, but you’ll have to pay to become certified.

gorodenkoff / Getty Images/iStockphoto
gorodenkoff / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Translation

Translators work in private and public schools, courthouses, hospitals and conference centers. Becoming a translator might be a great opportunity if you already speak and write in another language.

The University of Arizona offers an online Spanish/English Translation Certification program made up of three courses and it lasts 16 weeks. This program costs $2,475 in total, but there are many online courses and programs available for a variety of price ranges.

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undrey / Getty Images/iStockphoto
undrey / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Data Analysis

Several industries use data analytics — including travel, energy, finance, education and health — to identify patterns and trends they can leverage for growing their businesses.

Online learning center General Assembly offers an accelerated one-week course and a 10-week, part-time Data Analytics course that comes with flexible payment options. Upon completing the course, you might be eligible to receive credit toward an online graduate program.

Delmaine Donson / iStock.com
Delmaine Donson / iStock.com

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing technology is an excellent skill to learn because it’s one of the fastest-growing businesses in the IT industry.

Cloud Academy provides a wealth of ongoing training to help you learn cloud computing and prepare for Amazon Web Services certification, starting at $39 a month. The course has no end date and you can learn as little or as much as you like.

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xavierarnau / Getty Images

Leadership, Mentorship and Employee Engagement

Developing strong leadership skills can help you guide a team. These skills are valuable if you are working toward becoming a manager, supervisor or director.

eCornell offers a four-month Executive Leadership Cornell Certificate Program for people in executive roles that costs $4,999.

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scyther5 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Network Systems Administration

Network systems administration training teaches you how to install, configure and troubleshoot problems within an organization’s computer network.

DeVry University offers an online undergraduate certificate in networking essentials that consists of eight courses that take a minimum of 23 credit hours to complete. Cost per credit hour starts at $514 for new students.

dusanpetkovic / Getty Images/iStockphoto
dusanpetkovic / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Basic and Professional Writing

Whether you’re working in healthcare, administration or business, excellent writing skills are essential for drafting emails and memos. Online writing courses help you hone these skills at little to no cost.

Udemy’s Business Writing & Technical Writing Immersion course, for example, is offered to help you improve your writing skills in just a few minutes per day and costs only $89.99, with various discounts available.

Rawpixel / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Rawpixel / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Bookkeeping

A basic bookkeeping course teaches you how to manage a company’s financial accounts. Bookkeepers are employed in all types of industries, including healthcare, government, private businesses and retail.

Penn Foster’s online bookkeeping courses take about five months and tuition starts at $789.

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fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Foreign Language

Learning a second language can not only help you establish relationships with clients who don’t speak English but also can make you a viable candidate for jobs that require international travel — from sales and business development to training and leading others on tours. You can also use this skill for call center jobs, telephone or online sales jobs and customer service jobs with employers who need bilingual employees.

Check out foreign language or American Sign Language classes at a community college or online. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, offers an online, four-month Business Spanish Certificate Program starting at $699.

Erstudiostok / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Erstudiostok / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Photography

With photography, you can explore your creative side and find opportunities in photojournalism or studio or commercial photography. Becoming a photographer doesn’t necessarily require a degree.

You can complete online classes with the New York Institute of Photography, for example, within six to 12 months and tuition ranges from $699 to $899.

hobo_018 / Getty Images
hobo_018 / Getty Images

3D, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Programming Skills

Consider a virtual reality (VR) certificate program if you want to learn basic VR programming and develop VR applications. Learning how to write VR programs opens the door to entry-level positions with software design companies.

University of California San Diego offers a professional certificate in Virtual Reality (VR) App Development that includes three courses over five months for $297 total.

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Mladen Zivkovic / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Personal Trainer Certification

Becoming a certified personal trainer qualifies you to work in fitness gyms and wellness centers to help beginner and advanced fitness enthusiasts transform their bodies.

You can become certified in as few as 15 weeks at the National Academy of Sports Medicine, where the cost ranges from $869 to $1,529.

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vadimguzhva / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Online Marketing

Companies with websites often need people knowledgeable in online marketing to increase traffic to their sites. Learning online marketing skills can help you snag a digital marketing job. Online marketing skills are also beneficial when launching your own business.

Udemy has a 30-day Online Marketing Crash Course for $39.99 that covers basic online marketing strategy, social media, blogging and more. Other online education options include eCornell, which offers a two-month, $3,699 Digital Marketing Certificate Program.

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Laurence Dutton / Getty Images

Information Security

Information security training paves the way for a career in cybersecurity. Work with government agencies, retailers and other businesses to protect sensitive information from hackers.

Boston University, for example, offers an online Information Security Graduate Certificate program, which students can complete in eight to 12 months. Tuition is about $14,020 to $15,720 and scholarship opportunities are available.

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Wavebreakmedia / Getty Images/iStockphoto
Wavebreakmedia / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Graphic Design

Graphic design training lets you express your creativity and convey messages visually. Put your skills to good use as a freelancer or work for a web design company, internet marketing company, publisher or interior design company.

Udemy offers a Graphic Design Bootcamp that only requires 16 hours to complete with a certificate and the price starts at $149.99.

Morsa Images / Getty Images
Morsa Images / Getty Images

Productivity and Time Management

Learning time management skills helps you become a more efficient worker, which employers consider a strong point. When you know how to balance priorities your overall productivity improves.

Learning Tree International offers a two-day, online Time Management Training course for $1,950.

AtnoYdur / Getty Images/iStockphoto
AtnoYdur / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Tax Preparation

Completing a basic tax preparation class is one way to make extra money during tax season. The course can also help you gain valuable tax experience if you’re working toward becoming an accountant, certified public accountant or financial planner. The Income Tax School offers 10-week online tax preparation courses starting at $497.

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©Shutterstock.com
©Shutterstock.com

Notarizing

A notary public witnesses and records the signing of important papers like mortgage closing documents and legal affidavits. In addition to notary public service providers — like shipping service retail stores — real estate companies, banks and law firms also employ or use notaries.

A notary public course takes about three to six hours to complete and you’ll have to pass a notary exam approved by your state. In Florida, you can become a notary for $119 for four years.

DGLimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto
DGLimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Bartending

Learning how to handle a bar can help you earn extra money working at a bar, restaurant or private party. Different states will have different requirements for bartenders, but you can find a wide variety of resources for your state online.

Online mixology and bartending courses are offered for every skill level, entry to advanced and can range from free to $400. Typsy, an online platform for hospitality courses and training, offers a number of bartending courses to individual subscribers for free.

©Shutterstock.com
©Shutterstock.com

Paralegal

If you’re interested in legal work but don’t want to attend law school, consider a career as a paralegal and work alongside lawyers. At Blackstone Career Institute, for example, you can complete paralegal studies in as few as eight to 12 months for a cost of $2,493.

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scyther5 / Getty Images/iStockphoto
scyther5 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

User Experience

According to Coursera, user experience (UX) is one of the more profitable skills that you can learn in 2024. Those who work in UX manage how a consumer interacts with a product, website, app or physical object. Work in this field may involve research, design work and help with marketing.

Based on Glassdoor data, the average pay for this job is $119,735 per year. If you want to test the waters in UX, you can enroll in the Google UX Design Professional Certificate for a free 7-day trial, and then it costs $49 a month on Coursera after that. The program offers seven courses and you’ll gain the skills for an entry-level role in the field.

Thitima Uthaiburom / Getty Images
Thitima Uthaiburom / Getty Images

Prompt Engineering

The most recent focus has been on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the generative tools that have changed how we do research and perform tasks. With the explosion in popularity of AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, it’s crucial to learn how to use these tools. There are various ways to get more done with the assistance of AI by building prompts that can automate your work process. Learning prompt engineering is about finding ways to ask better questions, give clear directions, and assign tasks to language learning models.

The good news is that you can learn for free to get a handle on prompt engineering by going through the GPT Best Practices guide offered by Open AI. There are numerous certifications available, but you can start with the program offered by Vanderbilt University through Coursera, where you’ll learn about the newest approaches to generative AI in one month, with a price tag of $49 a month.

Learning these skills could improve your productivity and outsource time-consuming tasks at your job or with your own business. You could also land a new gig, as it’s been reported by Business Insider of AI prompt engineering jobs paying as high as $375,000 per year.

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com
Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Content Creation

One skill that can combine a variety of the aforementioned ones is content creation. You could use prompt engineering to help out with generative images or content, use online marketing abilities to promote the material and tap into your photography lessons by capturing visually compelling images. In 2024, you want to learn about content creation because it will help you generate better ideas, engage with your audience on the native platform and reach more users. There are also many platforms on which you can create content.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for a content creator is $116,615. You can find work as a social media manager or you can create your own content that you monetize on your preferred platform. There are various free resources available online to learn more about content creation.

You’ll want to find a course or program that caters to the platform that you want to learn more about, as you can create content for YouTube, Instagram, a podcast or a combination of channels. For example, Udemy offers free and premium courses if you want to learn how to grow a YouTube channel from scratch.

Martin Dasko contributed to the reporting for this article.

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