Google: Try our free digital skills workshops on remote working, resumes, e-commerce
Google for the first time is offering its Grow with Google digital skills training service for free and, appropriately for a time of mass unemployment and social distancing, the workshops will teach students how to use tech to work remotely, brush up a resume, and setup an e-commerce business.
Of course, this first workshop, which goes live today, focuses on Google's G Suite productivity suite and its collaboration platforms, Google Meet & Chat.
The introductory course will teach students how to host effective virtual meetings, collaborate on documents in real time, and access files from a smartphone.
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The course scheduled for Wednesday teaches business operators how to connect with customers and manage business remotely, such as updating business information online, communicating with customers, and conducting virtual meetings.
Thursday's course will teach job hunters how to polish a resume, and read their own resume like a hiring manager.
Google's workshops for using technology to improve business and employability could prove popular given that 20 million people lost a job in April as businesses large and small have struggled with contentious coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions.
Other workshops scheduled for May include an online marketing class, using Google tools for searching for jobs, building an online presence, making a website search-friendly, and using Shopify for e-commerce.
The courses are being offered under the Grow with Google OnAir brand, an extension of the Grow with Google philanthropic program launched in 2017 to help Americans gain skills to get a job. Likewise, Grow with Google OnAir is targeted at people within the US and Canada.
The new workshops are targeted at a less technical crowd than Google's previous Grow with Google programs, which catered to IT admins looking for a better career and aspiring Python developers.
Would-be students need to register for upcoming events. Unfortunately for Google users in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the form notes participants "must be a current resident of Canada or the United States of America to register for Grow with Google OnAir".
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Eligible participants can also get free one-on-one coaching after attending one of Google's workshops.
The workshops offer digital skills training, interviews with career experts and programming from Grow with Google partners such as Merit America and the National Congress of American Indians.
According to Google, Grow with Google has delivered digital skills training to more than four million Americans.