Rapid technology changes, worldwide competition and increasing demands from employers can make even the most confident worker a bit shaky.
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That's why self-directed learning is gaining momentum. Workers can find online resources to learn about everything from project management to marketing, helping them learn when the time is best for them.
Instead of taking days or even weeks to try to figure out a problem on their own, they also can tap into an online expert to give them information in a matter of minutes or hours — for a fee.
"I don't think schools are going away, but new tech provides another option to learn," says Ken Howery, a PayPal cofounder and now founder and partner with Founders Fund.
Last year he was part of a $2 million investment in an education start-up called PopExpert.
PopExpert provides hundreds of experts that meet one on one through video sessions and charge a per-hour rate for services. But PopExpert goes beyond job skills, also targeting workers' well being.
Howery says he personally uses PopExpert meditation instructor Kenneth Folk.
“I don't think schools are going away, but new tech provides another option to learn.”
— Ken Howery, Founders Fund"I have worked with Kenneth in person when he's in San Francisco, and nothing is as good as in person," Howery says. "But still, video is way better than a phone call."
Folk is listed on PopExpert as available for instruction at $125 a session. But other sessions, such as meeting with a productivity expert, may cost only $37 for the first session, the site reveals.
For Satya Twena, fashion entrepreneur and fine milliner in New York City, the decision to tap into a social media-expert from PopExpert came about after she realized! that her in-house social-media hire wasn't delivering for her business.
The expert Twena chose spent about an hour researching her company's social-media strategy and met with her online to show her how she could put in place a better social-media effort.
"I found out what we were not doing. By finding this expert, I believe it saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars by creating a social media strategy that made sense for us," Twena says. "Meeting with her cost me less than $100."
Twena, who has a psychology and women's study degree from Wellesley but little prior business experience before her current venture, says online learning provides her a way to gather information quickly and helps prevent her from falling behind in a competitive business environment.
Because people learn differently, Howery says online learning offers another option.
Even a business like millinery isn't just about making hats anymore.(Photo: Alexandra Bahou, Detroit Free Press)
"Some people do best by reading a book. Some others learn best from teachers. And some people need to experiment on their own," he says. "Online learning means that you have to figure out what you want to learn as opposed to just following what a teacher tells you. Self-directed learning does require self-motivation."
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At this point in her life, Twena, 30, says going back to school for a master's for several years and spending $80,000 makes little sense when she can get the skills and expertise she needs through online learning and exposure to key people and resources.
Twena hired a Kickstarter expert whom she believes was critical i! n develop! ing a strategy that helped her raise $172,000 through the online crowdfunding site. The money is being used to purchase one of New York City's last hat factories and rehire its employees.
"Learning, changing, zigging and zagging — that's how you learn to be successful," she says.
Twena echoes the concern of many professionals who fret that the marketplace is moving too rapidly. She say she must hone her skills constantly and as rapidly as possible to keep her career and business thriving.
She lamented that she spent three days researching the best shipping options for her product when she could have tapped into an online expert to give her the best advice in a fraction of the time.
"I've done everything backwards because I don't do anything forward," she says, laughing. "Believe me, next time I have a question I'm going right to an expert."
Anita Bruzzese is author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy ... and How to Avoid Them, www.45things.com. Twitter: @AnitaBruzzese.
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