by Blathnaid O’Dea
24 Jun 2022
These online courses could prepare you for a role as an RPA developer, tester, solution architect, automation engineer and more. 
With a new report this week suggesting all workers will need some knowledge of AI, learning some of the core competencies involved in automative technologies could also stand to you in your career. A good grounding in automation and machine learning is beneficial for developers, tech entrepreneurs and anyone with an interest in solving problems.
Some of the most in-demand jobs in the automation sector at the moment include RPA developers, solution architects, RPA controllers, testers and process mining consultants. These roles require people who are willing to upskill and keep on top of the developments in the sector.
Doing a short course is a great way of brushing up on your technical skills. Whether you’re a beginner or you have some experience, there’s a course out there for you. Many on this list are free or relatively inexpensive compared to a full degree course.
Here’s our pick of some of the automation courses out there.
Intelligent process automation (IPA) is a nascent aspect of the already widely used robotic process automation (RPA).
This course is run by Automation Anywhere and is aimed at business users, developers and automation enthursiasts. It offers quick video tutorials that you can watch in your own time.
The course provider recommends that you do its beginner’s RPA course before the IPA course if you don’t already have a good grounding in the former.
Despite its no frills title, this course actually offers a lot. It includes more than nine hours of on-demand video and 95 downloadable resources designed to help you in your quest to automate the boring stuff.
Aimed at office workers, administrators and students who want to improve their productivity, it is a course for beginners covering basic concepts.
“By the end of this course, you’ll be able to write code that not only dramatically increases your productivity, but also be able to list this fun and creative skill on your resume,” the course promises.
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Be part of a globally successful team
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Google offers a “fast-paced practical introduction” to machine learning in this 15-hour course that features 25 lessons and more than 30 exercises.
You can learn from Google’s machine learning researchers using real-world examples and interactive visualisations of the algorithms at work. It’s recommended that you have some experience with programming and Python prior to doing the course.
This course is run by Google on Coursera as part of the tech giant’s Google Career Certificates initiative. It is free to enrol and at the end of the course you’ll get a certificate that is shareable on LinkedIn.
The programme can be completed in around six months if you put in around 10 hours a week as suggested. The course work can be completed in your own time and deadlines can be set based on your schedule.
You’ll learn how to automate tasks by writing Python scripts, use Git and GitHub for version control and solve IT problems.
Developed by lecturers from the University of Minnesota, this course is aimed at beginner to intermediate software developers.
It is free to enrol and takes around four months to complete. You will learn about black-box and white-box testing, automated testing, web and mobile testing, as well as formal testing theory and techniques.
By the end of the course, you will be able to plan and perform effective testing of your software.
For those looking for a longer course on automation, this level 7 course is run by the new South East Technological University (SETU).
It is a Springboard course, which means it is Government subsidised. It lasts one year and delivery is a mix of online classes and in-person lectures on campus.
The course was developed in consultation with several automation and manufacturing companies in the south-east region. Learners will graduate with the skills to work in an in-demand sector.
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In-Depth: Automation Week
Related: robotics, automation engineers, education, skills
Blathnaid O’Dea joined Silicon Republic in 2021 as Careers reporter, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.
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