Unlocking career growth through continuous learning

FROM JOB SECURITY TO SKILL ADAPTABILITY

In our “trailing spouse” situation (note that we now avoid using this expression but it felt perfect for this introduction 😛) continuous learning transcends traditional education, becoming a cornerstone of personal and professional growth. Each new posting, quiet moment, or cultural encounter offers a chance to learn, adapt, and thrive. By embracing language acquisition, cultural immersion, online training of new skills, diplomatic spouses can transform challenges into opportunities, enriching our lives and unlocking diverse career paths. Here are practical strategies and curated resources to empower your learning journey.

Unlocking your potential with continuous learning

Frequent relocations, career shifts, and cultural adjustments define our lives. Following discussions with several CDFN members, although some professional fields are very difficult to pursue while abroad, there are several positive stories where family members managed to turn their professional challenges into learning opportunities.

If your career is on pause, it’s your best opportunity to learn! Think about it: is your master’s or doctorate degree still relevant if you struggle to navigate Microsoft 365, Google Docs, or don’t know what Power BI, Claude and Perplexity are? Are you still a good manager if you can’t grasp the new reality of your team’s digital workplace? Can you truly call yourself a computer scientist if you’ve never heard of new-wave tools like vibe coding?

Continuous learning isn’t optional anymore, it’s the bridge between who you were and who you can be next!

It can help to:

Navigate Transitions: Build resilience to adapt to new environments and professional landscapes.
Enhance Employability: Acquire skills and certifications to maintain career momentum, even during employment gaps, or develop new skills that allow you to be competitive upon your return in Canada.
Foster Integration: Deepen connections with local communities through specific skillsets, local projects, NGOs, but also through language and cultural understanding.

Each posting brings unique challenges. Viewing obstacles as learning opportunities fosters adaptability and a growth mindset. Setting learning goals, and experiences with NGOs rather than a very specific career path can help you keep an edge and remain highly employable.

(The CDFN is not affiliated with any of these services and these lists were built from suggestions of our members. If you have other great tools to share, let us know at [email protected] and we’ll add them here.)

Online courses for skill development

Online learning platforms provide flexible, career-focused training that individuals can use to upskill or pivot roles, especially relevant for remote, freelance or hybrid work settings. Rather than traditional, long-form education, these courses allow you to gain targeted competencies (like project management, digital marketing, coding, or soft skills) on your own schedule.

Key Platforms

LinkedIn Learning: A professional-development learning platform (formerly Lynda.com) integrated with the LinkedIn ecosystem. It offers courses in business, technology, creative fields and soft skills, with a focus on career growth and applying skills in a workplace context.
- The platform emphasises personalised learning paths aligned with roles and career journeys, leveraging LinkedIn’s data on skills and professional trajectories.
- For individuals looking to strengthen their professional profile, soft skills (e.g., communication, leadership, emotional intelligence) or refine role-specific capabilities (e.g., Excel for business analytics).
Coursera: Backed by universities and industry partners, Coursera offers a wide range of courses, specializations and professional certificates designed to build job-ready skills.
- They also offer free-to-audit courses and pathways to formal certificates.
- Check out some free courses here.
Udemy: A marketplace for affordable, practical skills training, covering coding, digital marketing, web development, and more. With over 250,000 courses and tens of millions of students, Udemy emphasises self-paced learning. They often have very good sales and it’s worth taking a look in your local currency (where you are posted) as sometimes the courses can be half priced depending on your local market.
- Udemy is especially useful for practical, task-oriented skills that you can apply immediately (e.g., building a website, launching a social campaign, writing basic code).
- Check out some comparisons between Udemy and other services here: Udemy vs Pluralsight, Udemy vs Coursera, and Udemy vs Educative, Udemy vs. CodeCademy.

Example: A project management course can prepare you for remote freelance roles. The catalog includes business-skills courses (e.g., Excel for business, professional success, business communication) that cover exactly such competencies.

Benefits:

Flexibility: Learn at your own pace, often from anywhere.
Relevance: Especially with platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning, courses are mapped to in-demand skills and real-world roles.
Affordability: Udemy’s marketplace style enables low-cost entry; Coursera offers free audit options; LinkedIn Learning often included via corporate access or subscription. Try their “30 days free” and see for yourself.

Considerations

Balance hard and soft skills. In remote roles, communication, teamwork, adaptability matter as much as technical skills.
Credentials vs experience: While credentials help, many employers and clients will also look for demonstrable results/project experience.
Quality & currency: Especially in fast-moving fields (tech, digital marketing, AI), course content may need to be recent. Check last update dates and instructor credentials.
Time investment & discipline: Self-paced courses require motivation and time management; not the best format for all.

Look for courses that include hands-on projects or capstone work (so you have something tangible to show). Coursera’s “Professional Certificates” emphasise hands-on projects.
Add your certificate(s) to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio or resume. Make sure to highlight what you can do rather than simply “Completed course X”.

Keep learning, it’s a continuous skill-refresh cycle, especially in digital-first or remote work settings!

Volunteering: applying skills in real-world contexts

Volunteering bridges learning and practical experience, enhancing your resume and community ties. My first video projects were for the kids’ school and it led to contracts with the US department of defense and NGOs.

Look at local NGOs or expat organizations for language or project management tasks.
Apply skills like event planning or translation in real settings.
Build professional networks and gain references.

Breaking language barriers

Learning the local language transforms you from an outsider to an active participant, opening doors to authentic connections and can lead to professional opportunities.

Beyond salary benefits, language skills enable you to build meaningful relationships, navigate social structures, and establish a genuine sense of belonging¹ in your host community. The notion that language skills “might not be relevant in your field” requires reconsideration, multicultural experiences can allow you to see processes differently, and these experiences become a professional strength². Studies reveal that language proficiency proves valuable across all job types³. Even in highly specialized domains, the indirect benefits are substantial: multilingual individuals demonstrate superior executive function⁴, enhanced problem-solving abilities⁵, and more rational decision-making skills⁶ that employers value across industries.

Drawing from different cultural perspectives and linguistic structures⁷ helps view problems from multiple angles and generate innovative solutions. This enhanced cognitive flexibility⁸, the ability to see processes differently, represents a competitive professional strength!

Resources:

There are lots of apps or online tools to learn a language. Duolingo is often the first that comes to mind. It gamifies learning and fits in your pocket, though the notifications can get annoying. A subscription helps you make the most of your study time, and a family plan is great if everyone wants to learn the local language together.
There are also lifetime subscriptions for well-reviewed platforms like Rosetta Stone or Babbel, often available on deal sites like StackSocial. Other smaller language platforms that sometimes offer lifetime or long-term deals include Busuu, Pimsleur, Mango Languages, and LingQ. You can try their apps or websites first, and a lifetime plan could be a good investment if you plan on learning more than one language over time. Here’s another resource with several options.
There are also apps to practice with real native speakers. Tandem is one of them — it’s a language exchange app. Other options include HelloTalk, italki or Preply if you’d like to have structured conversations with professional tutors.
BBC Languages offers free introductory courses (although it isn’t updated anymore it provides an interesting base for a few languages).

In your new daily life, language skills can lead to great intercultural encounters, friendships with locals and even some small contracts as a freelancer or consultant.

Continuous learning is a lifelong adventure

By embracing diverse learning methods, leveraging resources, and applying skills through volunteering, you can unlock your potential, build resilience, and advance your career.

Explore one new topic weekly!
Balance fun and learning
Embrace new experiences
Adopt a growth mindset: View setbacks as learning opportunities!

Let each posting be a chapter in your growth story, fueled by curiosity and a commitment to never stop learning!

Cheat sheet
Broad-spectrum skill platforms

Platform	Best For…	Key Feature Highlight	Noteworthy Consideration
LinkedIn Learning	Professional development, strengthening soft skills, and aligning learning with your career profile.	Deeply integrated with the LinkedIn ecosystem, offering personalized learning paths based on professional data.	Excellent for skills directly applicable in a corporate or workplace context (e.g., leadership, communication).
Coursera	Gaining job-ready skills and earning formal certificates from universities and industry partners.	Emphasizes hands-on projects and capstone work, allowing you to build a tangible portfolio.	Many courses are free to “audit” meaning you can access the material without paying for a certificate.
Udemy	Acquiring practical, task-oriented skills quickly and affordably.	A massive marketplace with over 250,000 courses, often available at a deep discount during sales events.	It’s worth checking prices in your local currency; courses can sometimes be half-priced depending on the market where you’re located.
edX	Accessing university-level courses and professional development certifications.	Offers a wide range of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) from leading academic institutions.	A strong choice for those who prefer a more academically rigorous learning structure.
FutureLearn	Following structured, career-oriented learning tracks from universities and cultural institutions.	Provides a variety of courses and programs designed to build skills for specific career paths.	Similar to edX, it connects learners with established educational organizations.

Platforms for Niche & Creative Skills

Platform	Primary Focus	Ideal Learner Profile
Udacity	Technology and data science professional tracks, known as “nanodegrees.”	A learner focused on job-readiness in cutting-edge tech fields like AI, data science, and programming.
Pluralsight	In-depth technical skills for IT professionals and software developers.	A tech professional aiming to master specific software, IT operations, or development frameworks.
Skillshare	Creative and practical skills, such as design, video production, and illustration.	An aspiring artist, designer, or creator looking for project-based classes to build their creative portfolio.
MasterClass	High-production value classes taught by world-renowned experts and celebrities.	Someone seeking creative inspiration and high-level insights into a specific craft, from writing to cooking.

Sources

A person taking a selfie with a camera, reflected in a mirror, with multiple reflections creating a dynamic and vibrant effect.

Former journalist for the CBC, Patrick has been abroad for a decade. From Turkey to Kazakhstan, he is now in Brazil. His family changed a lot since he arrived in Turkey with 3 young children. His career path also changed, from learning to register a business for international freelance work to contributing to several small contracts at missions, Patrick found his way to build a professional life that he can carry with him.