Becoming A Jill Of Many (Small) Trades

August 31, 2023 6:12 AM

I've been toying with the idea of becoming a notary - not as a career thing, more to make myself stand out a bit more when job hunting as an executive assistant and office manager ("She can be the assistant to our COO, AND she's a notary on top of that? That's awesome!"). What are some other generally useful things like that I could train for or apply/qualify for, which have low entry cost in terms of time and money spent in training or qualifying?

I cannot stress enough that this needs to be low cost, and that I currently don't have the time to train for months to get a certification. For New York notaries there are multiple free training resources, and then a test they offer twice a year that costs only fifteen bucks to sit for - and then you pay another 50 for your tools and you're set; that's about the time and money investment I'm looking for.

I am also not looking for anything to spin into a potential side hustle. NY would only let me charge two bucks a pop for anything I notarize, so I really wouldn't be able to anyway - I'm looking into it more for the added facet I could add to my skills as an assistant, so a potential future boss would see that having me on hand means they wouldn't have to shell out $50 for the mobile notary any more, they could just have me do it for free. I'm hoping there are a couple of other random generally-useful things I could add into my skillset that would make me REALLY stand out.

I'm in the USA, NYC in specific.

posted by EmpressCallipygos to Work & Money (10 answers total)

Best answer: If the job might include organizing or overseeing catered events, then having your Food Protection Certificate could be useful. It's a free 15 hour online course and a $24 fee for an in-person exam. The certificate does not expire or need to be renewed.

If the office has an AED, then AED certification could be good to have. The value of CPR is debatable, but CPR certification is another possibility along those lines.
posted by jedicus at 6:37 AM on August 31, 2023

We got really excited about an applicant who had some kind of Excel certificate because we are all hopeless at Excel. Turned out he didn’t know anything more than we did, but still—the potential is there.
posted by HotToddy at 7:27 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you have an NYPL card, you can access LinkedIn learning and they offer some certificates. Excel and Sharepoint are the biggest draws in places I've worked.
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:25 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: There are lots of free courses on Coursera that are under a month: https://www.coursera.org/search?query=free&productDuration=1-4%20Weeks
posted by wicked_sassy at 8:28 AM on August 31, 2023

Best answer: Not sure of the details but OSHA offers various safety training courses.
posted by staggernation at 8:29 AM on August 31, 2023

St John's Ambulance or any other first aid course always has value.
posted by Enid Lareg at 11:20 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Brooklyn Library: Mental Health First Aid certification, good for 3 years; 8 hr course. Other certification courses offered throughout the year.
NYU specific - Bloomberg training & certification ("NYU alumni who are a New York Public Library (NYPL) member / card holder may visit the Yoseloff Business Center at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library branch to access Bloomberg.")
Lots of Salesforce certifications (an overview) with a broad range of test costs ($75-thousands) but free self-study prep materials through LinkedIn, Coursera, etc. Certs incl. Salesforce for Admins & Nonprofit Cloud Consultant
NYS Dept of Labor Online Learning with Coursera, free account.
FEMA catalog (some short courses/classes, some are self-study, some are restricted)
If you've studied another language at any point, brushing up (to at least conversational level) is handy.
Brooklyn Urban Gardener Certificate
FDNY Certificates of Fitness, like Certificate of Fitness for E-Mail Document Submission Representative, Fire and Emergency Drill Conductor, Supervision of Hookah Establishments, fire performers
Oh, and if you're not already: Internet ordination; Universal Life Church, .org and .net (there was a schism) & others + NYC Marriage Officiant Registration
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:49 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: You can become a weather spotter with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. 2 hour free training.
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:37 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Just a gentle reminder that I'm looking for suggestions of specific things to certify for, instead of only places to get them (i.e., - what specific things would be most useful for me to study on Coursera?).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:16 AM on September 1, 2023

Best answer: On the Coursera link wicked_sassy provided, I'd suggest these courses for tech-adjacent or nonprofit-adjacent assistants. I doubt the courses would be quantifiable moneysavers in the way that notarizing could be. But they would show that you're staying up to date on hot topics.
- Generative AI
- Agile
- Excel to Power BI
- anything relating to diversity/equity/inclusion
- anything relating to mental health
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 5:37 AM on September 1, 2023 [4 favorites]