Pluralsight review – on-demand educational platform with a human face

First thought of yours after navigating to pluralsight.com might be “Really? Yet another online course resource?”. Well, yes – it’s an online academy, but not one of many. It’ a good one – really, really good one. Hundreds of professionally designed courses curated by industry experts are just a mouse click away (30-day free trial available).

To be more specific, we will look at what exactly makes Pluralsight stand out of the crowd.

Key features

Versatile paths – it’s not just about IT as most MOOCs and online courses out there are. The possible directions for growth and development include areas as diverse as Manufacturing, Construction, Architecture, Design, Management, Cyber Security, etc. And significant portion is dedicated to programming, IT operations, data science and the like – merely because these disciplines are inherently learned with a laptop and internet connection at hand.

Inside each path are numerous courses of varying difficulty levels structured into more granular subject areas to make it easier to pick your way.

Skills level check – Pluralsight uses an adaptive algorithm to cut down the time needed to identify your expertise in a particular field. “Beginner” or “Intermediate” is not descriptive enough to get the feel of what background knowledge or prior experience with this or analogous tool is required. On the other hand, clicking through tedious 100-question tests, half of which may be common sense to you, and other half being too difficult even for an educated guess, is a waste of time. That is why flexible testing provided by Pluralsight is such a goody. in a matter of a couple of questions it will narrow down your skill level to a ballpark estimate and will fine-tune it with a few subsequent questions. Regular re-testing as you follow your chosen path will ensure you stay on track.

Mentoring – no matter how smart machines are getting, there is nothing like human interaction, especially when you are stuck with something that is hard to explain in 1s and 0s. Arrange a one-to-one conversation with an expert on the topic you are struggling with in minutes. You set a budget for the help session, and you are not paying anything until you he the help you need! It’s all on your terms.

What’s more – you can become a mentor yourself it you feel the urge to.

Corporate and individual – not many online courses can boast the corporate training functionality. Pluralsight can. Not only are separate pricing options offered to businesses interested in boosting their main asset, but there is extra functionality as well. Apart from the same exciting testing mechanism swiftly pinpointing the gaps in the employees’ knowledge, and various courses carefully picked up to address these gaps, management has an opportunity to monitor the progress of their subordinates and adjust the learning process if necessary.

On-demand – you can start anytime! No fixed dates, no minimum group sizes – just your desire and a few mouse clicks. And regardless of your time zone, you are still getting that 24/7 support and mentorship.

Motivation – add lines to your resume, and let the feeling of success inspire you for further endeavors. Pass checks, receive certificates of completion backed by real value, and keep on moving.

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Pluralsight is a universe centered on you –  it makes you feel like it was designed with you in mind as everything around is trying to adjust to what you want and need. Of course, there is a price tag to it, but it’s up to you to decide how much you will learn at this fixed price. And there are very few limits to your learning with mobile and offline apps at your service.