GREAT THINGS HAPPEN OUT OF THE BLUE
Upskilling Opportunities for Frontline and Military Personnel
Transitioning to a New Career? Consider Upskilling.
When planning your exit from a life of service, investing in upskilling can significantly enhance your career prospects. By acquiring new skills or deepening existing ones, you can increase your job security, earning potential and overall career satisfaction.
Why Upskill?
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Increased Job Security: In today's competitive job market, having specialised skills can make you a more attractive candidate.
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Higher Earning Potential: Upskilling can open doors to higher-paying roles and promotions.
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Career Advancement: New skills can help you transition into a new field or advance within your current industry.
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Personal and Professional Development: Upskilling can be a rewarding experience, allowing you to learn new things and grow as an individual.
Popular Upskilling Areas for Frontline & Military Personnel
Many frontline and military personnel possess transferable skills that can be valuable in various industries. Here are some popular upskilling areas:
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Technology: Cybersecurity, data analytics, software development, and cloud computing.
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Business: Project management, leadership development, marketing, and sales.
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Education: Teaching, instructional design, and educational technology.
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Construction and Trades: Project management, construction management, and engineering.
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Health & Safety: Conducting site safety inspections and investigating accidents or dangerous occurrences
Government-Funded Training Programs
The Irish government offers various training programs to support individuals in upskilling. These programs often provide financial assistance and guidance to help you achieve your career goals.
Tips for finding the right upskilling opportunity
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Assess Your Interests and Goals: Determine what you're passionate about and what you want to achieve in your career.
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Research Available Programs: Explore different options, including online courses, on-the-job training, and apprenticeships.
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Consider Your Budget and Time Commitment: Factor in the cost and time required for each program.
Featured Courses
Certificate in Safety & Health at Work
at UCD
With society's focus intensifying on health and wellbeing, in particular workers’ health, the Centre for Safety and Health at Work (CSHW) continues to meet the needs of our society using blended online platforms and flexible teaching programmes to cover key contemporary issues.
The Certificate in Safety and Health at Work is an introduction to a comprehensive range of topics including safety and health legislation; risk and safety management; identification of a wide range of workplace hazards; workplace wellbeing, emergency management, occupational health hazard management and occupational safety hazard management. At the core of the programme, you will learn about risk assessment and management practices that can be applied to any discipline or sector.
Your first day on campus, the Orientation Day, will be Friday 19th September, 2025. The three other campus tutorial days throughout the academic year are scheduled as follows:
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Friday 28th November 2025
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Friday 27th February 2026
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Friday 24th April 2026
Students resident in Ireland are expected to attend the tutorial campus days. These are invaluable face-to-face learning days with your tutor and fellow students, as well as providing networking opportunities. Students outside of Ireland will be provided with access to live online tutorials delivered at the same time as the on-campus tutorials.
Learn more: https://www.ucd.ie/cshw/
Micro-Credentials
at UCD
UCD micro-credentials are an exciting new innovation developed and delivered by UCD’s world-class academic faculty.
What are UCD micro-credentials?
Micro-credentials are short, accredited, flexible, industry-aligned courses, that give learners the opportunity to upskill in highly-specialised areas. The content for micro-credentials in UCD is developed and delivered by the university's world-class academic faculty.
Why UCD Micro-credentials?
Micro-credentials aim to address many of the barriers to life-long learning and their flexible design enables learners to successfully balance further study with other commitments. Each micro-credential is a fully standalone upskilling opportunity, but learners also acquire university credit in the form of ECTS.
Learn more: www.ucd.ie/microcreds
EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker v 13 (CEH)
Master Course with Jan Carroll
Jan Carroll, a Cybersecurity Lecturer at UCD Professional Academy and founder of Fortify Institute, is running her Ethical Hacker course online over five Fridays, starting 17 January 2025.
It is an excellent, supported program to upskill to a role in penetration testing and cybersecurity consulting.
The cost includes all official content, labs, challenges, knowledge exam, practical exam, certifications and ongoing support.
Discount for the Out Of The Blue network:
Contact the Fortify Institute directly (the email is at the bottom of their website) and mention that you're part of the Out Of The Blue community for a generous €500 discount on the fee, reducing it from €2199 to €1699.
The full brochure is available here.
Cybercrime and Digital Forensics Course
by Cyber Skills, MTU
Ideal for Retiring Gardaí or Military Personnel
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Cybersecurity offers job security, a strong sense of purpose and the chance to apply the skills you've learned throughout your career.
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Explore the key legal frameworks surrounding cybercrime, equipping you to face the challenges of this evolving area.
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Learn about traditional crimes such as fraud and identity theft, as well as modern threats like malware, hacking, and cyber-terrorism in the digital landscape.
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Understand the laws and strategies used to protect citizens from these threats, and how to uncover critical digital evidence in a forensics investigation.
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80% subsidy available for EU students.
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EU Fees: €700/ non-EU Fees €1,000
Learn more: https://www.cyberskills.ie/courses/microcredentials/january/cyber-crime-and-digital-forensics/
Courses at the Centre for Insurance Risk Data Analytics Studies (CIRDAS) at SETU Carlow
Level 9: 100% Fully Funded 12 Week Online Courses:
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Certificate in Executive Coaching
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Coaching through Change Management and Coaching Intervention
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Executive Coaching Philosophy and Purpose
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Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Business Modelling
Register your interest for CIRDAS accredited training in SETU Carlow Lifelong Learning here.
Micro-Credentials: Subsidised 12 Week Online Courses
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Level 9 - Digital Media (Please note 3 Saturdays on campus) Cost €400
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Level 7 - Python Programming. Cost €160
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Level 8 - Building Capacity and Enhancing Leadership in Intercultural Understanding and Diversity. Cost €200
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Level 7 - Applied Strategic Management. Cost €200
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Level 7 - Human Resource Management Operations. Cost €200
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Level 7 - Operations and Project Management. Cost €200
Register your interest for CIRDAS Accredited Micro-Credentials here.
Courses start in January 2025.
