Free Online Courses (Other than Google) to Upgrade Yourself

As a continuation from my previous post on Free Google Courses Recommended, I have researched and tried out the free courses available online. I cannot stress on the importance of continuous self- development be it career related or not. Not only is it stimulating to your mind as you get exposed to unfamiliar things, you will be able to utilize some of the points read in your daily life. Besides, it never hurts to know more right! You can also use these pointers as a conversation starter. For example, I am currently going through the Digital Garage by Google which teaches you about marketing in the digital age. Even though this subject is totally different from what I am doing in my line of work, I still find it interesting because I can now better appreciate the elements behind selling a product or service and the promotion efforts behind it.


Note that this post is geared towards an individual who is keen in development in Analytics, Marketing and SEO, Finance and Programming Languages. Skills which are set to get a stronger foothold in years to come. This list is definitely not exhaustive as I only recommend those I have tried before.

Google Courses to Sign Up For

As a follow up from my previous post on how to save yourself from being retrenched, one of my tips was to improve on existing skills and take up new courses to stay relevant. With the threat of automation and low-value jobs being outsourced to lower cost centers, the threat to our rice bowl is becoming more prevalent. To see if your current job is at risk being made obsolete by robots, Will Robots Take My Job is an interactive web tool for you to assess your risk level. 

Being consistent in learning shows the potential employers that you are self- motivated and put in the effort outside of working hours to work on your skill set, setting your candidacy apart from the crowd. Herewith I have compiled applicable self- paced online courses that are free. 

How to Avoid Getting Retrenched

As you readers may know from my profile page, I am from the financial services sector where hiring and retrenchment can happen within a short time frame. The concept of having the same job till you retire is no longer relevant. In the beginning of this year, I receive news that the firm I was with had been acquired by a US private equity firm. Recently (9 months later), we received the dreadful news that some of us had to be let go.


The axe fell fast and swift, there was no time for handover. Those impacted had to leave on the same day, or given till end of week to exit. Although I am not impacted by this round of restructuring, I am sad and shocked to reveal that my line manager was. I decided to write this article because I had witnessed for the 1st time how crude reality can be. Brief background about my manager, she has been with the firm for more than 20 years, gaining extensive experience in her industry. Granted, she is an expensive hire but no mercy was shown when the parent firm decided to retrench her and the rest.


I will share what I have learnt from this experience and how can we survive being jobless/ unemployed in Singapore.

Open Electricity Market (OEM) in Singapore

Singapore used to have a sole provider of electricity, Singapore Power (SP Group) for the residential applicants. Before this, residential consumers have only one option which is to get their electricity supply from the SP Group at the regulated tariff, where the price of electricity is fixed every quarter. Recently, the Singapore government decided to open up the electricity market by inviting more players into the scene to keep the prices and services competitive. The Open Electricity Market initiative will be launched in phases across Singapore, with my housing unit having the chance to switch electricity retailers from 1 January 2019. 

At the time of writing, we have stayed in our current unit for only 4 months. The average cost of our electricity bill is $40 per month. Taking that into account, I did my research on the plans that may be suitable for us. 

Note: it is not compulsory to switch electricity providers.

Linking Open Source API to Google Spreadsheets to Track Investment: GOOGLEFINANCE, IEX and Alpha Vantage

What is API

API stands for Application Programming Interface. According to Google, API is a set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications which access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service. In simple terms, it means a specification of remote calls for a program to interact with another software. API calls are required to retrieve data from the sources, such that you do not have to manually key in the data from the source to update your investment tracker. The data is being refreshed via the feed, freeing up your time for analysis instead of doing data entry. 

In this article, I will share the basics of setting up simple API calls from GoogleFinance, IEX and Alpha Vantage.