Most students while doing IELTS Preparation waste their precious time and as soon as they clear their IELTS exam, they start their visa process. However, some smart students don’t waste any of their allotted time and make the best use of it.
A few years ago, when people were quarantined during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak to stop the spread, we advised our students to make the best use of them. Some listened to us, while butchered their time and did things not helpful to them. The students who did are now reaping the fruits in Canada as they are doing multiple jobs because they learnt some valuable skills during such time along their online IELTS classes with us.
However, many are enjoying being indoors during the phase of IELTS Preparation. They track their time and keep working on their goals, while many are bored and finding it hard to stay indoors, despite having the internet at their disposal – and they love strolling around the city, doing unnecessary things and when they are in Canada and are asked about the Skills during their job interview, they are hit by the reality and are suddenly reminded those days which they had wasted.
I run Voxcel Group, along with my elder brother, Piyush Goyal, and together we are enjoying our time with family – and alongside, we keep on doing something other than taking IELTS classes or being the best study visa consultants in Ludhiana.
Usually, we are buried with a lot of work and tight batch timings leave us with little to no time to reflect on life. Even on Sundays go in to do work such as marking students’ mock tests and giving them detailed remarks on four IELTS writing parameters. Only a few teachers in the world do that. Count us in those. This is how passion should be. Whatever you do, do it with full focus and enthusiasm. The universe will take care of the rest. Still, we find time to work on skills such as designing and keep improving our English by reading novels, magazines, articles and watching movies etc.
How to Find Time for Skill Learning?
Well, as I stated earlier, my schedule is usually very tight and I leave with very little time to do any activity on Voxcel Group’s social media accounts and even to do blogging. In the past, I did a lot of content writing and won many awards for my short film “True Love” which I penned many moons ago.
When the complete lockdown was announced I decided to not let it go to waste. Being indoors not only helped to break the chain of Coronavirus spread but will also help me to learn some designing skills and resume my blogging for Voxcel to help my readers out in their IELTS Preparation and study Visa. We designed a Book called Scepter during that period which covered all 4 modules. The book reached 288+ pages and when another short lockdown was announced for IELTS Coaching Classes in Ludhiana and pan India, we edited and removed the fat which was not very important. These we did while giving IELTS classes online.
Presently, I am trying my hands on Adobe Photoshop, Canva etcetera software to test the waters for future marketing campaigns. Besides, I am learning how to design good marketing slogans and am constantly bringing ideas to the table; taking the obscure ones out.
“Boredom is a state of mind”
I have always two options, either to relax and watch movies, as I am a screenwriter, too, or work on my dreams. I choose the latter. I can watch the movies on weekends but want to make the best use of Weekdays.
Hence, I am working tirelessly, churning out content and honing my design and video editing skills, which lay a solid foundation for many years. Recently, we decided to help students better by designing the IELTS Online Tests medium on our website so they can do IELTS for Free at Home. We have been working on it regularly so the IELTS Practice tests remain fresh and updated.
If I talk about my partner, Co-director and brother, Piyush, he’s usually busy preparing IELTS writing and speaking Band 9 Samples and planning to Keep Voxcel at the top of the game. He’s also taking online IELTS sessions and clearing the doubts of the students. Nonetheless, he’s helping in writing content; he’s a great writer, too.
Everybody has different liking and it’s up to you how to find the right thing during the lockdown.
Hopefully and thankfully, you might never get this time again in life. This is the best time to make it useful and learn some skills to enhance your future abroad as an international student, worker or resident.
Still, I can offer my 2 cents considering where the world is heading.
- Coding –
The world is becoming technically advanced and many companies are adopting to go full robotics. After the advent of AI (Artificial intelligence), many companies are not only employing the tech for better user experience and customer retention rate, but some companies are developing the tools. Hence, the field has a lot of money and will open a field of possibilities in the future. Programming is a skill which is not regulated in Canada or any other country for that matter. Even Google is planning to discard the bachelor’s degree rule for the interview because they need Gems – and degrees hardly make you that. Your dedication and passion do that.
Hence, the sky is the limit for great coders. If you are looking for a study visa abroad post your 12th grade or if you are going to study in your home country – this professional skill can lighten your future.
Many IT professionals are working from home and keeping us connected with the web during the pandemic. Imagine, if we had no internet or had been disconnected to the web during the curfew. People would have gone mad.
Moreover, top players in the game are still earning money, while the world is locked indoors and millions have lost their jobs. If such a situation happens again, you will be busy with your job and will not only earn money but will be helping the world in many ways.
For your reference, the average salary of a coder in Canada is CAD 60,474, while a good coder can make CAD 117K.
- Designing –
Humans love graphics. Without pictures or pictorial presentations, the text looks obscure. There is some software to test the waters: Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Postermywall, LucidPress etcetera. If you are a beginner, you can test the rest of the mentioned websites, leaving Adobe Photoshop.
Currently, many people are making a side hustle with Canva software. The tool lets you design great HD images with pre-uploaded templates and you can use your imagination to make them more appealing. Nonetheless, the platform offers Video editing features too for Instagram Reels, YouTube shorts and TikTok videos. The average salary for a graphic designer in Canada is between $48,541 and $50,983 per year, depending on the source
If you are determined or know some basics of designing, there are many free tutorials on YouTube to hone your design craft in Photoshop. You can enrol for courses on Udemy and start your learning process, asap.
Moreover, you can also take gigs on a freelance basis if you are good with a Professional DSLR camera. They are pricey and can make a hole in your pocket, but you get paid well if you market your name on social media and upload your work. An average rate for a freelance starts at CAD24 and it shoots up based on your experience and quality of work.
- Video Editing –
While doing IELTS Preparation, you can take some off and learn Video Editing skills. This is a fun activity to do and millions of people have made it their professional. They take freelance gigs and earn millions right from their homes. Since the advent of short video formats such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, companies constantly look for creators who know about creating viral content.
Many companies now go for video content to fuel their marketing campaign. There’s no age to grab those projects that pay handsomely and the best part if you can work freelance and earn money right from your personal space.
Remember, videos are impactful. Most people love consuming video content, instead of anything else. That’s the reason why countless people have developed their income sources by making videos. Any good video is meaningless unless it’s not edited perfectly. The starting salary of a video editor in Canada is around CAD25 and it increases with experience and creative skills.
- Cooking –
I often ask students during the IELTS Preparation, which skill they want to learn. Most say cooking, but hardly they do, despite knowing how many problems one faces when one goes abroad on a study visa.
Cooking requires pure passion and love. It is very therapeutic. Moreover, homemade food is healthy and less expensive as compared to ordering from restaurants. Some might say, that organic food is more expensive than restaurants, but at least the chances are very high for you to stay healthy and hygienic when you eat at home, thus avoiding a lot of health issues and money in the long term.
For students who are planning to go abroad and are full of excuses to not have the time to learn cooking; this is the time to do. Get into the kitchen and help your mother. Let her have her own leisure time, too. Mothers are the best cookery teachers, so enjoy the time while it lasts.
Since you are planning to go to Canada to study Visa or your dream country, cooking can you a lot of hassle, there are thousands of jobs for chefs across Canada and other Western countries.
- English Movies and Songs –
I always give instructions to all my students to watch at least one English movie per day. Usually, they don’t do it and make silly excuses and remain stuck at the average listening scores. This derails their IELTS Preparation because they don’t give time to their mind to become habitual of the English language. We are regarded as the best IELTS Institute in Ludhiana for that.
Don’t underestimate the power of listening. It can transform your mentality and can help you score Band 9. Such a band score is a dream for most and trust me, they aren’t tough to score in listening if you are well prepared. Students are doing General Training modules in their IELTS Preparation, they should take it as a divine order and must do it. Considering the minimum of Band 8 in the CLB 9, it’s a no-joke thing for any ESL student. Thus, the IELTS modules can’t help you alone in that
Watch any English movie of your interest. Listen to English songs. For a while forget listening to songs in your native language.
- Reading –
Reading is the food for the mind and the same reading habit helps in IELTS Preparation. Read novels or any article of your interest. It’s an underrated skill, which can open doors to infinite possibilities.
When you read, you subconsciously develop your language skills. I often tell my IELTS students to develop band scores not only in their IELTS reading module but also develop their writing and speaking as well.
Students, who are planning to go abroad for higher education, read about the country. Become familiar with the customs, traditions and the atmosphere. This will help you not to feel alienated after your landing.
Often many IELTS students get culture shock because they paint a rosy picture in their head and hit hard with the reality when they go to Canada etc countries on a student visa.
If you are not planning to move aboard, read whatever you can. It will broaden your horizons and you will find many ideas to start your dream businesses and any other thing per se.
Remember, it only needs just one idea to transform the world. Apple Inc. etc. companies the prime example.
- Writing –
The world is becoming a global village and many companies now need quality copywriters and content writers to churn out great content. Learn the insights about copywriting and mind you, it’s a much-esteemed job and can you pay handsomely once you start mincing coherent content that has a voice to resonate with the masses. Doesn’t matter if you are working or a student, you can work on your skills with your regular businesses and can work as a freelancer.
For Google, “Content is king” and a lot of companies even pay up to USD40 per word for an article ranging anywhere between 2000-10k words. With Gemini AI, Google has become a lot smarter than it was and now the websites that publish original content written from scratch with proper citations, rank better than those content that are copied or have an AI’s help.
It looks easy when you read an article, but it can be the toughest to do. Many companies, almost all MNCs constantly look for creative writers to write catchy slogans to attract attention to revenue growth. Sometimes, it can take weeks, or months to get just one slogan right.
I also suggest my students keep practising their writing while doing IELTS Preparation and make it a goal to improve their skills not for the sake of a visa but for their future. The only way you can improve in writing is to read and WRITE. There’s no shortcut.
- Spend Time with Family –
This comes as a shocker. Many people would argue they do it already. However, nowadays, we are buried in our smartphones for the most part. We hardly ask how our parents, and grandparents are.
We hardly genuinely ask about their emotions and what they feel about life and us. Keep your phone aside for a while and do chit-chat with them. This time shall pass soon by and you will be left with regrets and may miss those unsaid words and moments you would have thought to spend in the future. The right time is now.
Voxcel aims to impart not only world-class IELTS coaching but also we look forward to develop the overall personality of our students.