Best Classes Orange County, CA

Find & compare hands-on courses near Orange County or live online in coding, design, business, and more. We’ve chosen over 100 of the best tech courses from the top training providers to help you find the perfect fit.

Explore the Best Classes in Orange County

The residents of Orange County, California, enjoy a nearly perfect climate, with sunshine and warm temperatures year-round. Home to Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine, the county has over 3 million residents. Tourism is a prominent industry, as Orange County is home to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Balboa Island. Other prominent employers include Quiksilver, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Allergan and many more.

More well-known as The O.C., Orange County is one of the most populous counties in the country (it is the third largest in California, the sixth largest in the nation, and it would be the 30th most populous state were it a state). This, along with its ideal location on the scenic southern California coast, makes it one of the most attractive places in the nation to live and work. Home to Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine, Orange County has a bustling economy defined by its beautiful vistas, prime real estate, and partnerships with neighboring Los Angeles County. If you are looking to find tech work, there are few places better than a large, thriving economic hub like The O.C.

Major Industries for Professionals in Orange County

Hospitality and Data-Driven Tourism

Home to Disneyland (the second most visited theme park in the world) and Knott’s Berry Farm, Anaheim is among the hottest tourist destinations in the country for anyone interested in theme parks and associated attractions. If you are interested in working on the design or technical side of these attractions, Orange County is a great place to look for work, particularly if you have skills in mechanical or software engineering, since so many aspects of the process of navigating and interacting with the parks are now digital. It is important that systems and information infrastructure work well to avoid delays or other problems that cause congestion or other issues during the daily operation of the parks.

It should also be noted that with an average daily attendance of over 47,000 visitors (which is far from its peak during holidays, weekends, and other prime vacation times), Disneyland runs what is functionally a small city inside the city of Anaheim. This means that a great deal of attention is paid to the movement of every visitor, and systems and structures are designed with maximizing the experience (and the spending) in mind. Data scientists and analysts work to perfect the park experience and make everything from queuing for rides to getting food into an optimal system for park goers. If you are interested in logistical data and the movement of large groups of people, working in a theme park is a surprisingly complex way to follow this interest.

Plus, Anaheim isn’t just a city that happens to be around a major theme park. The Anaheim Convention Center hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, and the scenic coastal views make it a destination for nature enthusiasts. This has created a whole variety of industries that emerge around the tourist trade, including a vibrant food culture, a massive hospitality industry, and major public works projects. All of these businesses and attractions need to hire financial and data analysts to keep their businesses running, and they need to hire marketing experts, since they are all competing against one another for the limited time and attention of the city’s tourists.

Data & Risk Analysis in Insurance

Some of the largest permanent employers in the county are insurance companies like Pacific Life and First American Corporation. These massive corporations rely heavily on the work of data specialists who can create the infrastructure that they need to administer policies and organize sensitive consumer data. In addition, these analysts need to understand how to assess risk and perform the complicated actuarial work that makes insurance operations possible. Professionals looking to find work in a complex, data-driven field will want to consider looking at some of these local insurance companies.

International Business & Tech Headquarters

Many businesses, particularly international businesses centered in East Asia, house regional headquarters in Orange County. These include the likes of Mazda, Toshiba, Toyota, Samsung, and Kia, in the City of Irvine, Mitsubishi in the City of Cypress, Kawasaki Motors in Foothill Ranch, and Hyundai in the City of Fountain Valley. These businesses hire significant numbers of employees working in everything from tech and design processes (for example, most cars today are just very complex computers that happen to drive you places) to commercial and consumer data analysis, meaning there are jobs for mechanical and software engineers, analysts and scientists, and database administration specialists.

Shopping & Business

Closely associated with the tourist industry, Orange County has one of the largest and most robust commerce and retail economic sectors in the nation. It is home to the largest mall in California (and the third-largest in the nation) at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, and it is also the location of over 20 of the 100 largest malls in the country. This means that there are a ton of shopping opportunities for permanent residents and tourists alike, which will reward businesses who can set themselves apart from the competition by hiring skilled advertisers, financial managers, and business analysts to give them even a small edge.

Jobs for Tech Professionals in Orange County

If you are looking for a job in a design, tech, or data-related field, it is likely that there are opportunities for you in Orange County. Since it is a relatively affluent part of the country and it is part of the greater Los Angeles Metro, the cost of living will be higher compared to other parts of the state, but the jobs will tend to pay more as a result. Here are a few examples of job titles available in Orange County alongside their mean annual salaries:

  • Data Analyst: $87,000
  • Digital Marketer: $84,000
  • Software Engineer: $151,000
  • Mechanical Engineer: $117,000
  • Project Manager: $109,000
  • Database Administrator: $111,000

Learning Tech Skills in Orange County

Since it is part of the greater Los Angeles area, there is no shortage of high-profile schools and firms that offer tech training education in and around Orange County. Whether you are looking at a private training company like LAATC (Los Angeles Area Technical College) or a major university like UCLA, there is likely to be a wide range of different classes and opportunities available for anyone looking to learn skills like Excel, Python, data analytics, or graphic design.

If you are looking for a wider range of options, you may want to consider enrolling in an online training program. These courses, which are often offered as live online instruction courses, provide students with hands-on, practical, career-focused training that they can take advantage of without leaving their homes. These classes offer students the chance to learn practical career skills that they can start using almost immediately after completing the course, and they have all of the major benefits of in-person learning, including personalized feedback and the ability to work one-on-one with instructors.

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Orange County Tech Topics

  • Design

    Graphic Design

    Graphic design is visual communication through artwork or combining images and text. Graphic designers create logos, ads, social media graphics, magazines, books, websites, apps, and more.

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    Web Design

    Web design combines elements of user experience design (how the website works), visual or user interface design (how the website looks), and coding (how the website is actually built and made to function properly). Some web designers touch on all three areas, while others focus on one specific skill. If you like to design or write code, there's a role for you in web design. With billions of unique websites and more being created every day, web designers continue to be in high demand.

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    Video Editing

    Video editing is about telling a cohesive story through combining different video clips, footage, and effects. Video editors are able to achieve this using programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Final Cut Pro.

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    Photoshop

    Adobe Photoshop is widely known as the best photo editing software for photographers and photo retouchers. It's also used by digital painters as well as graphic designers for creating a wide variety of designs such as social media graphics, web designs, app designs, graphics that will be animated in Adobe After Effects, and much more.

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    After Effects

    Adobe After Effects is the industry standard for video post-production, compositing, effects, and animation. It's one of the most important apps for motion designers and can be used for creating animations and videos for social media, YouTube, websites, TV, and movies.

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    UX Design

    User experience (UX) designers work on creating functional, meaningful, and enjoyable user experiences. UX design focuses on ease of use, navigation, and functionality of products (which are commonly digital products such as websites and apps).

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    Adobe

    Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of industry-leading apps dedicated to creativity, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, and many more. Adobe Creative Cloud has what you need to create projects using photo editing, bitmap or vector illustration, digital design, animation, audio, augmented reality (AR), and more.

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    InDesign

    Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading layout design tool for print. Publishers of magazines, books, newspapers and other media rely on InDesign for page layouts and graphic design. InDesign can also be used to create digital documents such as PDFs and eBooks.

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    Premiere Pro

    Adobe Premiere Pro is the leading choice for video editing for TV, movies and the internet. It allows users to weave together video clips, graphics, and audio to produce professional grade video projects. It offers seamless integrations with Adobe Audition, After Effects, Photoshop and more.

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    AutoCAD

    AutoCAD is a computer-aided design software used to create scale blueprints, schematics, and models. It’s used by engineers, interior designers, manufacturers, and architects. AutoCAD offers intelligent objects for creating common plans such as electrical and plumbing design plans.

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    Illustrator

    Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular vector graphics applications. With seamless integrations across Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator is widely used by individuals and organizations to create resizable illustrations, design elements for videos and motion graphics, all through its powerful vector creation tools.

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    Motion Graphics

    Motion graphics refers to animated graphic design. It blends together text, sound, motion, animation, and visual effects to communicate a message or tell a story.

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  • Coding

    Web Development

    Web development encompasses all of the layers involved in building a website or web application. Websites are made up of two parts: the front-end and the back-end. Web development is used to create beautiful, interactive, and functional websites in nearly every industry.

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    FinTech

    FinTech (financial technology) includes new technologies that aim to improve or automate financial services. Your banking app, stock app, invoicing software, and bitcoins are all examples of FinTech. The FinTech (financial technology) industry has moved far beyond early entrants like PayPal. Many experts predict that this industry could replace up to 50 percent of all bank jobs within the next few decades.

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    Java

    From basic single-computer programs to enterprise-level solutions, Java is the most widely-used code in the world. It is a simple, open-source code which is relatively easy to learn. Those who master it have solid employment prospects now and in the future.

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  • Data

    Data Science

    Data science is one of the fastest-growing career fields, with competitive salaries and nearly endless opportunities for specialization. Data science uses machine learning algorithms, statistics and other analytic tools to understand data.

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    Python

    Python is an easy-to-read, versatile object-oriented programming language. It is often compared to Java, Ruby, and Perl. It is available under an open-source license and is a favorite among programmers.

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    SQL

    SQL is short for Structured Query Language and refers to a programming language designed for relational databases. SQL organizes data and allows for queries and sorting of data.

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    Excel

    Microsoft Excel is the leading spreadsheet application and data analytics tool. With Excel, you can create charts, tables, automate workflow, track budgets and financials, and much more.

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    Data Analytics

    Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data to draw conclusions. Data analytics are used to study all kinds of data, including productivity, production, profit/loss and much more.

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    Tableau

    Tableau is a data visualization tool used to simplify raw data. Data visualizations take data and turn it into easily understandable analysis diagrams – even for non-technical users. Visualizations can be used for data journalism, business insights (BI), reporting, and research.

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    AI

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative field in technology that leverages advanced algorithms and data to enable machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, creating career opportunities in numerous industries. By learning AI, professionals can gain cutting-edge skills essential for roles in sectors like tech, finance, healthcare, and more, positioning them at the forefront of innovation and problem-solving.

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  • Digital Marketing

    SEO

    SEO is the practice of optimizing your pages and website for search engine ranking. With a variety of SEO strategies and techniques, you can boost your websites ranking to start bringing in organic traffic. In SEO classes, participants will learn the fundamental ideas of SEO and strategies to succeed in the search engines.

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    Google Analytics

    Google Analytics is a free web and marketing analytics tool offered by Google that provides valuable information about your website traffic. Google Analytics is a fundamental component of digital marketing as it serves as the aggregator of our online efforts. It allows us to measure web traffic, see the success of our marketing efforts, learn about our users, and understand their behavior on our site. Google Analytics does much more than count website views; it provides a deeper understanding of what is going on before, during, and after a website visit.

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    Social Media Marketing

    Social media refers to websites and applications that allow people to interact, and commonly used tools are Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram. Social media marketing involves leveraging those digital channels to achieve your business goals.

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  • Business

    Microsoft Office

    Microsoft Office is a suite of software with an integrated collection of applications for word processing, and creating spreadsheets, databases and other media. Many offices, schools and individuals use Microsoft Office.

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    Project Management

    Project management is the art of leading a team to achieve a common goal. As a field, project management involves managing people, scope, time, quality, and budget.

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    PMP Certification

    The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is an industry-recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). To qualify for the PMP exam, a specific amount of hours and education level be met which makes this certification in-demand and valuable to employers.

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  • Web Development

    JavaScript

    JavaScript is a coding language primarily used to add interactivity to web pages. JavaScript is an essential language for Web Developers and is most commonly used for front-end development. With its libraries and frameworks, JavaScript is more efficient and versatile than ever before.

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    WordPress

    WordPress is used on over 37% of all websites, and growing. It's a free and open-source content management system (CMS) that lets you create and manage a website or blog. It’s popular for blogging, but you can build websites that don't even have a blog.

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  • IT

    Cybersecurity

    Cybersecurity refers to the protection of internet-connected assets. These assets can include servers, systems, hardware, software, and data. Cybersecurity professionals work to prevent and defend companies, governments, organizations, and individuals from cyber-attacks that seek to interrupt service or compromise data. These experts must stay informed about new technologies and threats.

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Training Locations in or Near Orange County

    Careers and Salaries

    Learn in-demand technology and computer skills to launch a new career in design, programming, marketing, business, and more. See the career pages for more information on required skills, tips for landing a job, typical day-to-day work, and where to find job postings.

    Other Areas Within Orange County