Online courses on your CV provides a clear-cut example of what you know and what you can get done.
Online courses can break down into a set of skills. If you already have a section devoted to "skills" or "additional skills," then this method is easy. Figure out which skills are most relevant and drop them into your resume in place of a certificate. You can also use the "past experience" section of your resume.
You should select online courses that match your career objectives. To best explain what we mean, we’ll consider two scenarios: jobseekers who are looking to grow in their current roles and jobseekers who are looking to switch careers.
You can include intro online classes on your resume if they're part of a whole curriculum program that you completed. Otherwise, talk about your intro classes as part of your professional journey during your interview.
In summary, you should include online courses on your resume that: Not only teaches you about the subject, but also guides you in producing real results that can be shown to employers. Relevant to the position you're applying to.
When creating a resume, you can add a section titled “Relevant Coursework." In it, include the courses directly related to the position you are applying for. For example, if you're applying for work as a paralegal, list any classes you took related to law or politics.
What's more, many of the options go way beyond the digital. From networking skills to the science of wellbeing, there is a huge range of courses. Many of the courses are free and you'll get certification at the end, making them ideal to put on your CV.
Listing relevant coursework on a resume is optional. It makes sense to put relevant coursework on student and entry-level resumes. If you have at least one year of experience, drop relevant coursework from your resume entirely, and focus on tailoring the job description and key skills sections.
If you really want your resume to stand out, go beyond simple certificate and course lists. Add weight to your resume and make it more valuable to recruiters by identifying all the relevant courses for the job, listing important information you've learned from each course and highlighting your professional achievements.
Also, you'll likely have to answer specific technical questions if your online course claim certain technical expertise. So make sure you're ready for a detailed Q&A session regarding all of your certifications and courses.
No matter which candidate you are, never make the online course the center of your resume. Instead, keep your list of courses short, confine the classes to a small designated area on your resume, and strategically place them.
Also, it's good practice to only include completed courses and their major takeaways. And always be concise. Never ramble on about your courses.
Design your resume properly, and include online courses in the right section. Be concise and brief in your explanations. Skip the intro classes, and get right to the point. Highlight your achievements and merits. Prepare for the interview, and keep your head up!
Whether you want to graduate earlier, or simply prefer studying remotely, taking online courses can save you precious time. More than that, it can open doors you’ve never considered before, and lower your school attendance costs significantly. Besides that, having a comfortable environment and an extended ability to focus on tasks will improve your ...
Make sure you include them in the “Education” section, along with your other relevant courses. Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs are important to highlight, especially if they’ve taught you practical skills.
Using a “one-size-fits-all” type of resume can get you in trouble. Different companies require different skill sets – thus, there’s no point in highlighting that you’ve studied Ancient Philosophy when applying for a position in the IT department. Select only the online courses that are relevant for the job you’re interested in, and include them in your resume. Leave the rest aside!
It allows you to connect with a recruiter or hiring manager on a personal level and is a great place to discuss the professional skills that you’ve acquired and how they relate to the position. If you’re submitting your resume electronically, you can even link to the course profiles.
Online courses are also a great way to showcase unique skills that set you apart from other qualified candidates, which is becoming increasingly important as more and more companies look for candidates with a diverse mix of experience (sometimes called “ hybrid skills ”).
Looking to add unique skill sets to your resume? Try an introductory program in data science or computer science, or strengthen soft skills with a certificate in agile project management.
Note: Generally, it’s not relevant to list a course unrelated to the position, such as one about the American Civil War. An interest section on your resume, however, is a great place for this. Employers are searching for talent, but they’re also looking for personality. If you’re passionate about it, include it.
If you’re submitting your resume electronically, you can even link to the course profiles. A second option is to create an entirely new section on your resume, such as “skills and objectives,” “personal advancement,” or “professional development.”. Another is to include your online learning experience in the education section of your resume.
Multiple recruiters mentioned that listing introductory-level online courses can make a candidate look bad when the expectation is that he or she will be an expert. For example, Sham Mustafa, the CEO of Correlation One, a company that recruits for data science positions, told me a story about a candidate whose current title is "Senior Data Scientist." The candidate holds a PhD and has worked in roles requiring advanced quantitative skills for the past 25 years. “Yet,” Mustafa says, “Under his education, he lists introductory MOOCs in Machine Learning and Data Science.” Rather than helping him, these courses making him sound less experienced and actually decrease his competitiveness for the job.
Online courses are still relatively new, recruiters can be skeptical, and in certain cases, listing your online education can actually make your resume worse.
Wherever your future career lies, you can bet you ‘ll need digital skills. From networking skills to the science of wellbeing, there is a huge range of courses. Many of the courses are free and you ‘ll get certification at the end, making them ideal to put on your CV.
Here’s how to write relevant coursework on resumes: Create a subsection under the education entry on your resume with a clearly-labeled subheading, such as “Related Coursework.” Add a few of the most relevant courses, classes, and lectures which make sense for the job you’re applying to.
When adding Coursera credentials to this section, you should follow the standard best practices for listing education on your resume and include the following information: Name. This is the official title of the course or program you completed.
Depending on your CV layout, you may want to add online courses alongside the education section of your CV or create an entirely new section called Professional Development, which is particularly useful if you haven’t got a degree, or are applying for a job that’s unrelated to your degree.
These courses are job oriented and will help one find part time as well as full time jobs quickly! The main advantage of pursuing online courses is that the timing could be flexible. And it gets better when these courses adds to their skill set and also helps them make money using those very skills!
You can include relevant coursework on your resume in the education section. Any courses, subjects, and projects you list have to be related to the job opening. This is a great addition to any entry-level resumes or student resumes alongside projects, academic achievements, extracurriculars, and volunteer experience.
A resume can be two pages, but most should be one page. That’s true for entry-level candidates and those with less than 5 years’ experience. If the job requires Elon-Musk-level accomplishments, or you can ‘t cram your achievements on one page, write a two page resume.
We recommend listing online courses in the Certifications or Professional Development sections on your resume.
To learn more, book an introductory call here or email team@resumepilots.com.
Coursera offers free courses from top universities such as Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Imperial College London, University of Michigan, and Google.
If you are looking to grow in your current field, you’ll want to select courses that allow you to be more effective on the job.
As the US job market became increasingly competitive during lockdown , many people turned to online courses to differentiate themselves from similar applicants.
However, a free MIT online course is simply not the same thing as earning a degree from MIT.
Not all online courses are created equal. Certified courses are generally held in higher regard than non-certified courses, and a six-week online course from an accredited institution looks far more impressive than a four-hour Zoom workshop.
If you're a senior-level candidate or have at 8+ years of experience in your field, it's often a good idea to leave off short online courses from your resume, unless they're clearly credited, like an Executive MBA or similar.
If you’ve taken an online course recently — or if it’s particularly relevant or well-known and you want to emphasize it — you can include it in your education section.
Typically, you won’t want to dedicate too much resume space to your online course, as most of them can be covered in a couple of lines.
If your online course included substantial project experience, it could be a better fit for the projects section of your resume. Projects give you a chance to include a few relevant accomplishments and demonstrate how you’ve used those skills in action, especially if you lack more relevant paid work experience.
An ‘additional’ or ‘other’ section at the bottom of your resume is ideal for things that don’t merit their own sections, or if you’re running low on space. This could include online courses that aren’t required but demonstrate relevant skills, or that are relevant but not noteworthy enough to include in a more prominent section.
This is oft-repeated advice, but that’s because the job posting itself is almost always the best place to start when building your resume. If the ad mentions a specific certification candidates should have, it may be worth your while to pursue it as an online course — that way you don't need to take time off work.
Your certificates should occupy a small section near the end of your resume.
If in the end, you still can't find a good place for your certificates, consider the cover letter. Having one adds a personal touch to your application. You would also be able to explain the value of your certificate in a way you couldn't on a resume.
Relevant certificates can make your resume easier to find. This is especially so for employers who use software to surface relevant resumes to the top. The more a resume matches its target job description, the higher the software will rank it.
They might even contribute to a hiring decision that leads to an offer. Of course, none of this can happen if your certificates aren't relevant. For each resume you send, ensure that a course you list will bolster your qualifications. A hiring manager who notices your certificate should react well to it.
But remember, most hiring managers have a tall stack of resumes to go through. Every second counts. Don't risk losing goodwill with your reader by burdening them with a long list of courses.
The first relates to how hiring managers perceive certificates intro-level courses. If you're starting your career, they’re likely appropriate. If you're vying for a more senior role though, adding one could set you back. It may make you appear less experienced or qualified. This might be true even if the "intro" course covers an advanced topic.
If you already have a section devoted to "skills" or "additional skills," then this method is easy. Figure out which skills are most relevant and drop them into your resume in place of a certificate.