Taking some free online courses is a brilliant way to broaden your skillset and boost your CV, even if the course doesn’t directly relate to your career plans. Just showing the initiative to learn new skills will impress future employers.
Here are some of the best free online courses that you can do for free:
Free marketing courses
Course by: Hubspot Academy
Duration: Two to five hours, depending on the course
Qualification: Hubspot Academy's certification
Hubspot Academy offers various free online marketing courses, from an overview of digital marketing to Facebook paid campaigns and YouTube marketing. You will find value in these short courses.
These are simple, free online courses that consist of a series of short video lectures, quizzes and an exam at the end.
Learn to code, for free
Course by: Codecademy
Duration: Ongoing
Qualification: Codecademy's own certification
Codecademy offers a free, easy-to-navigate online course to help you grasp the basics. And, if you want to develop beyond the basics, you can pay a subscription fee to learn more advanced coding and gain a higher-level qualification.
As so much of the working world is going online, coding is one of the most valuable skills you can learn from home.
Free software development courses
Course by: FreeCodeCamp
Duration: Ongoing (more than 9,000+ tutorials available)
Qualification: FreeCodeCamp certificates
FreeCodeCamp is the right place for you if you want to get into software development and enjoy learning the fundamentals of HTML. Almost anything relating to coding, including web design, Javascript, front- and back-end development, Python, and more, is offered as free courses by this nonprofit organisation.
There are over 9,000 tutorials available in total. Best of all, you can do them for free and get a certification after each tutorial.
FreeCodeCamp has given free certificates to over 40,000 individuals; some of them have gone on to work for major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Spotify.
Customer service: free qualification
Course by: Vision2Learn
Duration: Nine or 11 weeks (suggested study 10 hours per week)
Qualification: Level 2 Certificate in Customer Service
Although it may seem that this course is only for those who work in customer service, providing excellent customer service is advantageous to any business.
By taking this free course, you will strengthen your CV and your communication skills. You will graduate from the course with excellent transferrable skills.
Having this qualification on your CV will show employers that you understand and respect communication etiquette in the workplace and that you are likely to treat clients with a high level of respect.
Free search engine optimisation certification
Course by: SEMrush
Duration: Ongoing
Qualification: SEMrush certificate
Understanding SEO can be very helpful if you are looking for work in the marketing industry. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimisation, and it’s the process of optimising websites and articles to rank higher on search engines like Google.
These websites will receive more traffic and, eventually, sales due to their higher ranking. Which is a huge benefit for employers.
If you want to learn the fundamentals of SEO, SEMrush has several free courses available.
Excel for beginners
Course by: DavidsonX (via edX)
Duration: Four weeks (three to five hours per week)
Qualification: Professional certificate
While the verified certificate is expensive (R4,200), the course itself is free and provides you with invaluable skills for work.
One of the most widely used pieces of software by businesses is Microsoft Excel. So, even if you think you know a lot about it already, there's no harm in learning more.
This course provides an overview of Excel and covers creating charts, managing spreadsheets, and entering data.
Having a good knowledge of Excel will not go to waste, and it is a very desirable skill to have on your CV.
Have any of these sparked your interest? Adding to your skillset is extremely valuable; you will never regret it, especially if it comes for free.
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