Do employers care about online courses I took?

Question:

Do employers care about online courses I took?

Answer:

Whether an employer values an online course depends on a number of factors, including the course, the course provider, and your industry.

Explanation: 

Job seekers often wonder if it’s worth taking some online courses to beef up their resume. Sometimes they’re asking because they’re deciding whether to take the course in the first place and other times because they’ve already taken it and want to know if they should bother listing it on their resume. Time spent on upskilling is almost always worthwhile, but what they really want to know is whether an employer is going to give them “points” for it when reviewing their resume and considering them for a position. In other words, will an employer respect that online certificate or course?

Whether an online course is likely to give you a leg up on your competition depends on the industry you work in, the course itself, who delivered the course, and the stage of life you’re in. Courses are more common and more valued in certain industries than others. Hopefully, you know your industry well enough to know if yours is one. Typically, if your field is one that changes (relatively) rapidly, online courses on the latest topics are often viewed in a positive light. If you’re not sure if classes are common in your line of work, check out the LinkedIn profiles of people you know in your field and see if they list courses they’ve taken. 

The course itself also matters. It should be highly relevant to your work, obviously, but it should also provide you with skills necessary to provide value to your employer. Ask yourself if what you’ve learned will help make your company money, make your manager’s life easier, etc. If the answer is no, then then a hiring manager is unlikely to see value in the course. Courses that you took just to look “more well-rounded” probably aren’t going to be viewed as beneficial to an employer, who wants to see that you’ve pursued something that will add value (e.g., dollars and cents, either directly or indirectly) to his or her organization. 

Additionally, the course should be delivered by a reputable source. Employers are likely to attach much more value to an online class if it’s taken from a name they recognize, such as The National Association of Sales Professional (NASP) if you’re applying for a sales role. The corollary, of course, is that if the class is delivered from some random person on LinkedIn or Teachable, it’s probably going to carry less weight in the eyes of a hiring manager.

Finally, the stage of your life also matters. If you’re early in your career, taking classes can really help show you’re motivated and willing to work hard on improving yourself. But the higher you climb the corporate ladder, the less cache these kinds of courses and certificates are likely to have. Instead, employers will start looking for advanced degrees (e.g., MBAs), the hard-to-obtain certifications (like a PMP for project managers), or just great experience.

One caveat: it’s entirely possible an employer will consider the skill you learned in a course far more valuable than the course itself. For example, if you’re a programmer and you took several online courses from Udemy, LinkedIn, Coursera, etc., those courses probably won’t impress an employer. Your ability to code using C# on the other hand, might be extremely valuable to him or her. So even if you decide against listing the course on your resume, you should definitely list any skills you’ve obtained from online courses you’ve taken.