MOOCs’ or a MOO point?
Tl;dr If you have not completed a MOOC, you are missing strong chances of getting hired!
To maintain brevity and foster better understanding, let us understand this post via the following parts:
- What are MOOCs’?
- Why MOOCs’ will get your profile hired.
- Where can you find MOOCs’ and how should you proceed?
- No money? Here’s how to complete MOOCs’ for free!
- But seriously! Studying? Not again!
- What are MOOCs’?
MOOCs stand for Massive Open Online Courseware. These are courses on various subjects relevant to engineering to management degrees and aggregated on these websites. Right from something basic as learning how to play the guitar to understand the very complicated game theory, these websites have got you covered.
2. Why MOOCs’ will get your profile hired.
We all know that our standard 8 am — 6 pm colleges aren’t cutting it when it comes to improving our knowledge pool. Even the fact that in most cases, we cannot pursue the courses we want to study! However, by simply completing a MOOC, we allow ourselves the chance to pursue our genuine interests, which may even be outside of the college curriculum.
This extraordinary commitment from a student is enough to speak about their interests and determination. However, it is necessary to note that it is not just about enrolling in a MOOC but completing it. Spoiler alert: The majority of MOOCs’ has an end assessment that qualifies a student to get that certificate of completion. Just one MOOC, and it speaks volumes about your work ethic. Trust us!
3. Where can you find MOOCs’ and how should you proceed?
As previously stated, MOOCs’ are hosted on these websites. Some quality examples are Coursera, EdX, Cognitive AI, Udemy, Udacity, Khan Academy, etc. How should you proceed?
a. Google and find courses that are of interest to you. For example, let’s say I’m interested in learning about Game Theory. So I’ll try googling, “Game Theory MOOC,” and the results will show.
b. Next, I’ll look up the different websites offering this course specifically.
c. I’ll check out the syllabus and find a suitable course that satisfies what I intend to learn from their course syllabus.
d. I’ll then sign up on the website and the course and start learning!
e. The MOOCs’ are usually free, but in some cases, more specifically, in-demand courses, professional courses, and classes offered by top-rated international universities are difficult to access for free. Fortunately, here’s my trick. This case is specific to Coursera, where we can easily access a course for free.
4. No money? Here’s how to complete MOOCs’ for free!
No Money but the trick?
The financial aid!
If you’re successful, you can get a course of Coursera priced at an average of 6,000/- (INR) for free! On one side of every class, Coursera displays the option of applying for student aid. It is a simple form that asks you to explain the reason for the application for assistance.
In some cases, the courses do not have the option of any financial aid. Here’s what you do, in the help section for the course, write to the team and ask for the availability of financial assistance. If you’re lucky enough, the team then does offer an option for applying for financial aid!
All you gotta do is ask!
Trust me, I’ve completed 6 MOOCs’ (and continuing) with 2 with 100% financial aid.
5. But seriously! Studying? Not again!
‘No! I get your hesitation that college is enough for boredom. You’ll be kidding if you’d think that I’ll study extra!’ No, seriously, I get your thought process, but here’s the deal. Have you ever been this lucky to learn first hand from a college professor who is genuinely passionate about what they teach?
So passionate that they legit consulted their University to publish a course for the whole world to learn! No, right? I guessed it. With the invent of MOOCs’, transitional education is said to be dying. Don’t take my word for it. Get on one MOOC on your own and let me know your perspective!
