Are you hoping to get a promotion at work? Start your own side hustle? Make a big career change? The beauty of the Internet is that we are all empowered to continuously learn — without moving back into a dorm room.
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We’ve rounded up our 10 favorite online (and free!) certifications that you can use to boost your resume, add some street cred to your personal website, or use as a bargaining chip in your next promotion negotiation.
Marketing
HubSpot Academy’s Inbound Certification
Whether you’re a marketing professional or just starting your own side hustle, HubSpot Academy’s free courses cover everything from SEO and content strategy to lead generation. You’ll learn how to attract loyal followers and convert them into paying customers through inbound marketing — and get a certification to add to your website!
CFU’s Digital Marketing Certificate
Colorado Free University offers a certificate in Digital Marketing and Social Media strategies upon completion of a dozen free courses. Although there are a few required credits, you’re able to select the majority of the courses to tailor to your interests. Course options range from deep dives into specific social platform to general strategies for content creation.
Strategy
Google Analytics Academy
Google offers free training and a Google Partner certification for anyone interested in learning more about their AdWords platform and all of the advertising products that are built on it. Courses include analytics for beginners and advanced users, as well as an in-depth e-commerce class.
Alison Project Management Diploma
Project management is applicable to almost any industry, and this course from Alison covers everything you need to apply the best techniques to your own job. Begin with the basics and best practices of successful project management before diving into a project management case study to tie everything you learned together.
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Creative
Color Theory CertificationAlison
Understanding the concepts of color theory is an important skill for anyone working in visual arts. After learning the basics of color relationships and the technical aspects of each, you’ll be able to apply the knowledge to any design project.
RMIT University’s The Art of Photography
Whether you’re taking photos for your website, social media accounts, or product shots for an Etsy shop, better photography skills are a huge asset in the digital age. Upon completion of RMIT’s course, you’ll have a Certificate of Achievement to highlight your knowledge of DSLR hardware and post-production editing.
Creative Commons Certificate
Creative Commons is an organization dedicated to making the sharing of content easier — and legal. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, their certificate program gives creatives insight into the relationship between your work and applicable licenses and public domain usage. You’ll also get access to CC’s network, which includes YouTube, Flickr, and Vimeo.
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Technology
General Assembly’s Dash General Assembly’s Dash course covers everything you need to know about the basics of coding. Start off with a personal website, then move on to creating a blog theme. Even if you aren’t in a tech industry, knowledge of HTML and CSS is a great addition to almost every resume.
MIT’s Introduction to Computer Programming
Not many people can cite MIT on their resume, but through edX.org, you can enroll in the university’s accredited Intro to Computer Programming course and, upon completion, have a very impressive MIT course on your resume. You’ll learn about programming languages and data structures, and you’ll be introduced to more in-depth concepts as well.
WordPress Academy
WordPress is a favorite platform for web developers because it is so easy to customize. WordPress Academy offers a 30 day free trial to their course library, which includes beginner and advanced classes with recognizable certifications. Impress your boss by updating your company’s blog, or start your own freelancing side hustle.
