Top free online certifications

Are you feeling stuck in a dead-end job that doesn’t support your professional development?

Making a career switch isn’t always easy but can be done!

You will need to find job opportunities in a field that interests you and get an interview, but you also need to show that you have the skills and qualifications necessary to complete the job.

Fortunately, it’s possible to learn new in-demand skills required to either change your career or advance it. Several free online certifications are available today. And because they’re certifications, you can add them to your resume.

Let’s explore which free certification courses you can take and how you can add them to your resume to increase your chances of landing your dream job.

What skills are in high demand?

If you want to have a successful career, it’ll be helpful to develop some of the most in-demand skills on the market right now.

According to the Global Skills Report from Coursera, there are several currently trending skills as well as skills that will be in demand in the future. These are highly valuable skills that you can get certified for online for free.

Some of the most trending skills in North America include:

• Microsoft

• Digital marketing

• Data analysis

• Project management

• Marketing

• Programming principles

• Python programming

• Machine learning

• SQL

And the future skills that will be in high demand in the coming years include:

• Cloud computing

• Content production

• Data and artificial intelligence

• Engineering

• Green economy

• Marketing

• People and culture

• Product development

• Sales

• Care economy

Keep these skills in mind as you look through the free online certifications available to you.

How to highlight certifications in your resume

Some jobs will require specific skills and certifications. So it’s important to showcase them appropriately in your resume before you apply for the job you want.

First off, make sure not to add all of your certifications to every resume you send. Your resume should be tailored to each job opportunity you apply for.

Recruiters only look at each resume for an average of 7.4 seconds, so it’s important to only showcase the information they care about.

For example, if you’re applying for a data analyst position, you should definitely include your data analytics certificate. But your project management certification probably won’t be of much use unless the job description mentions opportunities in project management.

So, where should you add your certifications to your resume?

If you take a look at the best resume examples that can help you land a job, you’ll notice that most of them have an education section near the bottom.

(Image Source)

There, you can write the name of the certification, the year you completed it, and which organization it came from.

Top 9 free online certifications to boost your resume

Getting a certification doesn’t have to cost you anything.

Here are nine academies, universities, and organizations that offer free online courses you can take to develop your career and build new skills.

1. freeCodeCamp

As the name suggests, freeCodeCamp is an online resource to help people learn how to code through certificate courses.

They are a nonprofit organization with thousands of free video tutorials and interactive coding lessons and challenges. So if you want to learn a new programming language, they’re an amazing resource.

freeCodeCamp offers free certificates not just for coding JavaScript and other languages but also for other high-demand skills like information security, data visualization, responsive web development, data analysis, and more. These courses get you verified certificates.

(Image Source)

Most of their free certifications courses provide you with 300 hours of training each. They even suggest the best order to complete your certifications so that you don’t get overwhelmed.

2. Microsoft Learn

For most office jobs, knowing how to use Microsoft products is becoming more and more important. Even if you’re not comfortable with these products, Microsoft offers free certifications in Microsoft Learn.

They provide training for a huge array of their products, including:

• Microsoft 365

• Office

• GitHub

• SQL Server

• Visual Studio

• Surface

You can filter all their modules and learning paths based on products and on your skill level or your role in a business, such as data analyst or administrator.

Online certifications are available for free. You also have the option to take an instructor-led certification exam for a small fee.

3. Hubspot Academy

Hubspot is a marketing, sales, and service software designed to help businesses grow. But they also have a free online learning academy to teach people in-demand marketing skills like sales, SEO, inbound marketing, and more.

Some of these online education resources are regular courses, but several of them will get you a certification of completion if you complete the course.

When you browse Hubspot Academy, you can filter for category, content type, duration, what software it uses, skill level, and language. You can also filter out courses that aren’t certifications.

(Image Source)

Some of their most popular certifications include:

• Inbound marketing

• Digital marketing

• Content marketing

• Social media marketing

• Sales software

Their courses are also relatively quick to go through. For example, the inbound marketing certification lasts about four hours.

4. Google

Like Microsoft, Google offers a wide array of products and services, both for individuals and for businesses. But they also have several free educational resources online that give you professional certificates.

Not all of their courses come with free online certificates.

For example, on their Android Developers website, they have an Associate Android Developer Certification available. However, this certification is intermediate, meaning you will need some previous experience to successfully complete it.

You can still take basic courses to get you up to speed in Android, like the Build Your First Android App in Java course as a prerequisite, but those don’t get you certified.

Another example of free certifications offered by Google is the Skillshop, which includes training programs and certifications around tools like Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google My Business, and Waze.

(Image Source)

They have other advanced certificates like UX design and IT support.

5. Datacamp

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in data science, Datacamp is an amazing learning platform to help you build your data skills and get certified for free.

They have business programs available at the enterprise level, and companies like Paypal and Intel use them to train their employees. But they also have training courses available for individuals.

Some of their open courses include:

• SQL for marketers

• Introduction to probability and data-labs

• Basic statistics

• Introduction to Python and machine learning

6. OpenSAP

SAP is a German software company that offers cloud business solutions.

With OpenSAP, they offer over 200 free certifications and courses in business and technology.

If you complete at least half of a course, you get a confirmation of participation. But if you score at least 50% on graded assignments, you also get a ‘Record of Achievement.’

(Image Source)

Some of their courses have specific dates, but you can also browse through their self-paced courses if you prefer to take online courses at your own pace.

7. Saylor Academy

With Saylor Academy, you can learn about a wide range of topics.

In addition to helping you get certified in tech skills like computer science, operating systems, and Python programming, they also offer courses in chemistry, business administration, art history, mathematics, political science, psychology, and more.

Their courses are similar to university courses, so they last 35 hours on average. With most of their courses, you can get a free certification upon completion.

8. OpenWHO

If you want to learn about topics like pandemics, health emergencies, and epidemics, you can learn for free and get certified at the same time by taking courses on OpenWHO.

The World Health Organization has more than 200 free certifications about topics such as:

• Preparing for pandemics

• Healthier populations

• Neglected tropical diseases

They also have courses in several languages available, so if you prefer to study in a language other than English, that option is available to you.

9. International Training Centre

The International Training Centre offers 28 free certification programs on several topics, including:

• Labor laws

• Gender equality in the workplace

• Sustainable enterprise development

• Rural economic empowerment

Keep in mind that not all their courses are free. So when you browse their website, make sure to choose the course type as ‘free’ if you only want to see the free ones.

Take these free online certifications to increase your worth and start a fulfilling career

You don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to learn in-demand skills and work on your personal development.

In fact, you don’t even need to spend hundreds of dollars — not when there are thousands of free online certifications available at your fingertips.

Take your time to browse through the options available to you. Pick something that piques your interests and that you can fit into your free time.

Some of these certifications demand a lot of time, but the knowledge you gain and the certification you can add to your resume will become an invaluable resource to help you get the career of your dreams!

Have you ever thought about changing careers?