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Should free online courses such as Udacity, Tutsplus, Codecademy and the like be listed along with relevant training?

Specifically, because the job I am current applying to is within the Federal Government, where so much will be automatically determined, should I include Tutsplus Premium courses on my application?

There is a section that reads:

List the titles and completion dates of training courses that are relevant to the position you are seeking.

This is not the formal education / college degree section. This is not even the certificate section. This is "Federal Government" - its quite detailed and there are different sections for both of those.

I currently have:

• How to Get On A GSA Schedule (1.5 Continuous Learning Points) Apr 2013

• WhatCounts Publicaster E-newsletter Training Oct 2012

• Peace Corps Training Dec 2009

I am wondering if I should add the relevant Tutsplus Premium courses I've done as well?

• Tutsplus.com Premium Course Book Layout in InDesign Feb 2013

• Tutsplus.com Premium Course HTML Email Design & Development April 2013

Etc...

Community
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Ryan
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  • @jcmeloni I didn't find that and it is similar so I'll let the community decide but a key difference is that Coursera and that question states they were provided a Certificate of Completion. I've also edited the question to make sure that's clear. – Ryan Apr 16 '13 at 21:58
  • Hi Ryan, when posting, try not to use the title of the post as a crutch for the first sentence in your post. Your post should ideally stand alone by itself, without the title. I added it into the post so the first paragraph flows better. The title is intended to grab attention of the reader, not be the first sentence. With that said, I closed this as a dup of the other post because this still isn't clear. Some clarity in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs may help the community understand the problem better. I also edited for grammar to see if we can help make it easier to read. Good luck! – jmort253 Apr 17 '13 at 06:46
  • Nah its fine closing, like I said I didn't see that question. I'm going to make some minor edits to that and it should be fine. Thanks. – Ryan Apr 17 '13 at 10:29

2 Answers2

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I would include them, but not in a formal Education section like you would a university degree, as they are non-accredited, free programs.

You really can't hurt yourself by including these things if they're appropriate for the position you're applying for.

Codeman
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  • Sorry if it wasn't clear but yes this is not a formal education section. All that I have in that area is my degree. I'll edit the question to make sure that's clear. – Ryan Apr 16 '13 at 21:55
  • Sure :) so I guess I'm saying - yes it is okay to do what you're doing, in my opinion. As someone who reviews resumes somewhat regularly in my company, I would see these courses as a neutral or good thing, certainly not bad. It depends on the company culture though - large companies would likely discount the value of these classes – Codeman Apr 16 '13 at 22:26
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They certainly seem relevant and you have identified the proper section in which to include these courses.

But first consider what a hiring manager would think about these courses. That's the really important part. I don't know the specifics of the job requirement or the courses, so I can't advise you specifically there. But are these courses that would impress a hiring manager? If so, include them. If not, leave them off.

In my field, there are some free courses and "affiliations" that are rather laughable. If anyone other than a pure raw entry-level beginner thought they were important enough to include on their resume, it would be a significant red flag.

Joe Strazzere
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    This is a government position. Sometimes quantity matters more than relevance. The government scores applicants before the hiring managers sees the resume/form. Or at least they did a decade ago when I applied. – Jeanne Boyarsky Apr 17 '13 at 02:24
  • They still do Jeanne which is one of the main reasons it dawned on me to add this stuff! They also happen to be relevant. – Ryan Apr 17 '13 at 10:33