AIBU to wonder if Coursera

[TheAverageJuror]

courses are actually good for your CV or am I being naive?
Anyone from recruitment here?

I get that having a free 3-months course doesn't obviously make you an expert. However, if you have spare time and do them on top of your qualifications to gain that little bit of extra knowledge in some topics, does it look good on a CV or do potential employers just disregard it? Is it a way to gain that tiny little advantage over a competition?

IMHO these courses should count for something even if it is just to show that one is really interested in the field or that even though they don't have money to spend on expensive courses, they are at least trying to gain some extra knowledge.

Absolutely anyone can do them and they are very variable so IMO no.

The quality is SO variable and the content is often out of date; so they wouldn't mean anything when I'm hiring; sadly.

I argued that although they meant nothing, they did show that someone was trying to improve when trying to compare candidates with my manager. He strongly felt it indicated that the candidate didn't know where to find up-to-date knowledge and felt it was more of a potential risk than a positive.

It demonstrates an interest in CPD, and that could be a quality your employers are looking for.

Would depend on the field

So I am being bit naive🙈

Naive, sorry! Do them for yourself though, you don’t know where they might lead

Just don’t put them on your CV... you’ll be laughed out if the building.

As an example - I have a degree and a masters in English Lit. I started a short course in 19th c. Lit at Brown just for fun, which specified that you had to have an excellent command of English language, and found that most of the people on the course could barely construct a sentence. When it came to the first assessment being peer marked, 2 of the 3 markers said they couldn’t understand what I’d written. I gave up.

I personally wouldn't see coursera as a negative but also in no way a positive either. if a candidate tried to use their coursera course as an example of their skill level or even their knowledge I would want other evidence, ie it would do nothing for them as a candidate.

It depends on whether the course is accredited or results in a recognised qualification.

I am back 😁
Thank you all for answers.
Do you know CPD? I found some which are CPD accredited and very cheap (on sale). They also correspond with my field.
And Alison.com courses look like a great extra bit of info.

I wonder. Would it look stupid to actually create a small section of cv named "Extra skills development" or something like that and put MOOCs including for example physical seminars in? Just very briefly, like xxxxx (provider, year)?

I hope this thread will help others looking to boost CVs!