30+ Best Online Courses to Take to Get a Job in 2024

Online learning is transforming the way we build our careers. It's accessible, affordable, and helps us boost our skills. It can even help us get hired. For those reasons, we're now bringing you an extensive list of the best online courses to take to get a job in 2024.

If you're asking yourself “What online course is most likely to help me get a job?", the answer is — it depends. You need to pick one that fits your career goals, industry, and related needs. 

We made a selection of the best online courses out there, so you don't have to. All you need to do is choose the best fit for you. 

In this list are courses provided by trustworthy learning platforms and top companies. It's all here — whether you're looking for an industry-specific course, training for students, or a course for unemployed people. 

We'll also tell you: 

• If the course is free or paid;
• The current price for the course if it's not free;
• What certifications or diplomas you can achieve; 
• How to present these courses on your resume in the best possible way;

10 trustworthy websites for online courses

First, let's see if the course you want to take is worth your time or money. Because when it comes to getting a job, not all resources are equally valuable in recruiters’ eyes.

So how will you persuade potential employers that you’ve done more than watched a few unvetted YouTube videos on how to code an app? 

The answer is to get an online course from a trustworthy website or a well-known brand.

A single course from one of these 10 trustworthy websites is sure to look dynamite on your CV:

1. Coursera

This well-known online learning platform hosts more than 4,000 courses from major universities such as Stanford and Yale, or well-known companies such as Moreover, Google, or Meta. 

You can enroll in either self-paced or timed classes ranging between 4 and 12 weeks. Choose from various courses for professional certificates in data analytics, digital marketing, IT, or other sectors. Google claims their courses are equivalent to 4-year college degrees.

2. EdX

Co-founded by Harvard and MIT, this online learning platform offers 3,000+ free online courses from more than 140 institutions including NYU, Yale, and even companies like IBM or Google. 

Top EdX 10 courses in 2023 were related to computer science, data science, leadership and communication, artificial intelligence, or entrepreneurship. Available are also courses focused on new technology like Blockchain or FinTech.

3. Future Learn 

This is a private company with over 50 years of experience in distance learning and online education.

Future Learn offers a wide range of online courses, micro-credentials, and ExpertTracks from leading universities and organizations from around the world. These include Amazon, Microsoft, and the British Council.

You can also receive a certificate of achievement. However, for this, you need to upgrade, mark over 90% of course steps, complete all the questions and receive a score of over 70%.

4. Udacity 

Udacity offers around 200 free online courses. However, keep in mind that the most standard version of each course comes without certificates. If you want one, you can try their Nanodegree certificate program — it's a bit more expensive, but you'll get to choose from courses offered by companies such as Google, Facebook, and AT&T. 

Moreover, they guarantee you'll get a job after completing it — and if you don't, you'll get a refund.

5. Udemy 

A global marketplace for online learning and mastering new skills. 

At Udemy, you can choose from a massive offering of over 185,000 self-paced courses taught by expert instructors. There are courses both for students and experienced professionals. Udemy has paid but also free courses. The price depends on the instructor and if you pay, you'll also get a certificate.

Finally, keep in mind that these courses are provided by individual experts, and not by and not well-known institutions or brands.

Therefore, having one on your resume may appear a little less impressive. 

6. LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn's learning platform has a selection of over 16,000 courses in business, technology, and creative skills taught by industry experts.

These online courses come in 7 languages and each course includes several short videos that will make it easier for you to adopt new knowledge. 

If you want to see if any of these courses are a good fit for you, just go to your LinkedIn profile. There, LinkedIn will suggest relevant courses for you, based on your skills and experience. And although it's paid, you get one month of free trial and printable certificates for each online course.

7. Code Academy

Great for aspiring developers. Code Academy offers free coding classes in 12 programming languages including Python, C#, Java, and HTML. They have partnered up with various brands like Amazon and Adafruit. 

This online academy offers coding tutorials with easy-to-follow instructions, immediate feedback, and a tested curriculum. Its community forum is the place for learning, helping, and sharing experiences with Code Academy and coding in general. 

They also have a paid “pro” version if you want to access personalized plans and realistic projects.

8. Google Skillshop 

Google's free learning center is a credible and well-known platform. 

Here, you'll find in–depth lessons on how to use Google's tools like Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Marketing Platform, or Waze. These courses are all produced by Google product experts. 

Finally, you'll also get a free Google certification upon completion.

9. HubSpot Academy

This learning center made by HubSpot offers numerous courses in sales, marketing, and customer support. 

You can choose to do one of the short courses that will teach you how to get a job or improve your skills, or one of the in-depth lessons that offer free certifications upon completion. 

After completing it, you'll get an industry-recognized badge that you can add to your LinkedIn profile. 

These courses are completely free, all you need to do is to register to access them. 

10. Microsoft Learn

A learning center provided by Microsoft offers three types of learning — online courses, certifications, and live events.

The range of their courses is wide. Some courses are free, and some are paid. Moreover, you'll find courses for both beginners and advanced users. 

While most of the courses are targeted at the company's products, they can be really useful if youre using Microsoft tools in your professional life. Microsoft's certificates are accredited and recognized by employers. 

Best online courses to take to get a job

Cool, so these sites and well-known brands are offering myriads of appealing courses. But how are you supposed to know which ones are better than others?

The following hand-curated list contains the most valuable online courses that will get you a job. And some of them won’t even cost you a dime.

We've divided them into 8 categories:

1. Programming and computer science
2. Web development
3. AI and data science
4. Design
5. Digital Marketing
6. Communication
7. Languages
8. Healthcare and medicine

Many of these online courses even offer a certificate which you can include on your resume!

1. Programming and computer science courses

The tech industry being the rapidly growing segment that it is, there aren’t enough programmers to meet the demand. IT experts and coders are hot commodities nowadays and the pay is usually rather lucrative, to say the least.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve, start (or improve your coding) with one of these courses:

1. Computer Science 101 (Stanford University via edX)

• Price: free (you can add graded exams and a shareable certificate for 200 USD)
• Time: 6 weeks
• About: CS101 is a self-paced course that teaches the essential ideas of Computer Science for a zero-prior-experience audience. Computers can appear very complicated, but in reality, computers work within just a few, simple patterns. CS101 demystifies and brings those patterns to life, which is useful for anyone using computers today.

2. Programming for Everybody — Getting Started with Python (University of Michigan via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 19 hours
• About: Among top Coursera courses in 2022. Designed to be a first coding class and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course. Upon completion, you can also get a shareable certificate.

3. Introduction to Java Programming (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid via edX) 

• Price: free (you can add graded exams and a shareable certificate for $149)
• Time: 5 weeks
• About: Aims to help students develop high-quality, working software that solves real problems. Materials are designed for students with some programming experience. If you have none, though, but don't lack motivation, you'll do fine nonetheless.

4. Introduction to C++ (Microsoft via edX)

• Price: free (you can add graded exams and a shareable certificate for $99)
• Time: 4 weeks
• About: A fast-paced introduction to C and C++ programming languages. You’ll learn the required background knowledge, including memory management, pointers, and object-oriented programming. And you’ll also become skilled at finding bugs when you inevitably use any of those incorrectly.

5. iOS App Development with Swift Specialization (University of Toronto via Coursera)

• Price: Free (if you want a certificate, you can upgrade to Coursera Plus, $59/month)
• Time: 5 months
• About: This course will teach you how to create an iOS app and submit your first fully functional product to the App Store before the end of the day. However, some related experience is required. You can also earn a shareable certification upon completion.

6. Android Basics (Google via Udacity)

• Price: $399/month or $1017/3 months
• Time: 3 months
• About: This course is pricey, however, its high-quality content and Udacity Nanodegree programs are widely recognized and trusted among industry leaders. This course is aimed at people with no prior experience in coding and will teach you how to build apps for the Android platform. The program also includes real-world projects, technical mentor support, and career services.

Bonus: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python (Massachusetts Institute of Technology via edX)

• Price: free (you can add graded exams and a shareable certificate for 75 USD)
• Time: 9 weeks
• About: This course is the first of a two-course sequence: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python, and Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science. Together, they are designed to help people with no prior exposure to computer science or programming learn to think computationally and write programs to tackle useful problems.

2. Web development courses

These days, few people can’t read basic code. Everyone from fashion bloggers to journalists and even eBay sellers fiddle with HTML to create and edit their content.

1. Introduction to HTML (Code Academy)

• Price: Free (option to upgrade to pro from $19.99/month billed yearly if you want a certificate)
• Time: 9 hours
• About: An easy-to-navigate course that will help you grasp the basics of the HTML syntax and structure of a web page.

2. Intro to HTML and CSS (Udacity)

• Price: Free
• Time: 3 weeks
• About: Your first step towards a new career as a front-end web developer. Besides HTML basics, you’ll learn how to apply styling to a website through CSS.

3. Dash (General Assembly)

• Price: Free
• Time: 10-13 weeks
• About: This course teaches HTML, CSS, and JavaScript by giving you step-by-step instructions on creating fun websites. The big plus is that the user workspace lets you see the output of your code in real-time.

4. Introduction to Javascript (Codecademy)

• Price: Free (option to upgrade to pro from $19.99/month billed yearly if you want a certificate)
• Time: 20 hours
• About: This course lets you learn JavaScript fundamentals and intermediate content like functions, object-oriented programming, and browser compatibility. With these skills, you can build interactive websites.

3. AI and data science courses

You may have already noticed that today’s job market is hungry for more data analysts.

Companies have been collecting data for decades. And as a result, there’s a huge demand for people who can mine and interpret data. In fact, Glassdoor has once again named Data Scientist among the #3 best jobs in America in 2022.

Once you learn the ropes, the jobs will start lining up for you — both today and in the foreseeable future.

1. Introduction to Big Data (University of San Diego via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 17 hours
• About: This course will help you to understand problems with big data and its structure. You’ll get a glimpse of programming, too.

2. SQL for Data Analysis (Udacity)

• Price: Free
• Time: 4 weeks
• About: This course will teach you how to write efficient SQL queries to successfully handle a variety of data analysis tasks. You’ll first learn to extract data, join tables together and perform aggregations. Then you’ll learn how to use subqueries, temp tables, and window functions. 

3. Machine Learning (Stanford University via Coursera)

• Price: Free (if you manage to finish the course within 7 days, you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial. Otherwise, you need to upgrade for $59/month to get it)
• Time: 61 hours
• About: This course was among the top Coursera courses in 2022. It provides a broad introduction to machine learning, data mining, and statistical pattern recognition. The course also draws from numerous case studies and applications.

4. Data, Models and Decisions in Business Analytics (Columbia University via edX) 

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $249 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 12 weeks
• About: This course will teach you how data scientists exercise statistical thinking in a variety of ways. You’ll learn more about designing data collection and deriving insights from visualizing data. It also talks about obtaining evidence for data-based decisions and constructing models for predicting future trends from data.

5. Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel (Microsoft via edX)

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $99 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 4 weeks
• About: This online course will teach you the basics of Excel, one of the most popular data analysis tools. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to visualize and gain insights from your data. And yes, Excel is still one of the most desired tech skills in today’s workplace. No matter what your attitude towards charts and tables is, if it's relevant to your job or industry, it should be on your resume.

4. Design courses

Getting a job in graphic or product design is a dream of many creative people. However, there are a couple of skills you need to develop before you can start your dream career.

Just pick one of the following courses that will have you thinking about your first artwork before you’ll even open your Photoshop. 

1. Fundamentals of Graphic Design (California Institute of the Arts via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 15 hours
• About: This course will teach you the fundamental principles of graphic design. These include image making, typography, composition, and working with colors and shapes. 

2. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Essential Tools (ALISON)

• Price: Free
• Time: 1,5 - 3 hours
• About: This course will guide you through the Photoshop user interface and help you acquire the basic techniques for bitmap graphic design.

3. Learn Adobe Illustrator: Fundamentals for Beginners (Anne Brecker via SkillShare)

• Price: 7 days for free (then you need to upgrade to premium at $167.88/year)
• Time: 1h 19 min
• About: This course will walk you through everything you need to know to get started with Adobe Illustrator. You’ll dive into its three core elements — shapes, paths, and types.

4. Graphic Design (University of Colorado via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 29 hours
• About: This course will give you the tools to create professional-looking Powerpoint presentations, reports, resumes, and presentations.

5. Basic 3D Animation using Blender (IIT Bombay)

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for X if you want a certificate)
• Time: 4 weeks
• About: This course will teach you the core concepts of animation and filmmaking. By the end of the course, you’ll know how to create lifelike animations using Blender.

6. Hackdesign

• Price: First 50 lessons for free
• Time: No estimation (each lesson is like a shorter blog post)

About: An easy-to-follow design course. It offers useful curated blogs, books, games, videos, and tutorials. These are always organized into a digestible lesson plan.

5. Digital marketing courses

If you want to start a career in one of the fastest-developing fields in today’s job market, one of the following courses can help you get there.

Job demand for SEO experts and digital & content marketers is soaring and there’s no better place to learn their skills than online.

1. Introduction to Marketing (University of British Columbia via edX) 

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $150 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 6 weeks
• About: This course will help you understand the psychology of consumer decision-making. You’ll also learn to develop pricing strategies that maximize profitability and understand how marketing metrics can benefit a given company.

2. Google Analytics Academy 

• Price: Free
• Time: 4-6 hours
• About: This course will help you learn about Google’s analytical tools so that you can grow your business through intelligent data collection and analysis. You can also choose from various options — courses for beginners, advanced, and power users. You'll also get a certificate — and certificates from Google are a must-have for most resumes.

3. Google Digital Garage

• Price: Free
• Time: 40 hours
• About: With this course, you can learn the fundamentals of digital marketing — from search engines to social media and beyond. It will let you upgrade your resume with an impressive digital certification. But only after the completion of one of the free online courses.

4. HubSpot Content Marketing Course

• Price: Free 
• Time: 6 hours
• About: A course for aspiring but also experienced marketing professionals and content marketers. You'll learn how to create and repurpose content that both readers and Google will love. After completion, you'll also receive a certificate.

5. HubSpot Digital Advertising 101 

• Price: Free 
• Time: 3 hours
• About: A course is designed for beginners and also for advertising professionals who want to expand their skill set. You'll learn how to advertise, how to create digital advertising campaigns that convert, and how to evaluate their performance. After completion, you'll also receive a certificate.

6. Ahrefs Certification Course

• Price: Free
• Time: 7 hours
• About: Ahrefs is a popular tool used amongst digital marketers. It provides valuable information about website parameters, backlinks, SEO, and more. Now they offer a free beta course (they want to add certification later). You'll learn how to use this tool to improve the SEO of your web pages.

6. Communication courses

Speaking and writing may seem like the most basic skills that are gained easily. However, that's not exactly true, is it?

In employer surveys, communication skills consistently rank at the top of every soft skills list. Everyone wants their employees to be able to listen and talk like mature professionals.

Therefore, if you want to advance your career, it’s high time to work a little on your communication skills:

1. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (University of Michigan via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 17 hours
• About: This course will teach you everything about successful negotiation. It covers planning your negotiation strategy, using key tactics for success, creating a contract, and evaluating your performance. And remember, negotiation skills are also essential for negotiating your salary.

2. Business Communications (The University of British Columbia via edX)

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $150 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 6 weeks
• About: This course will sharpen your writing, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills. The course also offers a wide range of successful practices and guidelines.

3. Successful Presentation (University of Colorado Boulder via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 21 hours
• About: A series of practical videos and exercises. These focus on mastering fear, developing an innovative formula, and using verbal and body language — the most important skills for any job interview.

4. Customer service (Vision2Learn)

• Price: Free
• Time: 9 - 11 weeks
• About: This course will help you improve communication with future colleagues as well as customers. It also comes with a bundle of many great transferable skills.

5. Delivering Exceptional Customer Support (HubSpot)

• Price: Free
• Time: 45 minutes
• About: In this course, you'll learn how to provide excellent customer support, manage your time, analyze various user cases and build great relationships with customers.

6. How to Write a Professional Resume (Kickresume)

• Price: Free
• Time: 4 minutes
• About: A brief video that will take you through every step of writing an awesome resume, section by section.

7. Language courses

Speaking just one language is no longer enough. Companies are growing and expanding their international presence.

If you dream of landing a job in virtually any competitive field, having appropriate language skills is a must; so don’t hesitate any further and get ahead of the competition with one of the following courses:

1. Basic Spanish 1: Getting Started (UPValencia via edX)

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $40 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 7 weeks
• About: This course will have you speaking Spanish (and experiencing its cultural diversity) through a quality drama-filled story. In addition, you’ll listen to an audio program integrated with the text and workbook.

2. Basic French Language Skills for Everyday Life (ALISON)

• Price: Free
• Time: 6-10 hours
• About: A series of engaging video lessons that introduce beginners to various aspects of the French language. After taking this course, you’ll be able to use a range of French vocabulary and have a casual conversation in French. As for the grammar, you’ll get to grips with past, present, and future verb tenses.

3. Mandarin Chinese Essentials (MandarinX via edX)

• Price: Free
• Time: 5 weeks  (optional upgrade for X if you want a certificate)
• About: This course will teach you basic phrases for everyday life as well as the proper “tones” in Mandarin. Many of today’s global business meetings are conducted in Mandarin Chinese. So Basic Mandarin is a great skill to add to your resume. 

4. Talk German – An introduction to German (BBC)

• Price: Free
• Time: 12 weeks
• About: A lively introduction to the language in ten short parts. Watch and listen to the videos and have a look at the transcript if needed.

5. Talk Italian – An introduction to Italian (BBC)

• Price: Free
• Time: 12 weeks
• About: This free course includes nine short sections on everyday topics. These include ordering a meal, asking for directions, saying where you’re from, and checking in at a hotel. 

6. Japanese Culture and Language (I) (Tsinghua University via edX)

• Price: Free (optional upgrade for $180 if you want a certificate)
• Time: 10 weeks
• About: Do you have interests in the Japanese life styles and their national cultures? Do you have the ambition to grasp some basic Japanese quickly? Then this is the course for you.

8. Healthcare and medicine courses

If you're wondering whether healthcare and medicine workers should have an online course on top of their college degree, the answer is yes.

Of course, a course is in no way comparable to traditional education that's necessary for healthcare workers. However, adding new knowledge and staying up-to-date with current topics like the COVID-19 pandemic can make a big difference in your care for patients. 

Online courses simply let you learn new things at any stage of your career — and employers like workers who continue to learn and grow.

Here are both long-term and short-term courses that might help you get a healthcare job:

1. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers (Stanford University via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 8 hours
• About: A very up-to-date online course that you can finish in a day. You'll learn how to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. This course also has great ratings and 25% of participants say they got a tangible career benefit from completing it. 

2. Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19 (Harvard University via edX)

• Price: Free
• Time: 1 week
• About: Another very current course that will teach you basics about the mechanical ventilation and how to care for patients receiving mechanical ventilation due to COVID-19.

3. Psychological First Aid: Supporting Children and Young People (UK Health Security Agency via Future Learn)

• Price: Free with limited access, a one-off payment of $49, or a subscription ($27.99/month)
• Time: 3 weeks
• About: In this course, you'll learn how to recognize the common signs of distress and how to support people during emergencies. The course is based on globally recommended training and international guidance from WHO, United Nations, and comes from a big authority, Public Health England. With paid versions, you'll also get a certificate.

4. Global Quality Maternal and Newborn Care (Yale University via Coursera)

• Price: Free (you can also get a certificate with Coursera Plus 7-day free trial)
• Time: 18 hours
• About: You'll learn about the spectrum of services that should be provided to effectively deliver care to mothers and babies. You'll also learn how to strengthen a woman's capacity for a normal physiological birth or how to build up a skilled and competent midwifery workforce.

How to add online courses and certificates to a resume

Including online courses and certificates on your resume is always a good idea, as it helps you: 

• set yourself apart from other candidates
• show you want to improve your skills and knowledge
• tailor your resume to the job you're targeting
• fill in potential gaps in your resume

If you want to add an online course and certificate to your resume, you can include it in the education section.  

However, if you've completed more than one course, you can also create a separate resume section for your courses. Name this section “Courses”, “Courses & Certificates”, or “Additional Training”.  

In it, list the courses in reverse chronological order and include:

• Name of the certification
• Authority
• URL or code (if you have any)
• Any relevant dates
• Description (optional)

In the end, it should look something like this:

Tip: If you already have a great LinkedIn profile, there's no need to create a resume from scratch. You can convert your LinkedIn profile into a resume in one click.

This article was recently updated. The original article was written by Jakub Kaprál in 2018.