Online Course Certificates have received a massive boost since the lockdown last year. The World Economic Forum reports a tremendous rise in students enrolling in digital classes and ed-tech investments.
For recruiters, however, this explosion of online courses can make it challenging to determine which candidate (with online certificates) is the right hire. Since the entry barrier to online classes is pretty low, unlike traditional colleges, the challenge is understanding if a candidate is the right fit for the job role and the company culture. We are here to help you with that.
Benefits of Online Certificate Courses
Before you know why IT companies must value online courses, you must understand why they are beneficial in the first place. There are several benefits of hiring candidates who have done online course certificates in the IT industry. These are:
1. Job-ready students
Online certificate tech courses are job-focused. They are industry oriented. While traditional institutes focus on building core skills, online courses supplement these by providing knowledge regarding the latest industry practices.
2. Cutting down Time and Money spent on Training
A lot of IT companies put freshers under training programmes before they can become operational. This is an additional investment on the company’s part. Students from reputed online courses already know most of the stuff taught in these training classes to be productive right from day one. This will help the company save time and money spent on training.
3. High-Quality Study Materials
Online tech courses from reputed companies often deliver exceptionally high-quality study materials prepared by industry veterans and experts. Therefore, if the candidate has taken up online tech courses from reputable outlets, employers can rest assured that the person is job-ready.
4. Global Perspective
Since online courses set up a diverse virtual classroom, students can potentially get the chance to interact with peers (classroom chats, bulletins, mailing lists) from different regions and develop global perspectives. In addition, video lessons in online courses are also often lectured by a diversity of teachers hailing from different locations. All these interactions nurture a global perspective.
5. Promotes Punctuality, Self-discipline
Perhaps the most significant advantage of online courses is they promote punctuality and self-discipline. Online courses are often timed, and students must be punctual to earn their degrees. Procrastination has no scope here. These two are the traits employers can vouch for in tech hires.
Here’s Why Candidates Pursuing Online Certificate Courses are Career-driven
Anyone can sign up for an online course. There’s no shortage of options. The trick is identifying people who complete the courses and applying whatever they have learnt. These candidates are a perfect fit for any company. Here’s why:
1. They possess a Learner’s Attitude
Online Certificate Courses are usually learned at your own pace. Also, the syllabus they offer differs quite a lot from what is taught in traditional universities. So for someone to choose a particular online course on a topic, sit through every module and work on a project demonstrates their commitment to learning. In addition, students pursuing online courses have a learner’s attitude. They never stop learning.
2. They Work on Upskilling Themselves
Students who take up additional online certificate courses are focused on upskilling themselves. They are the kind who take the initiative, who prioritise learning, and who know that upskilling will help them be more productive. These kinds of candidates make for ambitious employees who have a thirst for knowledge.
3. They Can Work Independently
Managing online courses with a classroom course or a job can get hectic. People who complete these courses online demonstrate their time management skills and their ability to work independently. They can organise their schedule to fit in learning. They can be a great asset to any organisation.
How to Determine the Worth of Online Course Certificates
Let’s face it – online learning has received a lot of limelight post-Covid. A quick Google search shows an exhaustive list of platforms that offer certificates. A lot of learners get into these courses just for the sake of the certificate. But as recruiters know, a certificate is merely a piece of paper until the candidates can demonstrate their skills.
It can be hard to figure out which institutes are worth the money. So, we’ve written down a few tips to help you choose the right schools to get credit for their online courses:
1. The Pedigree of the Institute
One of the most common practices is looking at the institute or organisation where the candidate has obtained the certificate. Any good educational institution will usually have a screening test. They pick only those candidates who pass the screening tests. Platforms like Codequotient work like this. It selects only those candidates who have a strong foundation. Then it works on making them industry-ready.
2. Skill Level
It takes about four years to learn coding in college if the candidate has developed a good understanding of the language. So if there’s an online certificate course promising to teach a beginner coding in a week with no prior experience — it is probably not worth looking at.
Reputed learning platforms offering coding classes like Codequotient do not make false promises. Their website will display their enrollment requirements.
3. Project-Based Learning
The tech industry is all about application. So courses that involve project-based learning are the ones that can churn out quality candidates.
CodeQuotient’s course module follows this. Candidates are expected to create at least two live projects during the course. These projects are viewed on CodeQuotient’s dashboard. Recruiters can judge these projects and assess a candidate’s skill level before making an offer. This helps to speed up the recruitment process both for the company as well as the candidate.
4. Association with the Industry
Reputed institutes are often aligned with prominent companies in the industry. This helps the students build relevant connections and expand their professional network. Platforms like CodeQuotient have produced successful graduates working at leading tech companies like Samsung, Amazon, POSist and many more. Their placements serve as proof of their quality.
5. Quality of Instructors
The quality of instructors is perhaps the most important aspect of any good curriculum. After all, it is the instructors’ responsibility to mould the candidates into job-ready graduates. Instructors at CodeQuotient are professionals from the technology industry. As a result, they can offer to raise the candidates to the industry standard. This aids in the transition from the classroom to the workplace.
CodeQuotient also makes informed recommendations for recruiters based on their understanding of a candidate’s profile and skill level. This can help the recruiters in matching the right talent to the right profile. In addition, their network of hiring partners is a helpful resource pool.
Choosing CodeQuotient can help you save time and effort. Take a look at what they have to offer to recruiters here.
