In this fast-paced and competitive digital world, the importance of an online course on the playground of an interview can’t be overstressed. It adds the icing to the cake! How? – you may ask!

Doing online courses to strengthen your knowledge is easily one of the best ways to show you are a lifelong learner, a trait any recruiter would love in a candidate. Plus, modern-day recruiters have started looking beyond the usual college degrees and university courses. Thanks to the rapidly-growing online learning platforms and its adoption! 

Even though online courses and certifications are still in their nascent stage, doing the right online courses from reputed platforms can give you an edge over others. In fact, a study by Burning Glass Technologies says that the introduction of a single hybrid skill can increase salaries by up to 40%. 

If you are someone who has done an online course and is looking to leverage it for your next interview, here are some key aspects recruiters are looking for in you. 

Focus on the why, what, and how

Most recruiters prefer candidates who have a good clarity of thoughts. So, before you add online courses to your resume and put it across the table with confidence, make sure you know to answer the whys, whats, and hows of online courses. 

Interviewers expect answers for questions like,

– Why did you do an online course?

– How did you choose the platform and the course? What are the factors you considered? 

– Why this particular course? 

– And finally, what are your takeaways from it?

Make sure you impress them at the first shot as it clearly expresses your intent as well as the knowledge gained from the course. The old adage about the first impression never goes wrong. Once you establish a clear intent about your decision to do an online course, there is always a good chance that your first impression helps you through the rest of the questions on your course. 

Add what is relevant

You may be an eclectic person interested in a variety of subjects and might have done several online courses that match your interests. But recruiters are only going to look for what is relevant to your job profile. Make sure you demarcate passion from the profession and add only those courses relevant to the job profile in your resume. 

Know the difference

Having impressed your recruiter with your clear intent and knowledge of the online course, you may be expected to stress the primacy of online courses along with or over the conventional certificate courses. 

That is when you need to ask yourself this question, how does an online course differ from a conventional certificate course provided by universities? 

One significant advantage of online learning platforms is, it offers vast choices of courses within a particular subject that one could master compared to the conventional university courses that have only a few choices. 

The next major advantage of online learning is the flexibility it provides. For example, you don’t need to be a computer science graduate to learn a programming language. As we know, conventional educational institutions don’t allow for switching of streams by students.

Knowledge alone is not enough

Knowing is one thing, but implementing what you have learned is a different ballgame altogether. Be prepared to answer this clincher! Recruiters always look for candidates who can add value to their organization. You should be ready to articulate how the takeaways from your online course can be put to use in your job role. Unless you come up with a convincing answer for this, the course could only be useful for you personally and not in realizing your professional dreams.

You can surely impress your recruiters with the knowledge you have gained from the course, but unless you can clearly come up with the implementation of the same knowledge in your workplace, the chance is that they would be impressed without committing themselves to select you. 

So, make sure you prepare yourself for this crucial aspect! 

Hit the nail with your presentation skills

Recruiters agree that an online course will be a positive indicator of the candidate’s disposition. They expect the candidate to present their online course details shortly and crisply. So, list down all the courses you have done (of course the ones that are relevant to your profile), add your key takeaways from each course, and mention how this knowledge will help you support the organization’s goals.  

Final note:

If you are clear about your short-term and long-term goals, and how the online course fits into it, there is a good chance that the recruiter will better understand you as a professional and select you for the job!     

Source: AICL