4 ms·

None of them carry any weight.

by user5994461 9y ago

dabockster 9y ago
This. Your skillset matters more than any MOOC cert.
- mindcrime 9y ago
  Your skillset matters more than any MOOC cert. Agreed, but that's far from the same thing as saying that MOOCs carry no weight at all. Especially since it can be hard to demonstrate exactly what your skillset is.
2_listerine_pls 9y ago
Really?
mindcrime 9y ago
Nonsense. They aren't a "be all end all" by ANY means, but they absolutely carry some weight, at least with some people who might be reviewing your resume. For example, if your resume comes across my desk for review, I would take the presence of relevant Coursera classes as a positive sign. Now, there's no one class (or even combination of classes) which by itself is going to "get you hired" in and of itself. But they are signals which, at least to this reviewer, make you more interesting. And to be honest, more than the content of the class itself, what I am looking for in a candidate is interest and drive. If I see somebody who is willing to spend the time and effort to sign up for, and complete, a MOOC, then I see that as a sign of somebody who's a self-starter, who's proactive, and somebody who is more likely to continue to work to sharpen their skills and broaden their base of knowledge. Think of it in Bayesian updating terms... the presence of a MOOC is just one more thing to change the posterior probability towards "this is a desirable candidate".
- user5994461 9y ago
  We both agree that it will not get you employed. You may give a positive sign, there are other reviewers who will give it a negative sign. I'd argue the average weight is negative overall, because of the traditional HR screening most resume have have to go through.
  - mindcrime 9y ago
    You may give a positive sign, there are other reviewers who will give it a negative sign. Interesting. What would be the rational behind assigning a negative weight to that? I have a hard time seeing that point of view. I'd think that, at worst, the presence of MOOC(s) on a resume would be neutral.
    - user5994461 9y ago
      See the MOOC as "a noteworthy achievement from this candidate was to watch a video on the internet". One of the first things HR screen for is a formal education. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who try to put a MOOC as one, HR is trained to detect and reject them right away.
      - mindcrime 9y ago
        One of the first things HR screen for is a formal education. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who try to put a MOOC as one, HR is trained to detect and reject them right away. Sounds like somebody needs to fire whoever is in charge of HR.
        user5994461 9y ago
        Of course not. You filter what you can when there are hundreds of candidate applying. It's perfectly normal.
- Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago
  I can confirm, as a professor who hires PhD students and postdocs, I do give MOOCs some positive weight. Of course there are not one of the most important points in the CV, but they can and do help. If a candidate already has experience or "traditional" qualifications in the subject of interest, a MOOC is not needed and probably will be worth approximately zero. But for example, I have sometimes got CVs from candidates that had a formal education focused into topic X and are applying for a position to do a PhD in topic Y. Having taken a MOOC in topic Y tells me that they have a real interest in that subject and motivation to pursue it. They were not just applying because they saw the offer and they liked the location or the salary so why not. For young candidates that are straight out of their Master's and don't have much more to show apart from their academic record, a bunch of MOOCs also shows me that they are people who really have an interest in learning, and are not just focused in ticking the minimum marks needed for their career goals. So yes, definitely several times the presence of one or several MOOCs has had an influence in hiring processes I have conducted, and I know I'm not the only one.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

None of them carry any weight.

dabockster 9y ago

This. Your skillset matters more than any MOOC cert.

mindcrime 9y ago
Your skillset matters more than any MOOC cert. Agreed, but that's far from the same thing as saying that MOOCs carry no weight at all. Especially since it can be hard to demonstrate exactly what your skillset is.

2_listerine_pls 9y ago

Really?

mindcrime 9y ago

Nonsense. They aren't a "be all end all" by ANY means, but they absolutely carry some weight, at least with some people who might be reviewing your resume. For example, if your resume comes across my desk for review, I would take the presence of relevant Coursera classes as a positive sign. Now, there's no one class (or even combination of classes) which by itself is going to "get you hired" in and of itself. But they are signals which, at least to this reviewer, make you more interesting. And to be honest, more than the content of the class itself, what I am looking for in a candidate is interest and drive. If I see somebody who is willing to spend the time and effort to sign up for, and complete, a MOOC, then I see that as a sign of somebody who's a self-starter, who's proactive, and somebody who is more likely to continue to work to sharpen their skills and broaden their base of knowledge. Think of it in Bayesian updating terms... the presence of a MOOC is just one more thing to change the posterior probability towards "this is a desirable candidate".

user5994461 9y ago
We both agree that it will not get you employed. You may give a positive sign, there are other reviewers who will give it a negative sign. I'd argue the average weight is negative overall, because of the traditional HR screening most resume have have to go through.
- mindcrime 9y ago
  You may give a positive sign, there are other reviewers who will give it a negative sign. Interesting. What would be the rational behind assigning a negative weight to that? I have a hard time seeing that point of view. I'd think that, at worst, the presence of MOOC(s) on a resume would be neutral.
  - user5994461 9y ago
    See the MOOC as "a noteworthy achievement from this candidate was to watch a video on the internet". One of the first things HR screen for is a formal education. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who try to put a MOOC as one, HR is trained to detect and reject them right away.
    - mindcrime 9y ago
      One of the first things HR screen for is a formal education. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who try to put a MOOC as one, HR is trained to detect and reject them right away. Sounds like somebody needs to fire whoever is in charge of HR.
      - user5994461 9y ago
        Of course not. You filter what you can when there are hundreds of candidate applying. It's perfectly normal.
Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago
I can confirm, as a professor who hires PhD students and postdocs, I do give MOOCs some positive weight. Of course there are not one of the most important points in the CV, but they can and do help. If a candidate already has experience or "traditional" qualifications in the subject of interest, a MOOC is not needed and probably will be worth approximately zero. But for example, I have sometimes got CVs from candidates that had a formal education focused into topic X and are applying for a position to do a PhD in topic Y. Having taken a MOOC in topic Y tells me that they have a real interest in that subject and motivation to pursue it. They were not just applying because they saw the offer and they liked the location or the salary so why not. For young candidates that are straight out of their Master's and don't have much more to show apart from their academic record, a bunch of MOOCs also shows me that they are people who really have an interest in learning, and are not just focused in ticking the minimum marks needed for their career goals. So yes, definitely several times the presence of one or several MOOCs has had an influence in hiring processes I have conducted, and I know I'm not the only one.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]