If you’re a college student, you’re probably looking for ways to get job skills and resume builders. From internships to career counseling to volunteering to simply tuning up your resume, it can be a busy process. Recently, I stumbled across an excellent opportunity to get Coursera Plus for free through the California public library system. As a disclaimer, you are only eligible if you have a public library card in California and are a California resident. If those apply to you, read on for this fantastic opportunity to enhance your employability!
What Is Coursera?
Coursera is an online platform that offers courses and professional certificates from universities all around the world. These classes are taught by both accredited universities (i.e., Yale or Bocconi University) and various companies (i.e., Google or Microsoft). Courses range from as short as a few hours to months long. Within these courses, there is a mixture of videos, readings, and assignments, much like a regular online college class. It is largely self-paced, and thus far for me, it has been less intensive than a regular college class.
What kinds of classes does Coursera offer?
Coursera markets itself as a primarily career-oriented platform. As such, it advertises the variety of amazing career opportunities it offers. There are multiple career certificates from Google in areas like Project Management and Data Analytics. Microsoft offers a Cybersecurity Analyst certificate. For more social centered people, Goodwill offers Career Coach and Navigator certificate. And there are many, many more! By browsing these offerings, you can understand why Coursera Plus for free is such a big deal.
If you want to read more about Coursera, you can find their About page here.
What Is the Difference Between Coursera and Coursera Plus?
You can make an account on Coursera for free. In fact, you can take many classes on Coursera for free. You just won’t get the certificate. This is what I did before I found out about the library’s offer, and I appreciated the opportunity to explore different areas of study. If you simply want to explore, learn more about a variety of subjects, and do this casually, I would suggest staying with regular Coursera.
Coursera Plus differs through two main areas: first, you get a certificate, and second, you can access more courses. The certificate is shareable on platforms like LinkedIn, and it verifies that you completed the course. The main difference is that you can access around 90% of all courses offered through Coursera, and it’s unlimited as long as you have the subscription. A Coursera Plus subscription typically costs $399 annually or $59 monthly. Again, you can understand why Coursera Plus for free is an incredible opportunity, especially if you’re not earning a lot of money.
For more information on Coursera and Coursera Plus, you can read the article here.
How Do I Get Coursera Plus for Free?
If you have a California public library card, all you need to do is go to your library’s website and search under “Career Resources” for Coursera. This website helps to identify whether or not your library offers it. For reference, this is where it is on my local library’s website. Once you click the link, you can either create a new account or connect your personal account. It will ask you to put in your library card information and answer a few questions, and you should be all set.
One potential hindrance to getting Coursera Plus for free is the fact that there are only a limited number of seats. For example, when I first tried to get it, it said that the seats were full. It tells you to check back after 4:00 pm on Mondays. I checked Monday during the day, and I got a seat.
Are There Any Catches to Getting Coursera Plus for Free Through the Library?
Coursera Plus is free through the library. However, if you are inactive for a prolonged amount of time (I believe six months), they will revoke your access and give your seat to someone else. Additionally, the library says that it monitors grades.
How Can Coursera Plus Help Me as a College Student or Recent Grad?
There are tons of ways that Coursera Plus can help you as a college student. From exploring new subjects to building your resume, there are many perks to trying out the program.
Freedom to Explore
While you are already taking courses in your specialized area, Coursera offers opportunities to explore a bit more. For example, maybe you’re studying for a computer science major but want to try out astronomy classes. You might not have room in your college schedule for that, or you might not be able to get a seat, but now you can! Especially if you don’t know what you want to do, I’d suggest trying Coursera out. It’s a much more low-stakes way to learn, especially since it doesn’t go toward your GPA.
Getting a Professional Certificate
As aforementioned, Coursera Plus offers professional certificates from trusted universities and companies. Adding this to your resume will not only show recruiters that you have the skillset for certain positions, but it will also show them that you went the extra mile and gained a certification that your peers didn’t.
Completing Hands-On Work
The whole point of internships is to get hands-on work experience. While I still really, really advocate doing an internship, this is a great option if you’re not in a place where you can do one just yet. By the end of different projects or courses, you will have experience that you can talk about and/or show in interviews. This is valuable! Take advantage of the opportunities to learn career-focused skills.
Having Specific Examples for Interviews
Continuing off that sentiment, having Coursera Plus for free is useful regarding interviews. Many of the courses give case studies or have you answer “what would you do in this scenario?” type questions. They aim to prepare you for jobs, and by learning this way, you will have answers ready to go in job interviews.
Using the Coursera Career Center
While this is something that I have not personally used, Coursera offers a Career Center. This seems to help people gain job search support and skills, specifically including what they have done on Coursera. This could be a great supplement to your university’s career center!
A Final Word
Getting access to Coursera Plus for free is an amazing opportunity, especially when you’re a college student. From exploring new career to building a solid foundation, it gives you many exciting pathways that you might not find in your university. While the free version of Coursera might be a better fit if you just want to explore, Coursera Plus is a fantastic possibility for people who want to go the extra mile. Good luck, and happy learning!
