I really would like us, the community of Enlightened Monkeys, to discuss this topic and share our thoughts on a 21st century experiment.
Harvard, MIT and many, many other respectable Schools of Business as well as other Faculties in all spaces have launched the initiative of spreading knowledge online with virtual classrooms and programs as well as the option of earning what they refer to as “Valuable Certificates”.
You can check out https://www.edx.org/schools-partners or Coursera as two of many new platforms involved in this initiative.
It is definitely very valuable to have such resources at our disposal nowadays and this has a positive effect on the planet in all dimensions and I am not here to discuss the Educational impact.
For the majority of programs, you can take the courses / programs for free or decide to take the same with a Certification process and gain a Certificate by the end of the program. In some cases, those certificates cost a hefty fee in thousands of dollars like Harvard’s HBx program.
The other issue is that for some reason, in some instances, those certificates are being perceived exactly the opposite way of how those who completed the programs want them to be perceived. Mentioning Harvard Business School Core X Program on your CV might give the Employer the wrong perception and in other instances, some are intentionally mentioning it the wrong way to make it seem they went to the actual HBS and thus driving the whole image of the program down.
As I have a Masters in Finance and was always interested in Computer Science, I was thinking of enrolling in a couple certification programs from MIT in CS/Coding which would complement my background nicely.
It is still unclear what value these certificates bring & what they can evolve to in the future, what’s your thoughts on this?
Let’s discuss.
It's a quick and more convenient way to get up to speed on a new topic, or brush up on items you haven't touched on in a while. Free MOOCs are also available from many Universities and you can often choose the non-certified path on the overall program. Paying for any course really only provides you a way to prove you completed it, if you end up attempting to leverage your experience - which likely doesn't provide a significant return compared to the associated costs. Their largest benefit had been the ability to learn from prestigious institutions for free. To me, paying for a certificate defeats the purpose of why MOOCs were created. The value they bring us is directly correlated to the amount of time you put into them.
They provide value. But they serve a certain purpose.
If you're putting HBx on your resume because you can't get into HBS and passing yourself off as a Harvard alum, you will be viewed as a jackass. If you think these courses will get you into the world's most prestigious firms, you're deluding yourself.
However, I know a great many people that saw a career boost through a certification program. Harvard has a real estate certification, for example, that's known as a hotbed for networking in the local real estate industry. It won't get you into a top REPE firm, that's what HBS is for. But it can help professionals with 4-5 years of experience build a network and solidify some skills for the next step in their career (note - common knowledge is that this particular program isn't intended for those with no RE experience). BU has a similar program in Boston meant to help people first breaking into the industry gain some basic experience.
Most of the population that wants to get into finance roles aren't looking to go to a top school to go to a top 5 firm. There are a lot of smaller financial firms out there. For most of those firms, they aren't looking to attract or pay for top talent from top full time graduate programs. They absolutely will look favorably at someone who has completed certification coursework at a known program, as it shows dedicate to the industry and some base level of knowledge.