Top 10 courses to help you find a job

Browse our ultimate list of free online courses that will help you find, apply, interview, and succeed in finding a new job you love.

Whether you no longer feel energised by the work you do, you’ve been made redundant, or you’re applying for your first professional role, job hunting is a challenge and can feel lawless if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Should you write a cover letter? What should you include on your LinkedIn? How do you prepare for an interview? Should you negotiate your salary? 

With 68% of recruiters spending less than two minutes looking at your CV and an average of 2% of applicants per role being invited to interview, competition is fierce. A small slip up at any stage can cost you the job you were made for.

To help, we’ve collated our ultimate list of ten free courses that will give every job hunter the skills and confidence to nail the job application process and beyond.

These courses offer insider info from career advisors, recruiters, and business experts on everything from writing an eye-catching cover letter to identifying and selling your strengths.

Don’t let a bad phone interview or a dodgy presentation get in the way of your dream job. Join these free courses and watch your career flourish.

1 How to Succeed at: Writing Applications from The University of Sheffield

Making your first impression with an employer can be daunting, but this course will walk you through every step of the job application process. 

Learn how to create an engaging CV and how to write cover letters that feature the specific skills and attributes recruiters are looking for in your industry.

Once you’ve got to grips with writing the application, the course will help you identify your strengths and key selling points so you can tackle phone, video, and face-to-face interviews with confidence.

2 How to Succeed at: Interviews from The University of Sheffield

Once you’ve made it to the interview stage, all you need to do is prove you’re the best person for the job. Easy, right?

However qualified you may be for the job, acing an interview takes skill and practice.

In this follow up course, the careers service at The University of Sheffield will take you through the entire interview journey, from question preparation to giving a presentation. 

Learn interview etiquette, how to handle your nerves, and what type of preparation and research you can do beforehand to leave your interviewers with a lasting positive impression.

3 Becoming Career Smart: How to Sell Yourself from Deakin University

Having confidence in what you can offer a company and having the vocabulary to explain it is key to convincing prospective employers that they should invest in you.

If you’re considering a change of career or simply need to evaluate your skills and abilities for a job interview, this course from Deakin University will help you identify your core sellable skills and find evidence of them in your previous experience.

You’ll consider the current career environment and be challenged to explore your personal and professional successes, as you identify what success means to you.

4 Essential Skills for your Career Development from the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding

The modern professional landscape means many of us will change career paths and even industries in our work lifetime. 

As our skills evolve, we naturally aspire to new career goals and plans. This course will provide you with the planning tools to create your own career road map and vision board.

Learn why building strong professional relationships and networking are essential to making your career goals a reality, and build the skills to handle change and think on your feet –      whether you’re in an interview or planning your next career move.

5 Business Fundamentals: Effective Networking from The Open University

In this day and age, for better or worse employers can find many representations of you online before they’ve ever met you face-to-face.

Networking and building your own personal brand will help you to take control of how you come across to employers. 

This course will show you why networking is helpful for changing and advancing your career, and help you with networking professionally online and in person. 

Craft and get feedback on an elevator pitch about your experience and talents, learn how to decide on the value of your connections for job-seeking, and find out how to manage your digital presence. 

6 Create a Professional Online Presence from the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding

Does your online presence show who you are as a professional? The switch to remote working caused by the COVID-19 pandemic means that, currently, almost all of our professional interactions are solely online. 

Now that you won’t be networking in person, it’s more important than ever to create a social media presence that is reflective of who you are and the skills you have.

This course will help you to evaluate your online presence for employability, explore different communication strategies for different online platforms, and develop a plan for keeping your digital presence in shipshape. 

7 Presenting Your Work With Impact from the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding

Many interview processes will include a presentation stage where you’ll be asked to present on a particular topic or your work experience. 

Though you might feel confident standing up and delivering a talk, there are lots of important considerations for presenting complex information in an interview setting. 

This course will introduce you to the art of storytelling and building a narrative into your presentions. Learn how to use the digital tools that’ll make your slide decks stand out and get practical tips for presentation delivery.

8 What Makes an Effective Presentation? from Coventry University

If you’re looking for even more insight on how to give a presentation that brings your audience on the journey with you, this course from presentation experts at Coventry University delves into the key features of what makes a good presentation great.  

Explore presentation design technique and learn about dealing with pre-presentation nerves.

You’ll even have the chance to present virtually to your fellow course learners and receive constructive feedback on your presentation skills and design. 

9 Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills from the University of Michigan

Whether we realise it or not, negotiation is a huge part of our everyday lives. Searching for a new job, applying, interviewing and signing your contract is one long negotiation. 

Learning key negotiation tactics will help you to feel more in control of the job application process and allow you to see it as it is – the trading of skills for capital.

This course from one of the world’s top universities will take you through the four stages of negotiation and teach you how to plan, negotiate, and close a contract you’re happy with.

10 Unleash Your Potential: Innovation and Enterprise from the University of Bristol 

Creativity and innovative thinking is a hugely desirable skill for almost every employer. If you show innovation, an employer knows that not only will you do the job at hand but that you’ll find new ways of making your organisation and role even better. 

This course will build your confidence in thinking creatively. You’ll learn how to generate and evaluate new ideas as you explore the habits of successful innovators. 

You’ll get to grips with problem-solving and iterating on creative ideas, and learn how to articulate and pitch them convincingly to a prospective or current employer.

Finding a new job can be a challenging and stressful time. Make it easier on yourself by getting prepared and learn skills that will serve you throughout your career. 

If these courses don’t quite work for you, take a look at our full collection of courses for improving your job prospects. Or, use our Career Mapper to help you evaluate your current happiness at work and set realistic, achievable goals for your future.