43 free career-advancing courses you can take (and actually finish) this summer

Yes, summer is the perfect time to relax and recharge. But, it's also the perfect time to pick up a few new skills. Put that relaxed brain (and work schedule) to good use! How accomplished would you feel if, when September rolls around, you could open up your resume and add another skill to it? Very, we're guessing.



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Before you start stressing, know that we're not asking you to sacrifice your summer nights to a droning professor. Instead, we're suggesting devoting a few hours every week to advancing your career with an online class. (Online equals your couch and your sweats and an optional glass of wine.)
To make the process easier for you, we did two things. One, we only chose classes you can complete in less than 10 weeks (with some that can be completed in an hour). Two, we hand-curated this list to ensure it's only courses that are valuable and interesting. The best part? All of them are free.
So, without further ado, here are 43 classes you can sign up for today.

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Programming


1. Harvard University's Introduction to Computer Science, edX
As of Fall 2014, the on-campus version of this course was the largest at Harvard. You'll learn how to think algorithmically, solve programming problems efficiently, and become familiar with a number of languages including CSS, HTML, and PHP. The class is free, but you can add a HarvardX Verified Certificate for $90.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 180 hours / 9 lessons


2. Introduction to Programming in Java, MIT OpenCourseWare


This course aims to help students develop high-quality, working software that solves real problems. Materials are designed for students with some programming experience, but if you have none and are motivated you will do fine.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 16 hours / 7 lectures, 7 labs


3. University of Michigan's Programming for Everybody (Python), Coursera
No programming experience? No worries — "Programming for Everybody" is designed to be a first coding class and avoids all but the simplest mathematics. Anyone with moderate computer experience should be able to master the materials in this course.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 20-40 hours / 10 lessons


4. Dash, General Assembly
Dash teaches HTML, CSS, and JavaScript by giving you step-by-step instructions on creating fun websites. We gave it a go, and loved how the user workspace lets you see the output of your code in real time.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 4 projects


5. Introduction to C and C++, MIT OpenCourseWare
This four-week course provides a fast-paced introduction to C and C++ programming languages. You'll learn the required background knowledge, including memory management, pointers, object-oriented programming, and how to find bugs when you inevitably use any of those incorrectly.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 16 hours / 8 lectures, 8 labs


6. HTML and CSS, Codecademy
Join 4.5 million online students in creating websites by using HTML and CSS. No experience is necessary to master the basics of web development in an estimated seven hours.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 7 hours / 12 lessons
7. This Is How You Make iPhone Apps, Udemy
This course will teach you how to create apps and submit your first fully functional app to the App Store before the end of the day.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 5 hours / 23 lessons
Design
8. Beginners Adobe Photoshop, Adobe KnowHow
This tutorial for beginners will teach you the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop with easy-to-follow, practical examples. You'll learn how to set up your work environment and perform the various editing functions that the program offers.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 14 hours / 26 lessons


9. Learn Adobe Illustrator From Scratch, Udemy
Want to create amazing graphics? This course first teaches you basic Illustrator techniques, then progresses on to more advanced topics such as types and panels, colors and patterns, and perspective and automation.
Level: All levels
Duration: 11 hours / 41 lessons
10. Adobe InDesign for Beginners, Adobe KnowHow
This course instructs you in how to use the powerful tools and techniques available in InDesign for creating high-quality layouts. You'll gain the necessary skills to work with graphics and tables, add color and effects, and even make your layout interactive.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 11 hours / 21 lessons


11. Introduction to Graphic Design, Udemy
Why is that logo appealing? Why does that poster stand out? In this course, you'll learn the theory behind creating attention-grabbing visuals and understand the basic principles and elements of design.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 1 hour / 12 lessons


12. Adobe Photoshop CS6 Essential Tools, ALISON
Master image manipulation and photographic re-touching with this course. You'll be guided through the Photoshop user interface and acquire the basic techniques for editing and enhancing your photographs.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 2 hours / 8 lessons
Online marketing


13. Social Media 101, Buffer
Learn the basics of social media in just two minutes a day with Buffer's week-long email class. You'll master everything from establishing a tone for your social media posts to understanding online marketing analytics.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 14 minutes / 7 lessons


14. Diploma in Social Media Marketing, ALISON
Want to hear about how email marketing, blogging, and Facebook can create a business page that gets noticed by customers? If so, then this course is for you. Upon completion, you'll understand the ins and outs of affiliate marketing and know the different methods that help increase traffic.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 15-20 hours / 11 lessons
15. Advanced SEO: Tactics and Strategy, Udemy
In this course, you'll learn a broad range of SEO subjects as well as gain an understanding of some of the deeper concepts and strategies. The content is digestible for all levels of knowledge.
Level: All levels
Duration: 1 hour / 7 lessons
16. Internet Marketing for Smart People, Copyblogger
Copyblogger presents a systematic and simple approach to implementing effective online marketing with this email course. By registering, you'll also score instant access to 14 ebooks on content marketing, copywriting, keyword research, and many more topics.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 20 lessons


17. Marketing in a Digital World, Coursera
Created by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this course examines how digital tools — such as smartphones, the internet, and 3D printing — are revolutionizing the world of marketing. It'll teach you how to use these tools to persuade customers to buy, distribute, and set the right prices for your products.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 32 hours / 24 lessons


18. Getting Started With Google Analytics, Udemy
This training class will help you master the basics of Google Analytics and understand how to turbocharge your website performance. Apart from being able to interpret data, you'll learn to translate the raw data into actionable insights.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 4 hours / 21 lessons


19. Email Marketing Crash Course, HubSpot
If you're struggling to meet your email marketing goals, look no further than HubSpot's video series. The videos demonstrate everything from growing more effective organic email lists to achieving a higher open rate to strengthening your lead nurturing.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 5 lessons
Communication


20. Become a Networking Master, The Muse
Think networking is more than a little intimidating? This email-based class could change your mind and turn you from a fearful networker to a fearless one. You'll gain the communication skills crucial to networking, from perfecting your elevator pitch to making (smart) small talk with anyone.
Level: All levels
Duration: 7 lessons


21. Introduction to Public Speaking, edX
Designed by the University of Washington, this course aims to help you become a more effective and confident public speaker. You'll learn to design and deliver basic arguments, informative presentations, and persuasive, complex arguments all within 10 weeks.
Level: All levels
Duration: 30-50 hours / 10 lessons


22. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills, Coursera
Negotiation is the key to business success — after all, no business can survive without profitable contracts. After you finish this University of Michigan course (complete with interactive videos and a free app), you'll know how to successfully negotiate.
Level: All levels
Duration: 8.5 hours / 6 lessons


23. Communicating Strategically, edX
Far too frequently, the people who have the most to say have the hardest time saying it. Geared toward experts (scientists, engineers, and other technical professionals), this course will help you effectively communicate with non-scientists to inform organizational decision-making. The class is free, but you can add a PurdueX Verified Certificate for $50.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 20-30 hours / 5 lessons


24. Speechwriting 101, Global Speechwriter
Professional speechwriter Brent Kerrigan has crafted 10 articles designed to help beginners write better speeches. Some of the articles include, "How to Write for the Ear (Not the Eye)" and "One Speech Structure to Rule Them All." Sign up and you'll receive one new article each week.
Level: All levels
Duration: 10 lessons
Entrepreneurship


25. How to Start a Startup, Sam Altman at Stanford University
Initially given at Stanford in Fall 2014, this lecture designed by Y Combinator's president Sam Altman features exceptional entrepreneurs like PayPal's Peter Thiel, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, and Airbnb's Brian Chesky. You'll learn the basics of user growth, fundraising, operations and management, and much more.
Level: All levels
Duration: 20 hours / 20 lessons


26. New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs, Coursera
This University of Maryland course is created for aspiring and active entrepreneurs who want to understand how to secure funding for their company. Key questions answered within the four-week course include: "What kind of investors invest by stage and where to find them?" and "What are your fundraising options?"
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 12-20 hours / 4 lessons


27. How to Build a Startup, Udacity
Join almost 280,000 online students in learning the basics of the Customer Development Process. Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur Steve Blank provides insight into the key steps to building a successful startup, ranging from gathering and evaluating customer feedback to calculating the direct and indirect costs for delivering your product.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 24 hours / 8 lessons


28. Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager, MIT OpenCourseWare
This course provides a basic understanding of legal issues that corporations face during their existence. "Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager" starts by providing the basic building blocks of business law. The second half of the course examines issues that include: intellectual property, international trade, business disputes, and bankruptcy and reorganization.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 32 hours / 21 lessons


29. Competitive Strategy, Coursera
Taught in Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, this class teaches students how businesses behave when strategic decisions are interdependent. Using the basic tools of game theory, you'll analyze how organizations choose strategies to attain competitive advantages.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 10 hours / 6 lessons


30. Product Design — Validation and UX Through Design Sprints, Udacity
Built by Google, this course aims to help you materialize your game-changing idea and transform it into a product that you can build a business around. The class blends theory and practice to teach you product validation, UI/UX practices, Google's Design Sprint, and the process for setting and tracking actionable metrics.
Level: All levels
Duration: 48 hours / 4 lessons
31. How to Finally Start Your Side Project, The Muse
New businesses often start as side projects. But starting side projects is difficult in itself. This three-day, email-based class created by career experts from The Muse and Squarespace walks you through the steps needed to hone in on your idea and get the project out to the world.
Level: All levels
Duration: 3 lessons
Writing
32. Academic and Business Writing, edX
Originally given at the University of California Berkeley, this course focuses on writing in different disciplines — in science and technology, in literature, and in the social sciences. You'll learn to craft statements of purpose and develop a professional writing style.
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 20-30 hours / 5 lessons


33. Writing for the Web, OPEN2STUDY
Understanding the difference between writing for print and writing for the web starts with reading up on how readers behave differently online. This course teaches you how to accommodate the needs of online readers through web design, writing style, structure, and search engine optimization.
Level: All levels
Duration: 16 hours / 4 lessons


34. High-Impact Business Writing, Coursera
Effective writing is a powerful tool in the business environment. Learn to articulate your thoughts in a clear and concise manner that'll allow your ideas to be better understood by readers. This course will also teach you to notice, correct, and avoid the most common writing pitfalls.
Level: All levels
Duration: 4-8 hours / 4 lessons


35. Secret Sauce of Great Writing, Udemy
With more than 20,000 students and over 120 five-star reviews, the "Secret Sauce" course teaches you to superpower your business writing — whether it's for cover letters, press releases, or sales emails — and make your blogs appear a thousand times more professional. This course is meant for professionals hoping to upgrade their writing skills, as well as businesses hoping to improve their corporate communications.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 2 hours / 10 lessons


36. Writing on Contemporary Issues: Culture Shock! Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Cyberspace, MIT OpenCourseWare
An introduction to writing prose for an online audience, this class teaches you to write essays that critically engage elements and aspects of contemporary American popular culture — and do so with a vivid personal voice.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 32 hours / 21 lessons


37. Cleaning Your Copy, News University
This class helps journalists and others understand the basics of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and AP style. Upon completing the course, you'll be able to identify and solve grammatical problems in your copy, pick the right word when choosing between tricky pairs (is it "who" or "whom?"), and use the correct AP style for addresses, money, and numbers.
Level: All levels
Duration: 4 lessons


38. Becoming Digital: Writing About Media Change, MIT OpenCourseWare
"Becoming Digital" traces the change in practice, theory, and possibility as mechanical and chemical media are augmented or supplanted by digital media. Students will work through and write about the ethical, aesthetic, technical, and cultural problems raised by primary and secondary readings.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 32 hours / 21 lessons
New Language


39. Basic French Language Skills for Everyday Life, ALISON
ALISON's free online course is a series of engaging video lessons that introduces beginners to various aspects of the French language. After taking this course, you'll be able to use a range of French vocabulary, understand past, present, and future verb tenses, and become skilled in conversational French.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 6-10 hours / 6 lessons


40. Chinese Language: Learn Basic Mandarin, edX
Are you planning a trip to a Mandarin-speaking country, or have you always wanted to understand some common Mandarin phrases? Basic Mandarin is a great skill to add to your resume, as many of today's global business meetings are conducted in Mandarin Chinese. In this class, you'll learn basic phrases for everyday life as well as the proper "tones" in Mandarin. The course is free, but you can add a MandarinX Verified Certificate for $50.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 24 hours / 6 lessons


41. Spanish I, MIT OpenCourseWare
By watching these video episodes, you'll learn Spanish (and experience its cultural diversity) through a quality drama-filled story. In addition, you'll listen to an audio program integrated with the text and workbook.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 13 hours / 26 lessons


42. German Course for Beginners, Deutsch-Lernen.com
The lessons in this course build up an overview of basic German grammar rules by using concise grammar tables. You'll learn the basic verb forms and syntax in a simple and understandable way.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 10 lessons
43. Talk Italian, BBC


BBC's language lesson includes nine short sections on everyday topics like ordering a meal, asking for directions, saying where you're from, and checking in at a hotel. You can watch and listen to the clips and have a look at the transcripts for extra practice.
Level: Beginner
Duration: 9 lessons





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