If you’re thinking about taking a free online course or two through Coursera to help build your marketable skills, now is the time to act. The deadline to sign up for Coursera is December 31, 2020 and the deadline to sign up for specific classes you plan to take is January 31. You have until March 31 to finish classes and guided projects on Coursera for free under Minnesota’s Coursera initiative. 

More than 17,000 Minnesotans have already signed up for Coursera, registering for a total of 31,423 classes. Minnesotans have completed 5,464 courses, in some cases earning college credit, while learners can earn certificates for completing courses at no-cost through this initiative

With 1000+ new courses added to DEED’s course catalog since June, Minnesotans can now access over 4,800 online courses and guided projects at no cost to you. You can learn on your own time and many courses are mobile-friendly. Below is just a small sampling of what’s available to ALL Minnesotans: 

Develop In-Demand Skills: 

• Excel Skills for Business, Macquarie University 
• Programming for Everybody: Getting Started with Python, University of Michigan 
• Planning and Initiating Projects, University of California-Irvine 
• Technical Support Fundamentals, Google 
• Competencias digitales. Herramientas de ofimática (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (en Español)  
• COVID-19 Contact Tracing, Johns Hopkins University 

Career Planning and Development: 

• Career Planning: A Pathway to Employment, University of Georgia 
• Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letters, University of Maryland-College Park 
• Writing a Resume Using Google Docs, Coursera Guided Project (shorter than a full course!) 

Professional Development: 

• Applications of Everyday Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
• Creative Problem Solving, University of Minnesota 
• Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups, University of Colorado-Boulder 
• The Importance of Listening, Northwestern University 
• Managerial Accounting Fundamentals, University of Virginia 

Short “guided projects” (most take only 2-5 hours to complete!): 

• Develop a Company Website with Wix 
• Use Canva to Create Social Media Marketing Designs 
• Use MailChimp to Build an Email Marketing Campaign 
• Create a Budget with Google Sheets 
• Introduction to Project Management 

Health and Well-Being:

• The Science of Well-Being, Yale University 
• Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19, University of Toronto 

To sign up for any of these courses, or to look at other courses in DEED’s catalog, submit the form at CareerForceMN.com/Coursera before December 31, 2020. Within one business day (Monday-Friday) you’ll receive an activation email that you can use to get going! Happy learning! 

Ben Baglio, Director, Governor’s Workforce Development Board 

NOTE: REGISTRATION FOR FREE COURSERA TRAINING VIA THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (DEED) CLOSED ON DECEMBER 31, 2020.