Hi, I am Captain Chang, an IT professional, and veteran of multiple Coursera certificates, most of them finished in 10 days or less. Recently, I finished the Google Cybersecurity Certificate in 5 days. A link to that video is in the description.
To me, Coursera education is a cheap introduction to a career you are considering, from data science and information technology to cybersecurity and user interface design, and a lot more for less than $50 a month. However, to get the most out of Coursera, there are some strategies you should follow.
While the strategies I talk about after this mainly applies to the the cybersecurity certificate, most of the tips should work in general toward other technical Coursera professional certificate programs as well.
1. Understanding how Coursera payment works
Coursera is usually organized around "certificate programs", which has several courses. For example, the cybersecurity certificate course from Google / Coursera has 8 courses. [insert video]
Coursera lets you take as much time as you need on this. However, the longer you take, the more you will pay. You get 7 days free trial (to look at the course). At the end of 7th day, you will be charged the program fee, which for cybersecurity certificate program, is $49 USD per month. (This fee will vary) You then have rest of the month (23 days) to study.
If you cannot finish in 23 days, you are charged again and get another 30 days. This repeats until you finish all of the courses, and earn the certificate. The faster you finish all courses, the less you pay.
The most often asked question: Do you get the certificate free if you finish it in less than 7 days?
The answer: it depends on the course. Coursera reserves the right to charge you one month of program fee, but it's not always enforced. I was not charged for my 5-day completion of the Google Cybersecurity Certificate.
Free is good, but $49 or so is not bad either.
2. Pre-learn BEFORE starting
As I emphasized in my previous video, I started with a few unfair advantages going into this certificate program.
- I am an IT veteran, so I know about the IT related topics, such as networking
- I have a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a minor in computer science (from way back when)
- I have worked with databases for decades, and I knew SQL quite well. I have even taken a SQL course on Coursera before, back around 2020.
- I have taken Python lessons on Coursera before, both for IT Automation (a Google Course) and Data Science (an IBM course) back around 2020.
- I have taken an "introductory" class in cybersecurity on Coursera back in 2020 as well.
You can create your own unfair advantage by "pre-load"ing yourself with knowledge before starting the course, rather than relying on the course to teach you EVERYTHING.
You will need to go through the course descriptions, and pick out the topics you don't know about, but have a lot of supplemental information available online. For example, I've mentioned Python and SQL (pronounced se-quel) already. There are websites like freecodecamp, Khan Academy, codecademy, w3schools, and more that will give you a quick overview on Python and SQL for free, as well as small exercises.
What's even better, both Python and SQL have downloadable versions that you can install on your local computer, if you have the time to try things for yourself. I have Windows, so I can download Anaconda and MySQL totally free and practice on my own PC. If you have some other computer OS, you'll need to find similar packages for your computer and OS.
Preload yourself with knowledge before starting the course, so you can go "Good, I know this already" as you go through the course.
3. Speed and Read (and more)
The video lectures in Coursera can be played back at up to 2.0x speed. If you find the lessons a bit long, play it at at 2X speed should help you speed through it quickly. Reduce speed if you find yourself lost. I am NOT a native English speaker, but I have no problem understanding English at 2x or even 2.5x playback speed. Your ability to understand fast English will vary, so find your own threshold.
What's even better, the spoken words are sync'ed to the transcript just below it (almost like karaoke). So you can reinforce your learning by reading WHILE listening to the lecture. This multimedia approach should help you retain more of what you learned.
However, don't neglect note-taking. For some people, it is important to pause and write down what they have learned. That motion of writing things down also helps reinforce the learning.
4. seek help when you need it
If you are unable to understand a certain topic, engage the discussion forums. IMHO, If you are struggling with a particular topic for more than 15 minutes, you should seek help.
There are several forums for each course, usually one per week. You will find questions and answers from former students, current students, and teaching assistants in those forums answering questions for everyone.
Often, reading what other students struggle on may give you a fresh perspective on your problem. It could be an error in the course material, or the quiz, or the lab exercise. It may not be your fault!
You can also use this to seek other students and form ad hoc study groups if you need further help.
5. Do all the labs and exercises
It is also important to do all the labs and exercises. Do NOT skip over them. While they don't always count toward the grade, it is good practice for writing reports in general, and learn specific items in particular.
This will also point out your weaknesses in particular knowledge areas that you should go back to lectures and study up.
If you are passing the quizzes and don't feel you're missing anything, then skip the stuff. As long as you can pass the graded quiz...
6. Quiz taking Tips
At the end of each week of each course, you get a graded quiz, usually 10-11 questions, where you do multiple choices, but very often, it will ask you to pick MULTIPLE choices. Here are some tips for taking these.
a) read the question carefully
If it says you should check 3 boxes, you should make sure you checked 3 boxes. If you check only 2, you just gave up points without even trying.
b) Eliminate the "obviously wrong" choices first.
In most multiple choice questions there are four answers. One to two are "obviously wrong", one is "maybe", and usually that leaves two that looks right, but one is the "real" answer. Eliminating the "obviously wrong" ones will help you narrow down the choices.
c) skip those you can't answer (for now)
Coursera graded quiz itself is not timed. But you should not take more than 1 minute per question. Generally, if you can't at least eliminate one choice after 10 seconds, skip the question and go back to it later.
In Conclusion
Coursera courses offer an affordable way to "try out" a new profession and see it really interest you. While by itself it's probably not enough to get you a new job, it should give you some idea on what sort of certification to seek next, and as the expression goes, "see how deep the rabbit hole goes".
In terms of Cybersecurity, there are many different sub-disciplines that one may want to specialize in, from cyber forensics, to tool automation (with SQL and/or Python), from incident response, to penetration testing. Introduction to cybersecurity is just that: an introduction. A new world awaits upon your completion of your certificate. Will you be ready to meet it? Only you can answer that.
I'll see you in the next article...
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