How certification courses are gaining popularity – Times of India

Digital certification courses are designed based on industry-specific requirements. The course providers are emphasising on focused topics and skills. Fresh graduates and seasoned employees in tier II and tier III cities are enrolling in the short term digital certification courses offered by various ed-tech and HEIs. Instead of rushing to a bigger city for higher studies, these courses are beneficial for those eying career advancement or a salary boost.

Reasons for popularity

Lockdown and the work-from-home option gave employees a chance to redefine their career goals. Several of them enrolled in courses that were in demand at their workplace or the job market. Shifting to remote work has paved way for online learning, which in turn has led to a level playing field for students living in non-metros to enrol for a foundational course in digital skills. Raghav Gupta, Managing Director, India and APAC, Coursera says, “Certification courses are designed for even learners who have no prior industry experience. Further, these can be completed on average in 6 to 8 months (3-10 hours per week), fully in online mode.”

Validating the reasons with data to substantiate that such courses are strong educational trend and is expected to boom in the coming years, Gupta says, “Last year, we saw a 98% rise in enrolments, and we expect this trend to continue. Several entry-level certification courses are popular, as 135,000 for the Google Data Analytics course. As many as 5000 students were enrolled on Google Project Management and Google UX Design, in each course. Whereas for Google IT Support and IBM Data Science courses, the enrolment was 38,000 and 16,000 respectively.”

Soon a high demand

Increased reliance on technology among WFH employees created a demand for technical and cybersecurity certifications. The need to excel in career among tier1, 2 cities got a realisation, which resulted in a steep rise in enrolments. Sharing insight into the sudden spike for certifications, R V Raghu, ISACA Ambassador in India says, “Adoption of new and emerging technologies by enterprises has surfaced the need for understanding the risks of using these technologies. These two reasons are strong enough for driving enrolments.”

With the demand-supply gap for talent and the certainty of large-scale recruitment, 42% of Indian companies have understaffed cybersecurity teams due to unsatisfactorily cybersecurity skills among candidates. Approximately, 60% have unfilled positions, with 62% mentioning that it takes them three to six months to find a qualified candidate, adds Raghu.

Talking about healthy job prospects after certification course, Raghav Gupta, MD, Coursera says, “India’s fast-growing digital economy is expected to serve a population of over 1.5 billion internet users by 2040. This will help budding digital practitioners in providing abundant opportunities to be employable.”

Certifications and careers

In India, certification courses namely Google Data Analytics, Google Project Management, Google UX Design, Google IT Support, IBM Data Science have registered impressive enrolments these prepare learners to be picked up to work for salary hike and promotion. These in-demand careers are Data Analyst, UX Designer, Application Developer, and Social Media Marketer, among others.

Some other leading certifications such as CISA, CISM, CRISC, and CCAK are also popular options.