by Laurie Pickard | Dec 19, 2014 | Career Development
A version of this post originally appeared on SkilledUp Trends and Insights.
Should you go for certificates and badges or try to build a portfolio of your work? What type of signal will be most valuable in the job market? How can you turn MOOC learning into a salary increase?
If you are an employer, how can you use the MOOC revolution to benefit your business?
If you are a regular reader, then you know that I’m extremely interested in how MOOCs will create value in the market - not just in the sense of people enjoying free courses, but quantifiable, bottom-line value. I’ve written about the potential for MOOCs to change the value equation within the higher education industry itself. Now I’m turning my attention to another market - mid-career professionals and the companies that employ them.
Having taken over a dozen business MOOCs, I am positive that what I have learned in my MOOC courses is turning me into a more productive worker. In some ways my MOOC education is even better than my previous undergraduate and graduate work. Or it may just be that I am better as a learner; I am much more focused on education that I can use to create value at work, and I have a clearer understanding of what skills and knowledge I need to acquire in order to become a better professional. I would guess that many other MOOC users feel the same. After all, the majority of us already have degrees, and the average student age is in the 30s.
I’m convinced that MOOCs are creating value. But the question remains - who will capture that value?
What follows is my attempt to lay out the various ways employers and employees might find value - the quantifiable kind - from MOOCs and other forms of free education. MOOCs are still longer on potential than they are on proven value creation. The good news is that there is still time to get in on the ground floor of a movement that could change how education translates into the world of work.
How to Turn MOOC Coursework into a Salary Increase
1. Build the experience line on your resume.
Probably the most straightforward way MOOC education can create value for a mid-career learner is if you’re able to put some new skills into practice in your current job. Ultimately, you should be able to leverage your new responsibilities to either be promoted within your organization, or to get a higher paying position in another organization.
2. Acquire credentials recognized in the market.
So far, no MOOC-related credential has emerged as dominant in the job market. Certificates from single courses - Coursera Statements of Accomplishment, edX Verified Certificates, and the like - don’t present a clear pathway to career advancement. More promisingly, the MOOC providers are increasingly grouping courses into certificate programs - Coursera Specializations, edX XSeries, etc. - and they face competition from companies like Degreed that plan to create independent credentials for a broad range of subjects. All of these credentials are in their early stages, so we’ll have to wait and see which - if any - become a strong signal in the job market.
Udacity’s Nanodegree program has made the most headway in paving the MOOC-to-employment pathway. Of course, it’s easier to provide a credential for a narrow skill set (e.g. Ruby on Rails) than for a broad one (e.g. leadership). I expect that, following Udacity’s lead, technology credentials from sites like Code Academy, Thinkful, and others will be the first to provide job seekers with tangible advantages. But credentials for other skills - even soft skills - are sure to follow.
3. Build a portfolio that makes the case for your professional abilities.
In the absence of credentials with proven market value, a portfolio can be a good way to demonstrate your chops in a particular area. Some people are even claiming that portfolios are preferred over resumes by a growing number of employers. Again, coders and programmers are leading the way, with many sites that allow them to showcase their work. For the rest of us, sites like Accredible, SlideShare, and even LinkedIn might be good forums in which to provide evidence of one’s abilities, though I’m not convinced that employers will prefer such labor-intensive recruitment methods over an easy signal like a degree from a reputable institution. I’d love to hear from anyone who can prove me wrong about that! The portfolio approach is of course my chosen method for turning my No-Pay MBA into a professional credential.
How MOOCs Can Create Value for Employers
1. Use MOOCs as training for current employees.
The most obvious way for employers to reap value from free and inexpensive online courses is to replace a more expensive training programs, to supplement existing training programs, or to put in place a training program where none existed before. Even my employer, USAID, which has plenty of resources to create its own courses, is encouraging employees to take MOOCs that are relevant to the work we do. Companies that don’t already produce their own training materials stand to benefit the most from implementing a free or low-cost training program using MOOCs or other online courses.
As with all training programs, the goal is to make the company’s current workforce more productive. If my experience is any indication, MOOCs are capable of doing this.
2. Encourage self-directed MOOC learning among employees.
Even if your company doesn’t want to spend the effort to implement a formal training, it may be a good idea to encourage self-directed MOOC learning among employees. Individuals are in fact more likely to know what skills they need to become better at their jobs. Giving permission for employees to spend some of their at-work time on personal learning can also increase job satisfaction.
3. Recruit via MOOC.
If employers partner with MOOC providers, they can get employees who have been educated in a way that directly matches what the employer is seeking. In this way, MOOCs have the potential to overcome the mismatch between traditional higher education and the needs of employers. As Harvard professor Clayton Christensen put it in a recent article in the Boston Globe,
“Many colleges and universities resist the idea of training students for jobs. Yet it is employers who are truly the ultimate consumers of degree-holders. If alternative education providers, by partnering or collaborating with employers, are able to deliver prospective job candidates who are as just as qualified — and in some cases, better suited — for the opportunities at hand, companies will begin to validate these learning pathways.”
Larger companies may be able to work with MOOC providers to create courses or learning pathways that directly match their needs, such as AT&T has done with Udacity. But smaller companies may also be able to identify courses or course series that provide the specific training that is most applicable to the job. Identifying people who succeed in those courses or course series could be a powerful form of recruitment.
4. Encourage hiring managers to consider resumes with non-traditional forms of education.
What will you or your hiring manager do when a resume comes across your desk that has a MOOC education line? Okay, I’m biased, but I see a huge opportunity for employers who are willing to take a risk on hiring people whose training is MOOC-based or otherwise self-directed. Trust me, I’m not the only one who is using free online education to increase my professional abilities. Now - before anyone has figured out how to credential this type of education, and before it has an established market value - is the time to snap up these entrepreneurial individuals.
Make no mistake: MOOCs are still longer on potential than they are on proven value creation. The good news is that there is still time to get in on the ground floor of a movement that could bring efficiency to talent recruitment, talent development and talent retention. Wouldn’t you or your business benefit from being part of it?
by Laurie Pickard | Nov 23, 2014 | Courses, Platforms, and Profs, Thoughts on Higher Ed and Life
Even though MOOCs don’t run on a semester schedule, I still like to think of my business education in those terms. As I near the end of the fall semester of my second year of self-made B-school, I’d like to reflect on some of the highlights of the past four months.
I talked to some very interesting people
I shared my thoughts on MOOC education with a grad student in Switzerland, answered some thought provoking questions from a startup in Bulgaria, and met a dynamic CEO who shared his insights on how employers see MOOC education.
I valued my coursework at over $50,000
I was recently asked how much my MBA coursework to date would have cost at a traditional university. Here’s my back of the napkin calculation: assuming $1000 per credit hour and 3 credit hours per course, I have racked up over $50,000 worth of free courses!
I facilitated a MOOC
Last year the State Department teamed up with Coursera to provide facilitated MOOC courses at embassies around the world as part of the MOOC Camp Initiative. In October and November of this year, I served as facilitator of one of these camps a the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda. The course was “Beyond Silicon Valley: Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies” - perfect for the Rwandan context. I worked with an inspiring group of young Rwandan entrepreneurs, and even managed to arrange a Skype session with Professor Michael Goldberg.
A professor asked me to take his MOOC
One of the most exciting things that happened this semester was that a professor reached out to me and asked me to take his MOOC. And I’m glad he did! Professor George Siedel teaches an excellent course titled Successful Negotiation. Which brings me to my next highlight…
My best course assignment so far
The final assignment in Successful Negotiation is a negotiation exercise. The whole course builds up to this negotiation. Students in the course choose a negotiation partner, and each student is assigned one of two roles. The scenario was detailed enough that there was a lot to work with and plenty of opportunity to put the concepts in the course into practice. In addition to being a great practical assignment, it was a perfect solution to the problem of lack of student interaction in a MOOC. My only complaint about this course was that there was only one such negotiation. If more are included in a subsequent offering, I may end up taking this course again.
My most difficult course so far
Perhaps I shouldn’t speak too soon since I haven’t finished this course yet, but I am six weeks into Supply Chain and Logistics Management from MITx, and I am on track to pass. MIT courses are HARD. In many courses, a straight A is no big achievement, but in an MIT course, a 60% is a passing grade, and it’s difficult to get. This course has required me to reach back into the recesses of my memory to high school algebra and calculus, to dust off my college statistics, and to master Excel functions I didn’t even know existed. I sometimes feel like I did as a child taking piano lessons, when I would get so frustrated about a piece that I would end up practicing through tears until I finally got it. This course doesn’t make me cry, but it does sometimes test the limits of my determination. When I get that certificate of completion, I will feel very proud.
Next: winter term
I went to a college that had a winter term, during which students had time to do an intensive project or internship in between the fall and spring semesters. I’m taking a winter term this year to do a few practical business projects involving team work. First, I’m in a NovoEd course (co-presented with +Acumen) that involves financial modeling of a social enterprise and a substantial group work component. Second, I’m planning to do some group business games and simulations - more on that later. Finally, as treasurer of the employee association at the US Embassy in Kigali, I’m working on a restructuring of the Embassy’s commissary business. With these three group activities I’m planning to recreate at least part of the social learning component of a traditional degree.
by Laurie Pickard | Nov 13, 2014 | MOOC MBA Design
The following post originally appeared on TopMBA, a site full of resources for prospective MBA students.
The first time I didn’t go to business school I was thoughtless. The second time I didn’t got to business school I was restless. But the third time I didn’t go to business school was the charm. With the benefit of hindsight, I can tell you that I approached my graduate education all wrong. While I believe that I got it right in the end - more on that later - I also believe that you can do better. So put down that GMAT prep book. There are a few things I strongly encourage you to do before you apply to a single MBA program.
How the No-Pay MBA was born
First, a bit about my educational path:
The first time I didn’t go to business school I got a master’s in geography. At the time it seemed like an easy choice; having spent a few years as a teacher in a broken school system, I was highly interested in urban issues. So I applied to an urban studies and geography program and was offered a full scholarship. A no-brainer. And that was precisely the problem. I didn’t take the time to think long and hard about what I would do after I got my degree. I was so excited to get back into the world of academia – where I could explore my intellectual curiosities, where it was so easy to understand the metrics by which I would be graded - that I didn’t even stop to think about why I needed another degree. What exactly was I preparing myself to do?
The second time I didn’t go to business school I joined the Peace Corps instead. When I finished my geography degree and prepared to reenter the workforce, one thing was very clear. I wanted an international career, and if that was going to happen, I would need to get started. By this time, I had been doing some part-time work for a business incubation startup, and the suite of business skills that I hadn’t learned in graduate school was starting to look quite attractive. There was a moment when I strongly considered getting a second graduate degree, an MBA. But the dream of an international career was too strong, and I didn’t want to wait any longer to pursue it.
The third and most recent time I didn’t go to business school, I benefited from serendipity. Some of the best business schools in the US and the world were just beginning to make their course content available via massive open online courses, or MOOCs. I saw an opportunity to create the education I had long desired practically for free and without taking time out of my burgeoning career in international development. In August of 2013, I became the first person to publicly seek to replicate the MBA education using free online courses, modeling my curriculum after the top business programs in the world.
As I said at the beginning of this post, ultimately I believe I made the right decision not to go to business school. However, I didn’t know that for certain until I was well into the business education I have acquired by other means. What follows are my recommendations on the analytical process anyone should undertake before enrolling in an MBA program, but especially if doing so will require going into debt.
What every prospective MBA student should do before applying
1. Get very clear on what you will do AFTER you complete your degree.
I don’t just mean identifying a field you would like to be in. Be very concrete. What are the job titles you are interested in? What does a typical day look like in those jobs? Which are the firms you might like to work for? What will your career progression look like? Which of the skills you will acquire in your MBA program are you most excited to put into practice? Which of your talents will you hone, and how exactly will you translate them into the world of work?
2. Next - and this is critical - talk to some people who do the job you think you might like to have.
Find out from them what it is like to do their job. Ask yourself if you would truly enjoy doing that type of work. Find out whether a degree is necessary to get hired and which type of degree - and from which schools – is considered most valuable. Find out what each person would have done differently if they could go back and do it all again. If any of your assumptions change at this point, go back to step one.
3. Run the numbers.
If you’re thinking of getting an MBA you must like to do analysis, since that is the bulk of what you will learn to do in an MBA program. Why not get started early? Take a crack at valuing your potential MBA investment. Yes, there are tons of articles on the ROI of the MBA degree, but what is your personal expected return?
Come up with some numbers. What is the starting salary among people who do the job you want to do? What is the average salary for people who have been doing it for a while? What are the top earners making, and how likely is it that you will be among them? How important is the rank of the business school you attend versus the fact that you have those three letters behind your name?
Don’t be one of the many MBA graduates who regrets taking on a mountain of student debt and ends up in a job they don’t love just to be able to pay it off. Do the math so that you can be sure you are making the right choice. If you don’t know how to do this type of analysis, take a MOOC on finance or use the MBA calculator I created after my first finance course.
Given that I didn’t plan to work on Wall Street, my decision not to get an MBA makes financial sense for me. This may or may not be the case for you. Find out for sure.
4. Really consider the alternatives.
What is it about the MBA degree that will be most valuable to you? Do you need the network? Do you need the pedigree? If you are going into finance or high-end consulting, the answer is probably yes. But if you are planning to create a startup, that may not be the case. What will your long-term path look like with a degree versus without one? Which will be more valuable to you in the long run - a degree or two more years of work experience?
Now you can write your applications
After you finish this analysis, you will have plenty of fodder for your admissions essays - or you’ll be ready to start down an alternative path. Either way, your investment of time and energy is bound to pay off.
by Laurie Pickard | Oct 17, 2014 | Thoughts on Higher Ed and Life
I was recently interviewed by Niya Koleva of the Bulgarian website Smartigraphs. I enjoyed answering Niya’s questions so much that I wanted to re-publish the interview on my blog. Currently, most of Smartigraphs’ content is in Bulgarian - the site was started by a group of Bulgarian students - but they are planning to increase the amount of English language content published on the site. As Niya told me, “We started as a small team of students and have now expanded and have 5 authors and 2 designers working on various social topics ranging from energy to elections. Most of us have graduated or are currently enrolled in Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, and only 2 people of the team are not studying Political science. We aim at explaining the world and complex concepts in a beautiful way through infographics. We are also working on an English version of the website so that one day a broader audience would be able to enjoy our work.” Below is the full interview, which originally appeared on Smartigraphs.
As you might know most of us are political science students and some of us aspire to work in this field. You have a formal bachelor’s in Politics from Oberlin College. Can you tell us why you chose politics and how was your first degree different from your self-made no-pay-MBA?
When I entered university, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. I knew I had an interest in international themes, but I hadn’t had much exposure outside of the US. I thought I might study languages. Then I took a class on international relations, and it opened up this whole new world for me. It gave me a way of systematizing information on a grand scale, and I had the first inkling that it might actually be possible to understand the global big picture, at least through a certain lens. I appreciated the political science approach because it was rigorous and because it had some explanatory power beyond what studying language and culture was able to provide. I got a great education at Oberlin, and I emerged a much more well-rounded and thoughtful person. My No-Pay MBA has been a similarly mind-expanding experience, but it is more targeted. In this phase of my education, I am very focused on learning skills that will make me a better professional, whereas my undergraduate education (and even my graduate education to some extent) was about shaping my overall world view.
You have listed International Development, International Education, and Intercultural Communication as top skills on your Linkedin profile. Do you think your non-traditional educational path helps you further develop them? What other skills have you acquired through MOOCs?
I do see these skills as some of my most valuable, thought I’m not sure that my current educational pursuit is helping me to develop them. It’s more the reverse – my experience in international development, international education and intercultural communication make me a better student. Additionally, having an international focus – and taking MOOCs as an international student - allows me to see both the great potential and the challenges that this type of education faces.
As for new skills that I’ve learned, in addition to my ever-expanding repertoire of analytical tools (strategic/competitive analysis, financial analysis, operational/efficiency analysis), I am honing an entrepreneurial mindset and a way of looking at the world that is all about identifying opportunities. I seem to have a new business idea at least once a week.
As far as I know you speak Spanish and French. Do you think it is possible for people to learn a language online effectively? Have you tried to improve your language skills through courses or educational platforms online? I believe I once read on your blog that you like learning foreign languages, exotic ones for that matter.
You are correct that I speak both French and Spanish. I am also trying to learn Kinyarwanda, the local language of Rwanda – with strong emphasis on the word trying! I’ve never actually tried to learn a language online, other than to do vocabulary or grammar drills. The thing I love about learning languages is that they are a window on a culture. So without the cultural experience, a lot of the joy of learning a language is lost for me. However, I do think that online tools could be helpful for someone learning a language. For those with fairly advanced language skills, a MOOC in a subject area of interest could provide a great forum for enhancing language skills. I have plans to do this myself, in fact. A reader of my blog recently suggested a MOOC on project management that is only available in French.
You have worked in Nicaragua and Rwanda. Has your professional experience in these countries influenced your learning experience in any way?
Absolutely! I work on issues of economic growth, so my work typically involves taking a macro-perspective on development, at the level of a value chain, a sector, or an economy as a whole. One of the things I have loved about my work is getting to observe how a private sector is built and how an economy grows increasingly more complex. In a fast-growing economy like Rwanda’s you practically watch that happen in front of your eyes. With my business courses, I am getting a micro-level view of how individual enterprises operate. Between the two, I am building a very well-rounded picture of how business works. At heart I’m a geographer – that’s what my master’s degree is in. Geography as a social science is fundamentally about how we as human beings interact with our environment, and the forces of business are huge in shaping the world we have built. I find a lot of joy and fulfillment in trying to understand those forces and in trying to use them to lift people out of poverty.
You have shared on your blog that your main frustration with MOOCs are the Discussion boards/forums. Do you still feel anxious about them? Some educational specialists consider them to be the most fascinating part of MOOCs because they become the medium for intercultural dialogue and spread of ideas. After engaging in so many classes, what’s your standing on this?
Anxious wouldn’t be the word I would use; I would say frustrated – and yes, I do still feel frustrated with discussion forums. In a way they just seem outdated. Wouldn’t it be better if students could use video conferencing to have discussions in small groups, face to face? Or if you could have a real-time chat with someone about the ideas that come up in a course? Of course connectivity issues can make those things challenging, but I find the discussion board format very impersonal and unsatisfying.
Of course I love the idea of people being able to connect with one another and learn from one another around a shared interest. My problem is more with the disjointed feel of discussion forums and the clutter that results from mandatory posting requirements.
I know you supplement your MOOC curriculum with TED talks. Could you share with us your most favorite ones? For instance Top 5?
I do love TED talks. Below are some of my favorites.
Hans Rosling: Global population growth, box by box
Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight
Jason Fried: Why work doesn’t happen at work
Dan Palotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong
Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
by Laurie Pickard | Oct 4, 2014 | Career Development
The debate about MOOC education rages on in both online and print publications. Just as important as whether low completion rates are a problem, and whether traditional colleges should be quaking in their boots, is the question of whether the market will respect MOOC education. In other words, can a virtual stack of Coursera Statements of Accomplishment translate into real job opportunities?
Below is one answer to that question. Mark Olvito is the CEO of LM Foods, LLC, a consumer packaged goods company in New Jersey. He reached out to me recently to say that he has encouraged his employees to look into MOOC education as a way of furthering their professional advancement. He also graciously accepted my offer of a guest post on the No-Pay MBA blog. I encourage you to visit his thought-provoking and inspiring blog Hustle or Bust. Read on for Mark’s thoughts on MOOC learning and its relationship to the search for outstanding candidates.
To say that I’m fascinated by the movement towards MOOC’s, and in particular the structured approach profiled on No-Pay MBA, is an understatement. That’s from the perspective of a father, and as a lifelong student of business.
But I play another role in life. It consumes 65+ hours a week. It consumes 90% of my mental “think time.” It’s that of company owner and CEO. From that vantage point, the audience of No-Pay MBA may be interested in my thoughts related to the following:
Can a MOOC education translate to employment opportunities the way a conventional degree can?
The short answer:
The real answer?
HELL YES!
I’m biased, and you need to understand where the bias comes from. Here’s what I’ve based my career on, and the assumption I operate under every day as a company owner.
Talent drives everything.
There’s a problem, however. As the final decision maker regarding talent coming INTO my company, it is flat out hard to find people who clearly demonstrate how they can step into my company, learn fast, accelerate our progress, and help build a winning team. There are plenty of credentialed people chasing opportunities. MANY have advanced, conventional degrees. Too many. More supply than demand. Few stand out.
As a “buyer” of talent, hiring can be a truly frustrating experience.
I call the missing element “HUSTLE.” I need to hire people who have not just accumulated knowledge, but who have the inner drive to put that knowledge into practice. People not afraid to get dirt under their nails. People who find ways to solve big problems with fresh thinking.
What if a candidate emerged who had successfully completed a “No Pay MBA?” They didn’t just go through the motions and check off the boxes. They actually understand the curriculum and can clearly communicate that knowledge.
I’ve worked with Ivy League MBAs. Some are great and will create millions of dollars of wealth. I’ve also worked with some that can’t analyze their way out of a paper bag, or deal with people in a way that lifts them up vs. tearing them down.
My advice to the No Pay MBA audience?
Keep at it. Get the knowledge. Start demonstrating that you can apply it. Don’t worry about “measuring up” to the conventional MBA crowd. Embrace this key point of difference, and focus on making something happen with this knowledge.
Good Luck!
May you live each and every day of your journey with Hustle. Or Bust.
Mark Olivito
CEO LM Foods, LLC
www.hustleorbust.com
