any employer of worth would rather take a candidate that takes pride in their own self education and development rather than expecting the employer to foot the bill for career development. If a candidate can show they have learnt and can apply that knowledge, irrespective of how they gained that knowledge (whether it is a university degree, IT training or coursera) I personally try and do a coursera every few months to keep up with my own personal development program.

> any employer of worth would rather take a candidate that takes pride in their own self education and development rather than expecting the employer to foot the bill for career development.

well said, on top of it - you would be at the mercy of your immediate manager to approve the bills for career development - which honestly could take you ages considering the typical budget constraints at larger corporations. Its better to take your career development in your own hands and do it for your own sake rather than for getting jobs etc.

Good employers will eventually see the value of what you are doing.

They do in my case.

I've been interviewing junior fintech dev candidates in the South Florida area and I've found that the candidates that have Udemy, Udacity or Coursera certificates are a better fit for our start up and showed a lot more initiative at tasks than those who didn't.

I was wondering this as well. I doubt they carry any weight to be honest.

If you want a program that will give you certifications, you may have a better chance of going with Udacity(https://www.udacity.com/) instead.

Hope this helps.