Are you looking for a way to supercharge your career and stand out in the IT job market? You could join classes or attend workshops—but as the market gets more competitive, more tech professionals are choosing IT online certifications.
From data to digital marketing, UX design to cybersecurity: No matter what discipline you’re looking to pursue, there’s an abundance of certified online courses available to facilitate your career change into tech.
We’ve done the research and rounded up some of the best IT online certifications you can do this year (no previous experience required). Let’s get straight to it:
- The 12 best online IT certifications
- CareerFoundry’s Data Analytics Program
- Udemy’s IT Project Management for Beginners
- Coursera’s Technical Support Fundamentals
- University of Massachusetts’s Information Technology Certification
- IBM’s Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate
- EdX’s IT Fundamentals for Business Professionals: Programming
- DesignLab’s UX Academy
- Blockchain Council’s Certified Web3 Expert™
- Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Specialist Training Program
- Google Cloud Certification
- The University of West Florida’s Information Security Management Certificate
- The Product School’s Product Management Certification
- Why do an online IT certification?
- Key takeaways
The 12 best IT certifications
1. CareerFoundry’s Data Analytics Program
Learning data analytics from the ground up can seem daunting, but with CareerFoundry’s Data Analytics Program, you’ll become a confident data expert in no time.
This career-change IT online certification is perfect for those who prefer autonomous, self-paced learning—but also like to be kept on track with structured modules. You’ll also work with a mentor, tutor, and career change specialist who’ll keep you on track on the road to landing your first data role; the program comes with a job guarantee, after all.
From data gathering to analysis, visualizations, and insights, you’ll gain the skills necessary to create meaningful insights and draw actionable conclusions for every kind of organization. Not only that, but you’ll finish the program with a first-class portfolio of data projects to demonstrate your expertise to employers.
There’s even a free short course version!
Cost: $6,900
Time to complete: Eight months
Experience level: Beginner
2. Udemy’s IT Project Management for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you’re an up-and-coming tech professional looking to break into the field of IT project management, look no further than Udemy’s “IT project management for beginners: a step-by-step guide” certification.
This comprehensive course will equip you with all the essential knowledge and skills needed to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close IT projects across various sectors. You’ll also end the course with a certificate of completion which is bound to catch the eye of any hiring manager.
Cost: $12.99
Time to complete: 2.5 hours
Experience level: Beginner
3. Coursera’s Technical Support Fundamentals
Provided by Coursera, Google’s entry-level Technical Support Fundamentals course is a great way for beginners to get a foothold in the IT industry.
Over approximately 22 hours, you’ll learn all the basics of technical support—including computer hardware basics, troubleshooting techniques, and customer service strategies. And who better to teach you about IT than Google themselves?
Upon completing the course, you can expect to know how the binary system works, assemble a computer from scratch, and install an operating system—all the practical knowledge you need to walk into a technical support role.
Cost: $39/month
Time to complete: 24 hours
Experience level: Beginner
4. University of Massachusetts’s Information Technology Certification
University of Massachusett’s online Information Technology Certification provides an overview of information technology disciplines—from learning how to code confidently to exploring building databases and multimedia applications.
This nine-month IT online certification will see you gain an overview of the field to get your IT career off the ground. With its range of unique electives, you can get an overview before deciding on your specialized area for further study.
Cost: $1,140
Time to complete: Nine months
Experience level: Beginner
5. IBM’s Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate
Do you have an analytical mind, love getting to the root of complex problems, and feel comfortable handling sensitive data? If so, cybersecurity may well be the career path for you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts rapid growth in the field of cybersecurity, with an incredible 1.4 million jobs anticipated by 2024.
If you’d like one of those jobs to be yours, IBM’s Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate could be your ticket into a cybersecurity career.
You’ll develop a working knowledge of cybersecurity analyst tools, like data protection; SIEM; and the fundamentals of systems and networks. When it comes to Cybersecurity, there’s a lot to learn—which is why the course is three months long.
Cost: Free
Duration: Three months
Level: Beginner
6. EdX’s IT Fundamentals for Business Professionals: Programming
Accredited by the Universitat Politecnia de Valencia, EdX’s IT Fundamentals for Business Professionals: Programming aims to help business professionals who want to improve their technical literacy so they can work more collaboratively with IT specialists.
In addition to providing a foundational education in coding and development, this self-paced course will also see you gain hands-on experience in web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery.
The best part? This certification is completely free!
Cost: Free
Duration: 3-6 weeks
Level: Beginner
7. DesignLab’s UX Academy
Boasting endless job opportunities, lucrative salaries, and the chance to transform users’ lives with innovative digital products, UX is a popular choice for career changers. When it comes to IT online certifications, DesignLab’s UX Academy is a solid choice.
This program teaches you about user research methods, wireframing techniques, and prototyping tools.
With its guided curriculum, structured assignments, and regular feedback from industry professionals, the UX Academy provides students with all the tools they need to land their first UX job.
Cost: $7,749
Duration: 6-9 months
Level: Beginner
8. Blockchain Council’s Certified Web3 Expert™
Web3 and blockchain technology have completely transformed how we think about data, information-sharing, and secure transactions.
With the use of Web3 and blockchain skyrocketing, there’s never been a better time to stake your claim in this emerging field!
The Blockchain Council is helping tech professionals join this rapidly-growing industry with their new certification bundle. Professionals who earn the Certified Web3 Expert™ certification will have a Macro Expert Level understanding of all things related to Web3—including its technologies, business implications, and use cases.
Cost: $895
Duration: 30 hours
Level: Beginner-intermediate
9. Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Specialist Training Program
If you’re looking for a career path that balances creativity with analytics, there’s no better choice than digital marketing—and Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Certification has it all.
With 35+ live instructor-led online sessions led by multiple expert trainers, access to high-quality e-learning content, and many other resources—from capstone projects and moderated community forums to monthly mentorship with experts.
You’ll get an in-depth understanding of essential functions like social media management and web analytics. You’ll even get stuck with industry-standard tools like Google Analytics.
Cost: $1,265
Duration: One year
Level: Beginner
10. Google Cloud Certification
With a growing number of companies relying on cloud computing to store data, pursuing a job as a cloud computing specialist is a surefire way to future-proof your career. But to land your first role, you need to learn everything there is about the Cloud—and Google’s foundational Cloud Certification is a great place to start.
Geared towards beginners, this course will see you validate your baseline knowledge of cloud concepts; and learn your way around the products, services, features, and uses cases of Google Cloud. Google Cloud certifications are also among the highest-paying IT certifications—so you can feel confident that your new skills will pay the bills.
11. The University of West Florida’s Information Security Management Certificate
Information security management is the process of protecting organizational information and resources from unauthorized access. Think of it like the cybersecurity equivalent to house-sitting: You wouldn’t just leave your home empty when you go on vacation—just as you wouldn’t want to deploy a business system or network into unguarded cyberspace.
Due to the nature of the work, you’ll want to gain an in-depth education in information security management with a structured, university-accredited online course—and The University of West Florida offers just that.
The Information Security Management Certificate will transform you into a pro at developing policies and staying compliant with changing regulations. Not only that, but you’ll learn how to think like a hacker (and secure your data like one too).
Cost: N/a
Duration: 12 hours
Level: Beginner-intermediate
12. The Product School’s Product Management Certification
Product managers have one of the most critical roles in any business: Ensuring the product development process runs smoothly and the product succeeds.
The Product School’s Product Manager Certification (PMC) provides the perfect gateway for anyone hoping to break into the product management field.
Learning either part-time or full-time, you’ll sharpen your strategic know-how and learn how to collaborate for effective business. You’ll also benefit from small class sizes, active discussion forums, and a wealth of knowledge from the world’s product leaders.
Cost: Tiered pricing
Duration: Eight weeks part-time, five days full-time
Level: Beginners
Why do an online IT certification?
As we transition into a new era of digital transformation, companies are increasingly searching for highly skilled individuals with IT specializations—and this high demand also translates into abundant work opportunities with lucrative salaries.
But while it is possible to teach yourself these disciplines, companies want assurance that they’re putting their company’s data in the hands of trained professionals who’ve taken the time to learn these skills from a world-class education provider.
Through IT online certifications, you can quickly and flexibly learn the sought-after IT skills that’ll give you a competitive edge on the job market, and boost your career in the long run (all without having to step out of your front door).
These certifications were designed to reflect today’s rapidly changing technology, so having them on your resume tells employers you’ve got what it takes to walk straight into the role and start making an impact.
If you’re ready for a new career in IT but prefer a more traditional learning environment, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered with our guide to the best IT certifications.
Key takeaways
There you have it, our complete guide to the best IT online certifications in 2024.
IT online certifications are a great way to boost your career by learning new skills or expanding upon existing ones—and it doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, either.
There are several high-quality IT online certifications available that offer comprehensive training on various topics—many of which are self-paced, allowing you to gain new skills while holding down a full-time job.
Hopefully, this list provided enough options to get started! If you’re still unsure about making the investment, consider one of CareerFoundry’s free online short courses and decide from there.
And to learn more about making a career change into tech, check out these related articles: