Udemy: 23 Answers You Should Know

Udemy is one of the most popular platforms for learning. It has a proven track record, a library of courses, and good reviews all around. 

However, there might be things you aren’t aware of that could improve your experience. 

Here are 23 things you should know:

Udemy app welcome page

How Old is Udemy?

Udemy was founded in May of 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. This means that the e-learning platform is already over a decade old and continues to evolve. 

The company was created by a small group – Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar.

Is Udemy Lifetime? (Are Courses You Purchase on Udemy Yours for Life?)

Yes, once you pay for a course, you’ll have access to it for life. You’ll continue to have access to it as it undergoes updates and revisions.

These updates will depend on the teacher and their proactiveness. For others, they might make new courses instead.

There are some exceptions, of course.

If you break any of Udemy’s terms and conditions, your account can get banned, leading you to lose any courses you paid for. It doesn’t usually happen unless you pirate content or do anything equally devious.

There are also cases when the instructor decides to push the license elsewhere, leading Udemy to lose ownership. You lose access as it moves to another website.

Does Udemy Have a Subscription?

Yes, aside from buying courses one by one, you can opt for Udemy Pro. The Pro program gives you access to all courses offered on the website.

You can enter a Pro trial of 7 days. 

Afterward, the pro subscription will have you paying $19.99 a month plus any applicable taxes.

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Can I Share my Udemy Account?

It is not recommended that you share your Udemy account as it goes against the companies terms and conditions. Your profile and account are meant to be solely yours and so cannot be shared. 

However, suppose you live in a household with multiple people. In that case, it is likely acceptable to let others view a course on any of your electronic devices and share.

Can You Share Udemy Courses?

It goes against Udemy terms and conditions to share a course with someone else. Udemy’s business model is to provide affordable education easily accessible to everyone.   

While courses cannot be shared, you do have the ability to gift a course to someone else. 

Is Udemy Interactive?

There is some form of interactivity on Udemy, but it mainly depends on the course teacher. They can opt to construct their lessons in a way that creates more engagement. 

For example, integrating modules and quizzes are some examples of how courses can become interactive.

You also have the option to comment and ask the teacher any questions directly. The response you’ll get depends on how active the teacher is on the website.

Does Udemy Have Live Classes?

Udemy doesn’t offer live classes, and it doesn’t look like they will be offering them in the future. The most they’ve tried is to hold live events such as the Udemy LIVE weekend held in San Francisco last 2016.

Holding live classes presents a problem for many of the teachers and students at Udemy.

For a teacher, they’d have to commit their time to teach a class instead of uploading a course at their own pace. For students, they’ll also have to commit to attending live scheduled lessons. 

Udemy likes to promote learning at your own pace, which is why their structure works well.

What are Udemy Credits?

Udemy credits are a value balance that is added to your Udemy account. They allow you to get courses for cheaper as their value is automatically subtracted from your next course purchase. 

So if you have $10 of credits in your account and decide to purchase a $20 course, you will only need to pay $10 for it. 

You can get Udemy credits through promo codes, gift vouchers, or refunds. 

resume with udemy courses

Is Udemy Enough to Get A Job?

Yes, if you learn skills essential for the job, it would increase your chances of getting hired. For example, you can learn programming through Udemy courses and use that knowledge to begin your career path.

Udemy will likely not be enough if you are aiming for any senior positions. Still, at the entry-level, your chances are higher. 

It is excellent if you can show any experience in the field you are applying for or can show off a portfolio of sorts. You can absolutely use the knowledge you gain from Udemy to create a portfolio. This can definitely be something that impresses a future employer and encourages them to hire you. 

Udemy is also great for those looking to get started with growing their own business or self-employment. Since there are so many courses on different topics, you can pick and choose what areas you will need help with. 

Then you can use this knowledge to help land a new job or start your own thing. 

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Is Udemy Recognized By Employers?

Most employers don’t recognize coursework from institutions that aren’t accredited. While you can learn valuable skills on Udemy, your employer may not acknowledge them. 

It can supplement what you have or provide a starting point to allow you to branch out into other disciplines.

Does Udemy Provide Certificates?

Yes, Udemy does have certificates that you can download or print out. The issue is that these certificates don’t matter that much. They only matter if they come from an accredited institution.

As such, you’re likely better off not placing any certificates from Udemy on your resume. Most employers don’t recognize them. Udemy is a place to learn, but it has a long way to go in terms of recognition.

There are some exceptions. Several courses in Udemy have certification from accredited organizations. However, you’ll have to pay a higher amount for them.

Can I Add Udemy Certificates to my Resume?

If you don’t yet have a large amount of relevant experience in the field you are trying to get a job for, then adding Udemy certificates can be helpful. 

However, a better strategy is to use the knowledge you gain from Udemy to create a portfolio of sorts to show to a potential employer. This will be far more interesting to an employer as they can directly see and assess your skills.

Anyone can just take a course on Udemy. But not everyone can effectively turn this knowledge into genuine skilled ability. 

The goal of a resume is to show that you are experienced and well equipped to do the job you are applying for. You can use Udemy courses to help with this, but it shouldn’t be the thing you rely on.

Can I Download Udemy Courses for Offline Viewing?

Yes, you can download courses from Udemy if you have their mobile app. As long as you’ve bought it or have a Pro membership, you can begin downloading. Any course content you have on your phone will stay there for 30 days before expiring.

If it expires, you have to go online and download them again. 

However, it has its limitations as Udemy cannot download any tests or quizzes from the courses.

To download on iOS, you can select “My Learning” at the bottom of the screen and tap the download icon on the course title.

On Android, you’ll have to go to My Learning and then tap the upper right corner ellipses once you’re on a course. Then, you can select “save for offline,” and it’ll download.

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Is Udemy a MOOC Course?

Yes, Udemy is a massive open online course or MOOC. The goal of the company is to cater to both professionals and students.

You can access over 150,000 courses taught by over 70,000 instructors on the sites. Because of this, it has over 40 million students. 

The courses are available in different languages, though most of them are in English.

udemy discount

Is the Udemy Discount Real?

When you first access Udemy, you’ll see that most courses are at $99 or higher but are available for you at a massive discount. It means that you’ll be able to buy and access most courses for around $10 to $14.

As you’re looking at the site, you’ll see that the discount isn’t available forever. You’ll have somewhere between a day to a week to respond and get the course at that price.

Afterward, you’ll notice that the price either climbs up or it heads to another discount. It’s rare for the price to go back to the regular price, but it does happen.

However, Udemy never really has the goal of offering their courses at full price. Instead, they use discounts with time limits to market their products. It’s a strategy called urgency marketing.

You’ll find that the change in discounts after it expires only applies to your browser or computer. If you access another, you’ll find some disparities.

How Are Udemy Courses So Cheap?

For some courses, the instructor will be able to determine the price. If they want to keep it up at a few hundred dollars, it will display that.

However, for most of the courses, Udemy intervenes by offering them a special price at a discount. They do this to help land the sale better. The instructor will have to opt into that program before Udemy can begin pricing lower.

Udemy wants to maintain a lower price to attract new students, therefore growing their courses and the number of individuals utilizing them.

There’s also a concern that most courses are at a low price because they don’t offer that much content. 

Anyone can create courses on Udemy, so you have to do some research before you find the right fit for you. Be sure to check the previews courses have available for free and read some reviews.

Is Udemy Expensive?

How much you spend on Udemy will depend on you. If you see an expensive course, you may be able to find coupons that can reduce that price by 90%. Some people spend a lot on Udemy because they’re buying multiple courses at the time.

However, you don’t need to do that. You can set a budget to spend on Udemy and pace yourself with the courses. That way, you can always work within your budget.

If you get excited with all the options and purchase too many, it can become overwhelming. You may end up with plenty of courses that you never actually look into thoroughly. 

Does Udemy Have Financial Aid?

No, unlike other MOOCs, Udemy does not offer a financial aid program. Instead, it offers lower prices for its courses as one of its main selling points. 

The bad news is that if you don’t have the money to afford the lessons, there isn’t an alternative.

You’ll have to save up money or try to find other means to get the course. Some opt to find other similar websites that have financial aid options.

Is Udemy Free for Military?

Yes, in January 2021, Udemy opened its doors to all military personnel. All courses are free if you sign up on Udemy Business with a .mil email. 

One of the unique benefits of this deal is that personnel will be able to access courses that offer certification.

Amazon Web Sources has partnered with Udemy to make its certified courses available. The CCNA Certification and Training Group also has several accredited courses available. 

These can help anyone serving in the military transition to careers in IT, management, and more.

Is Udemy Free for Instructors?

Yes, you won’t have to pay anything to become an instructor on Udemy. However, Udemy gets 63% of the profits from anyone who buys your course on the site. In exchange, they handle marketing, hosting, and maintenance.

You can receive a larger share if you lead a student to the course through a referral link or coupon. In those cases, the instructor gets 97% of the revenue.

If someone paid for the course on mobile, you’ll only get the net revenue from the sale. Both Apple and Google impose a 30% fee for sales, which will affect your payout.

Is Udemy Publicly Traded?

Udemy has stated that it had intentions to go public by 2021. Their initial plan was to offer an IPO in March 2021 but has not followed through with their intent. 

They remain a private company, and it’s unknown if they’re actively pursuing a public offering at the moment.

Is Udemy Hosted on AWS?

Udemy uses AWS to store most of its video content. It allows them to maintain their library of courses spanning hundreds of thousands of videos. One reason they partnered with AWS is because of their ability to scale up.

Aside from AWS, they also use Zencoder as their encoding service. They also have a storage service from Microsoft Azure, though it is much smaller than AWS.

Is Udemy ISO Certified?

Not everything on Udemy has ISO certification. However, there is a specific part of the library that contains ISO-certified courses. Most of these ISO courses have high ratings.

They are also more expensive than the average courses on Udemy. You can get one at an average price of around $80-$90.

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Sources:

https://www.businessbecause.com/news/online-mba/6779/is-udemy-worth-it

https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us

https://www.randstadrisesmart.com/blog/which-online-certificate-courses-are-credible-your-career-development