Continuing Education and the Freelancer

I might have mentioned before that I was in the middle of getting Hubspot's Inbound Marketing certification as well as some other pro certifications. It's a little while later and I'm still at it, but that's mostly because I couldn't get the inbound marketing course completed before they changed it, which sent me back to the beginning of the new version. Hubspot has also released a Social Media certification course, which I jumped right into as soon as it was released. I'm hoping that these certifications will make my resume a bit more desirable, because as much as I want to make a full time income with fiction writing, I know that it's better to keep my options open.

The only thing I'm wondering is: will these certifications actually make a difference in what recruiters and HR pros will think of my overall appearance on paper? After all, these courses are teaching me everything I already learned about marketing and social media just by jumping in head first years ago. It's a great refresher, but the only new knowledge I've gained so far is how to put actual marketing/social media plans on paper (or in a spreadsheet). The rest I've already done, tried, failed, and succeeded at. I will stress that I haven't completed either course yet, so I may gain some more new insights into these topics--and I'm very grateful that these courses and certifications are free, because there are many more certifications that are just as desirable to slap on a resume that charge $100 or more to take the test.

These certifications have become a top priority, even in the face of being a little behind on my Camp NaNoWriMo project for July. It's a small sacrifice for (hopefully) a bigger chance at better things to come.