Video Summary - Top 3 Finance Courses for Beginners (FREE) ✨Don’t Miss!

Overview

This video is a beginner-friendly guide that lists 3 free or low-cost courses to build skills for finance internships/jobs/interviews. It focuses mainly on career skills (not market investing), but includes valuation concepts relevant to equity research and PE/VC.

Top 3 Course Recommendations

1) Careers in Finance — Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)

Why #1: Helps beginners understand different finance career paths and how roles fit across a company lifecycle, making it easier to choose a direction.
Format / effort: Free, ~1 hour.
Positioning: Described as foundational and by a reputed institute.

2) Excel skills for finance interviews (provider-agnostic)

Must-know Excel topics mentioned

VLOOKUP
Pivot tables
SUMIFS

Interview-relevant Excel concepts mentioned

IF functions (including nesting)
INDEX
OFFSET
MATCH
Ability to use multiple formulas together

Suggested learning resources

LearnVern Excel course (~7 hours, Hindi)
Problem Solving with Excel — PwC on Coursera (2 weeks)
Alternative: YouTube channel “excelisfun” (practice playlist)

Practice platform

Excel Practice Online (free)

Key emphasis

Builds Excel confidence through hands-on practice, not just theory.

3) Private Equity & Venture Capital — Coursera

How to do it for free

Use Coursera’s “Enroll for Free” flow and select the option without a certificate (complete the course, but no certificate).

Value / payoff mentioned

Taking the course can help with resume credibility, leading to more interview shortlists (student experience).

Highlighted module

Module 4: Company valuation
- Notes that valuation uses many methods
- Encourages practicing on other companies to gain job-like experience

Timeline & access strategy

Approx. 1 week to complete.
Since it’s on Coursera, the course is kept toward the end because access remains longer.

Explicit recommendation

Take the audit/no-certificate option so you can still mention completion on your resume.

Events Mentioned (Career Networking / Boost)

Odoo Business Challenge

Eligibility: MBA and PGDM students
Registration deadline: 6th of July
Potential rewards: up to ₹1 lakh in cash prizes, certificates, and possible internship/job offers
Linked to the Excel skills needed to be more competitive.

Odoo Community Days 2025

Location: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Dates: 13–14 August
Scale: 20,000+ participants; 200+ sessions
Focus: IT and business; networking opportunities
Registrations are described as open/free

Learning Workflow / Methodology Mentioned

No formal investing or portfolio framework was provided. The structured learning approach was:

For Excel

Learn concepts
Practice using available tools/resources
Build interview-ready confidence

For PE/VC (Coursera)

Enroll → choose audit (no certificate) → complete modules (notably valuation) → optionally mention completion on a resume

For valuation (within the PE/VC course)

Study multiple valuation methods
Practice on other companies for hands-on understanding

Key Numbers & Explicit Recommendations / Cautions

CFI Careers in Finance: Free, ~1 hour
Excel “must know” list: VLOOKUP, Pivot tables, SUMIFS
Excel course durations:
- LearnVern: 7 hours
- PwC (Coursera): 2 weeks
Odoo Business Challenge:
- Registration deadline: 6th July
- Rewards: up to ₹1 lakh
Odoo Community Days 2025:
- 13–14 August
- Gandhinagar
- 20,000+ attendees, 200+ sessions
Coursera PE/VC:
- Approx. 1 week to complete
- Recommended: audit (without certificate)

Tickers / Assets / Markets Mentioned

None. No stocks, ETFs, bonds, commodities, crypto, or macro/sector market metrics were mentioned.

Disclosures / Disclaimers

No explicit “not financial advice” disclaimer appears in the provided subtitles.

Sources / Institutions Mentioned

Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)
LearnVern
PwC (on Coursera)
Coursera
Odoo
excelisfun (YouTube channel)
Excel Practice Online (free practice website)

Top 3 Finance Courses for Beginners (FREE) ✨Don’t Miss!

Key takeaways