Google Announces Free IT Training

Google today announced a new IT Support Professional Certificate that will help beginners start a new career in 8 to 12 months. The certification is just the latest front in its ongoing war to wrest control of the enterprise away from Microsoft.

“The Google IT Support Professional Certificate [is] a first-of-its-kind online program to prepare people for roles in IT support,” Google’s Natalie Van Kleef Conley explains. “With no previous experience required, beginning learners can become entry-level job ready in eight to 12 months.”

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The Google IT Support Professional Certificate program is part of Grow with Google, a Google initiative to help people get the skills they need to find a job using free training, tools, and events. Google offers paths designed specifically for teachers, local businesses, students, developers, and startups in addition to the job seekers that the Google IT Support Professional Certificate program targets.

According to Google, this is a big market, too, with over 150,000 open IT support jobs in the United States alone. And the average starting annual salary is over $52,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

Van Kleef Conley says that the certificate evolved out of an internal Google program to train and hire “non-traditional talent” for its own IT efforts.

“The program was a success, and its graduates inspired us to think about how we could make a bigger impact beyond Google,” she writes. “Now we’re using the training we implemented at Google as the basis of a new program available to anyone, anywhere, as part of the Grow with Google initiative. No tech experience or college degree is necessary.”

The Google IT Support Professional Certificate program includes over 64 hours of video training lessons with hands-on labs and other interactive assessments. The course is hosted at Coursera, and Google is subsidizing the normal $49/month fee so that it will be free to everyone.

And those who complete the training can opt-in to share their success with potential employers including Google, Bank of America, Walmart, Sprint, GE Digital, PNC Bank, Infosys, TEKSystems, UPMC, and others.

You can pre-enroll now at the Google IT Support Professional Certificate website.

 

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 8 comments

  • Kevin Bae

    16 January, 2018 - 11:32 am

    <p>According to the web site the fee is $49/month. You only get a 7 day free trial and need to sign up with a credit card or PayPal account. In order to get subsidized you have to apply for financial aid from Google at this link. https://www.coursera.org/financial-assistance/google-it-support</p&gt;

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    16 January, 2018 - 12:04 pm

    <p>I received a "Scholarship" for this and if I complete the course in 3 months, they said I get another course…So there appears to be many ways to get this. </p>

  • Noel

    16 January, 2018 - 1:06 pm

    <p>Google are only subsidising the course for eligible US residents</p>

    • talkingnews

      17 January, 2018 - 6:19 am

      <blockquote><a href="#238175"><em>In reply to Spectralmania:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yeah, gutted – got all excited, signed up, and then… ah, £36 per month!</p>

      • milap

        17 January, 2018 - 7:22 am

        <blockquote><a href="#238350"><em>In reply to talkingnews:</em></a></blockquote><p>the news:</p><h1>Google Announces Free IT Training</h1><p> and the fact:</p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(227, 237, 249); color: rgb(55, 58, 60);">US$49&nbsp;USD per month&nbsp;after January 24, 2018</span></p><p><br></p><p> one conclusion: scam</p>

  • Nicholas Kathrein

    16 January, 2018 - 2:08 pm

    <p>It looks like this is needs based on your annual pay. It's great it helps out people who can't afford the classes. I can't take advantage of this but it makes me think if it maybe worth the the $50 a month to add the knowledge.</p>

  • Patrick3D

    16 January, 2018 - 3:19 pm

    <p>IT service providers are becoming the new Telemarketing job for unwitting high school grads. Don't expect to get a job at any major company with one of these certificates, what you can get is a job for an IT services provider (temp agency / sweat shop.) As an example, Walmart outsources their IT needs to Infosys and WiPro with call centers in India and limited on-site support from local service centers. You can use a website like OnContracting to find out what agencies various companies actually outsource to.</p>

  • Maxpayne

    29 March, 2018 - 12:04 am

    <p>This is actually a great initiative. By this training program we will be able to train people and make them skilled enough to have jobs. By this way we can reduce the increasing number of unemployment in the country.</p><p><a href="https://www.suttoninhomeseniorcare.com/home-care-prices-in-springfield&quot; target="_blank">sutton in home senior care centre</a></p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC