Free IT training is real and it is actually free. The exam that gets you past a resume screen is the part that still costs money.
Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron go through the free IT training worth your evenings: Microsoft Learn, AWS Skill Builder, Cisco Networking Academy, the Linux Foundation, and the second tier nobody mentions. Why every big vendor gives this away, what a Credly badge proves to a hiring manager, and how to spot the outfit in your LinkedIn DMs guaranteeing you a CCIE. Eric's old employer paid for every cert he sat, and he explains why that path mostly does not exist anymore.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Cold Open: Free Training and Getting Hired
00:01:14 - Welcome and Show Plugs
00:04:21 - News React: Microsoft Broke Copy Paste in Excel
00:09:59 - Nadella on Layoffs, and CEOs Who Will Not Stop Talking
00:12:58 - News React: Broadcom Deauthorizes Insight
00:15:17 - Punished for Selling Competing Products
00:17:13 - Broadcom Is Overplaying Its Hand
00:18:24 - Intel, AMD, and the Nasty Gram From 1999
00:20:53 - Gartner: 55 Percent Shopping the Exit by 2029
00:23:12 - Nerd Hour Lightning Round
00:23:49 - MSP Summit and a Tech Channel 101 Idea
00:25:40 - Eric's In-Laws, a Prowler, and Punctured Cans
00:27:40 - A Sixty Dollar Camera With No Account Required
00:30:11 - Main Topic: What Free Training Gets You Hired
00:30:58 - What "Free" Means When a Vendor Says It
00:32:17 - Microsoft Learn and the AI Documentation Worry
00:36:40 - AWS Skill Builder and Cisco Networking Academy
00:38:29 - Credly Badges and Whether Andy Claims Them
00:39:51 - The Linux Foundation and Open Source Everywhere
00:41:41 - Linux Takes You Further, Microsoft Gets You Hired
00:45:26 - PowerShell Aliases and Azure CLI's Linux Accent
00:48:14 - IBM SkillsBuild, Trailhead, and Google
00:48:55 - The Guaranteed Pass Pitch in Your LinkedIn DMs
00:56:50 - A Guaranteed CCIE Means Somebody Is Cheating
00:58:53 - Pluralsight and Where the Cheap Options Sit
01:02:10 - MSPs, Partner Tiers, and Why They Will Still Pay
01:05:33 - A Badge Proves You Finished a Module
01:06:36 - Turning Free Training Into a Callback
01:08:51 - Make Your Resume Look Like the Person Who Does the Job
01:11:22 - Do This Monday: Name the Gap, Then Fill It
01:13:32 - Anthropic, OpenAI, and Certing in Emerging Tech
01:14:13 - Novell NetWare, Dry Copper, and Refusing to Learn
01:17:32 - Jeffrey Snover: Embrace Learning, or Be a Lumberjack
01:18:46 - Wrap Up and the Call for SysAdmin Horror Stories
Resources / Show Notes:
- CRN, top VMware partner Insight deauthorized by Broadcom: https://www.crn.com/news/channel-news/2026/top-vmware-partner-insight-deauthorized-by-broadcom-in-north-america
- The Register, Microsoft patches Windows and Excel and breaks paste: https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/09/14/microsoft-patches-windows-and-excel-breaks-audio-remote-access-and-paste/5296085
- Microsoft Learn, free modules and learning paths: https://learn.microsoft.com/training/
- AWS Skill Builder: https://skillbuilder.aws
- Cisco Networking Academy: https://www.netacad.com
- Linux Foundation Training, free courses: https://training.linuxfoundation.org
- IBM SkillsBuild: https://skillsbuild.org
- Salesforce Trailhead: https://trailhead.salesforce.com
- Google Skills, formerly Cloud Skills Boost: https://www.skills.google
- Claude Academy, free AI courses from Anthropic: https://academy.claude.com
- OpenAI Academy: https://academy.openai.com
- Pluralsight, pricing and the 10 day trial: https://www.pluralsight.com/individuals/pricing/free-trial
- SysAdmin Weekly: https://www.sysadminweekly.com
- SysAdmin Weekly Newsletter: https://newsletter.sysadminweekly.com
- AndyOnTech: https://www.andyontech.com
- Project Runspace: https://www.projectrunspace.org
- GitHub Discussions: https://github.com/ProjectRunspace/sysadmin-weekly/discussions
