How to access 3 months FREE training for Microsoft Certifications via LinkedIn Learning



Welcome to the second of my new series of articles on free Microsoft training. 

In this series, we will be looking at the many different free options that are available for training, for IT Professionals, end-users, small businesses, and for presentations and sales.

To see ALL my articles on training, check out this link - Link

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How to access 3 months FREE training for Microsoft Certifications via LinkedIn Learning

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Choose your Microsoft Certification Path - Link

MCSE - Cloud Platform and Infrastructure - Link
MCSE - Productivity - Link
MCSE - Business Applications - Link
MCSE - Data Management and Analytics - Link
MCSE - Mobility - Link

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Overview -
Microsoft has partnered with LinkedIn to provide 3 months free access to the LinkedIn Learning Online training resources. These courses are provided by the well known online trainer - Lynda. Microsoft delivers this access via their Visual Studio Dev Essentials program. Once you join the Visual Studio Dev Essentials program, which is also free, you will receive access to several providers of online training as well as many other benefits. The LinkedIn Learning subscription includes access to ALL of their training courses, as well many certification paths.

For more information regarding Microsoft certifications, please check this Link.
Before continuing, ensure you are already a member of LinkedIn.

How to access 3 months training -
To access 3 months of FREE training for the Microsoft certification paths above, you will first need to sign up for the Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials program, which is also FREE.

About the Visual Studio Dev Essentials program - Link
Aimed at developers, but perfect for traditional Office 365 administrators, the Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials program will give you unlimited access for three months to premium training resources from -
- Pluralsight
- Opsgility
- LinkedIn Premium

Although the Dev Essentials program includes training resources from several partners, this article will focus on accessing the LinkedIn Learning training only.

Joining the Visual Studio Dev Essentials program
Sign up at Visual Studio Dev Essentials program Link
I was able to sign up with my @outlook.com (Microsoft account) and did not need to verify that I was a developer.

LinkedIn Learning Training - Link
After joining the Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials program, you will then be able to access your free three month subscription to LinkedIn Learning training.
Once logged into VisualStudio Dev Essentials portal, scroll down to the 'Featured' section and select the tile - LinkedIn Learning.

You will then be presented with a message advising that you were successful. Click 'Activate' to take you to the LinkedIn Learning website.
As part of the Microsoft partnership, you will get access to the entire LinkedIn Learning platform for 3 months of unlimited access.

Accessing the Certification Training paths 
Once you log in to LinkedIn, you can access your LinkedIn Learning via the 'Learning' icon next to the Work icon.



Any courses you have started will automatically show at the top of the page.










To find Microsoft Certification paths, 
Step 1 - Enter the following keywords into the search box and press enter 'Microsoft Certification'
Step 2 - Click the radio button - Learning Paths



This will produce filtered results showing the eleven Microsoft certification paths.
The image below shows the first three learning paths























Note that this will NOT capture all Microsoft certification courses. For example, it doesn't capture the MCSA Office 365 certification.
However, if I search for the exam number - 70-346 and select 'Learning Paths', I am able to find the correct learning path.















Going by this anomaly, it is highly recommended to plan your Certification track first by confirming the exam numbers on the Microsoft certification site, and then searching for the associated Learning Path within the LinkedIn Learning site.

To make it easier for you, I have created the list below of the Microsoft Certification paths and included the direct links to the courses.

Filtered Searches for Learning Path only -
Keyword - MCSA - Link - Seven Results
Keyword - MCSE - Link - One Result
Keyword - MTA - Link - Four Results
Keyword - Azure - Link - Seven Results
Keyword - Microsoft - Link - Thirty-Seven Results


Microsoft Certifications that are available via the LinkedIn Learning certification paths
  • Prepare for the MCSA: Office 365 - Link  
  • Prepare for the MCSA: Windows Server 2016 Certification (70-740, 70-741, 70-742) - Link
  • Prepare for the MCSA: Windows Server 2012 Certification (70-410, 70-411, 70-412) - Link  
  • Prepare for the MCSA: Windows 10 Certification - Link 
  • Prepare for MCSA: Linux on Azure - Link  
  • Prepare for the Implementing Azure Infrastructure Solutions (70-533) Exam - Link  
  • Prepare for the MTA: Microsoft Cloud Fundamentals (98-369) Exam - Link
  • Prepare for the MTA: Security Fundamentals Exam (98-367) - Link  
  • Prepare for the MTA: Networking Fundamentals Exam (98-366) - Link  
  • Prepare for the MTA: Database Fundamentals Exam (98-364) - Link  

Microsoft Exchange Courses -
70-345 Designing and Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 - Link

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Certification training for Microsoft IT Professionals
How to access 3 months FREE training for Microsoft Certifications via Pluralsight - Link
How to access 3 months FREE training for Microsoft Certifications via LinkedIn Learning - Link

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To see ALL my articles on training, check out this link - Link 


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Congratulations, you now have access to 3 months of FREE training for Microsoft Certifications via LinkedIn Learning.

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Check out a list of ALL of my tutorials here - Link




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