A brand-new Professional Certificate that includes a crash course on Python programming is now available on the Coursera platform. It is aimed at those looking to start a career in an IT role such as Systems Administrator or IT support specialist and consists of six short courses.

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Coursera introduced Professional Certificates as a career- oriented credential in September 2019 and we have already looked at some of the options for those interested in AI, Machine Learning and Data Science. Now there's an opportunity for IT professionals which has as an incentive the prospect that on completion of the program:

 you’ll get access to career resources that can help you prepare your resume and practice interviewing. You’ll also have the option to share your information with potential employers, like Walmart, Sprint, Bank of America, Hulu, Google (of course!), and more.

The Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate is part of the Grow With Google initiative and is designed to provide IT professionals with in-demand skills, including Python, Git, and IT automation. It builds on Google IT Support Professional Certificate, also on Coursera, which has 5 courses that are intended as a "launchpad to a career in IT" which will take beginner learners to job readiness in under six months.

The new professional certificate helps you to take a IT career to the next level by providing a ground in Python which is currently the most in-demand programming language among employers hiring for IT roles and, according to Burning Glass around 75k entry-level IT roles require Python proficiency.

According to its description the Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate is:

designed to teach you how to program with Python and how to use Python to automate common system administration tasks. You'll also learn to use Git and GitHub, troubleshoot and debug complex problems, and apply automation at scale by using configuration management and the Cloud.

These are the six courses with the estimated time required to complete them:

1. Crash Course on Python 14 hours
   Understand what Python is and why it is relevant to automation
   Write short Python scripts to perform automated actions
   Understand how to use the basic Python structures: strings, lists, and dictionaries
   Create your own Python objects
   
   
2. Using Python to Interact with the Operating System  21 hours
   

   Setup, configure, and use your own developer environment in Python
   Manipulate files and processes running on the Operating System using Python
   Understand and use regular expressions (regex), a powerful tool for processing text files
   Know when to choose Bash or Python, and create small scripts using Bash

3. Introduction to Git and GitHub 12 hours
   Understand why version control is a fundamental tool for coding and collaboration

   Install and run Git on your local machine
   Use and interact with GitHub
   Collaborate with others through remote repositories

4. Troubleshooting and Debugging Techniques 16 hours
   Analyze real-world IT problems and implement the appropriate strategies to solve those problems
   Demonstrate techniques to quickly find and solve the root cause of problems in IT infrastructure
   Understand the root cause for problems related to speed, crashes, or exhausted resources in your computer
   Identify the most common pitfalls of your code and how to fix them

5. Configuration Management and the Cloud 15 hours
   Understand the benefits of configuration management and infrastructure as code
   Manage a fleet of computers using Puppet
   Automatically deploy new virtual machines running in the Cloud
   Deploy changes in a safe manner

6.  Automating Real-World Tasks with Python 4 hours
   Use Python external libraries to create and modify documents, images, and messages
   Understand and use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to interact with web services
   Understand and use data serialization to send messages between running programs
   Build a solution using the skills you have learned

The first five courses are now up and running and you can access all of them immediately.  The final course isn't yet available and has a starting date of February 17, 2020. It is intended to tie together the concepts learned throughout and in it students will tackle real-world scenarios in Qwiklabs that will challenge them to use multiple skills at once. It will only be open to students who have successfully completed the first five so if you want to take part in this enroll in the Professional Certificate from the outset. Notice that when you subscribe to a course that is part of a Certificate, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Certificate. After the 7 days free trial you pay a monthly subscription of $49. 

If you don't want a Professional Certificate, or any of the intermediate certificates, you can audit the first five courses free of charge by enrolling in each individually. Even though I'm not looking for a job in IT support, learning how to automate routine chores that I do for myself and my colleagues tempts me to dip into some of courses. The course on Git and GitHub also looks pretty useful on a standalone basis.

More Information

Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate

Grow with Google

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