Higher education

10 Free LinkedIn Learning Courses That'll Make You a Better Professional

Here at LinkedIn Learning, we have more than 13,000 courses, covering just about every professional skill – from Microsoft Excel to data science to Photoshop to executive leadership.

The vast majority of those courses are only available with a subscription (although parts of all of our courses are always free). But not all.

In fact, some of our absolute best courses on the platform are free to all. They include:

1. Jeff Weiner on Managing Compassionately

Course Description: Hear from Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, about the rationale for exercising compassion in leadership. Jeff shares how he turned his past experiences into valuable lessons that influence the way he approaches business today. He tells about realizations he had during his career regarding effective and ineffective management styles and how his gradual awareness, coupled with a desire for improvement, led to transformation and change.

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2. Guy Kawasaki on Entrepreneurship

Course Description: In this interview-style course, author, entrepreneur, evangelist and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki discusses a variety of topics centered on entrepreneurship. He shows how to focus your pitch and develop prototypes, predict new markets and capitalize on social media.

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3. J.T. O'Donnell on Making Recruiters Come to You

Course Description: Learn what recruiters look for, and how to help them find you. J.T. O'Donnell is a LinkedIn Influencer and an expert on job search and recruiting. She helps job seekers understand the modern job search and make the most of recruiters, specifically how to use recruiters in the LinkedIn marketplace, how to understand the role of the resume and cover letters in the job search process and how to connect and follow-up with a recruiter.

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4. Shane Snow on Dream Teams

Course Description: Dream teams get more done and have more fun. But why do some teams excel, while other promising partnerships fail?

In this course, award-winning entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow reveals the secrets of dream teams. He pulls lessons from great teams of the past, from the Wright Brothers to the Wu-Tang Clan. Follow along and learn how to build a team with diverse "superpowers," cultivate a culture of inclusion and unity, stay productive and collaborative and get better together.

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5. Fred Kofman on Managing Conflict

Course Description: Do you dread difficult conversations? Avoiding conflict doesn't save relationships. Managing conflict makes them stronger. Learn the tools that turn conflicts into positive outcomes in this workshop-style course with LinkedIn Vice President Fred Kofman. He takes a real-life story of conflict and shows how careful listening, negotiation and commitment can turn opponents into allies and create a renewed shared purpose.

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6. Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh on Creating an Alliance with Employees

Course Description: How do companies manage talent and provide the best learning and growth opportunities for their employees? How do employees make good on promises to employers while intentionally growing their own careers?

In this innovative approach to the employer/employee relationship, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Chris Yeh provide ways to strengthen the relationship between companies and employees for the mutual benefit to both.

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7. Danny Sullivan on SEO

Course Description: LinkedIn Influencer Danny Sullivan has been in on SEO since its early days, and educates businesses about the power of SEO as the chief content officer at Third Door Media and cofounder of Search Engine Land.

In this course, he explains what SEO is, touches on the history and evolution of the practice, and provides technical, content and search strategies that help you bolster your online presence. Danny also explains how to connect SEO to other business activities, identifies the skills that matter in SEO and looks at upcoming trends, including mobile, machine learning and search bots.

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8. Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant on Option B: Building Resilience

Course Description: Dodging adversity is often not a choice. Encountering a devastating event — the gut-wrenching kind that zaps away joy — is an inevitability of life. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Wharton psychologist Adam Grant share their insights on building resilience in the face of such setbacks.

They offer practical steps you can take to reimagine and rebuild your life when your first choice — your Option A — is no longer on the table, and you're faced with the task of making the absolute best of Option B.

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9. Sallie Krawcheck on Risk-Taking

Course Description: To create any type of opportunity for ourselves — and our companies —we must take chances. Yet as we progress in our careers those chances can get more intense and scary, causing us to resist taking necessary risks. What's holding you back? How can you gain the confidence necessary to take risks and chance failing?

Sallie Krawcheck is a LinkedIn Influencer and one of the most successful and influential executives in financial services. She has built her career and reputation on thoughtful risk-taking. Here she shares an approach that will help you to take chances while mitigating risk — and keep you on the track to growth and continued opportunity.

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10. Jodi Glickman on Pitching Yourself

Course Description: Pitching is a universal skill. The time will come when you need to pitch an idea, a project, or even yourself. But you may stumble when the moment strikes—if you don't have a quick and effective process to nail the pitch.

In this course, thought leader Jodi Glickman shares her go-to approach for selling your ideas, your story, and yourself. Learn three easy steps to a successful pitch: destination, backstory and connecting the dots.

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LinkedIn Learning has 13,000+ courses covering virtually every professional skill. Some of our most popular courses include:

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