The author, a freelance writer and content marketer, took HubSpot Academy's free online course in content marketing to learn new skills and boost their confidence. The course was well-structured, with a focus on frameworks, systems, and processes, and covered topics such as SEO, blog post subjects, and creating a content strategy. While the author found the course helpful in preparing them for their business, they did not find it directly responsible for landing clients. Instead, they attribute their success to using the skills learned from the course to impress clients and improve their work quality. The author concludes that HubSpot Academy's certification is valuable only if used as a tool to learn new skills, rather than solely for its perceived value in boosting confidence or job prospects.