I've been helping someone recently who says he's completed the Python course on codecademy. I have no reason to doubt him, but he is confused on important issues, and cannot write code.

The evidence I have is meagre, but suggests that a codecademy course is not necessarily worth anything.

Of course, it may be that you have aptitude, and the Codecademy course is exactly what you needed to get you started, and that you can (or soon will be able to) program, but I wouldn't hire you based on completing a Codecademy course. I probably wouldn't even telephone interview you on that basis.

I'd want to see something you've written, then I'd want to write something with you. Then I'd want to see you think about an appropriate problem.