My journey from beginner to Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer
From a program that sparked an interest to explore cloud, pandemic becoming a hurdle to finally completing the exam. The journey to becoming Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) Certified has been amazing.
The joy of waking up to read that your hard work has paid off is incomparable. I am finally certified Google Cloud Platform Associate Cloud Engineer.
The spark
It all started with GCP Cloud Career Readiness Program. The HOD of my department announced that Google is organizing this program to educate and train about the cloud on their platform. Until then I was never keen to explore cloud platforms. But if life gives an opportunity then why step back. I enrolled myself in this program and I was given access to a Coursera specialization.
The preparation
Coursera specialization: GCP Architecting with Google Compute Engine
GCP Architecting with Google Compute Engine specialization gave the perfect start to my cloud journey. It consists of 5 courses and covered all the basic concepts very well. For beginners and for all those who want to take a jump into GCP, this is an amazing specialization to pursue. I spent daily few hours learning and making notes. The platform is so vast that it's better to take notes whenever needed for a quick guide. The courses also offer labs to get hands-on practice.
Official exam guide: Exam syllabus
After completing the specialization, I was determined to complete the certification. I went through the official guide and read the syllabus and requirements for the preparation of the exam. I strongly recommend going through the guide before preparing to get a better idea about the exam structure and prepare accordingly.
Official study guide
The next step was to get a better understanding of the various services offered by GCP and the Official Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Study Guide by Dan Sullivan was the perfect companion for me. It covered all the concepts needed to prepare for the exam. It also has MCQ at each chapter end to evaluate your understanding.
Qwiklabs
Qwiklabs has been my best hands-on practice lab source. Initially, I completed 5 quests mentioned in the GCP Career Readiness track. I went on to complete more than 100 labs to gain confidence in working with GCP. Also, they introduced challenge labs to test your learnings. Qwiklabs even provided monthly access for learning and their timely help is highly appreciated.
GCP Official Docs: GCP Documentation
After completing each chapter and lab related to a topic, I read the official documentation to learn about the best practices and strategies that Google recommends. PS, it's easier to get lost in learning and practicing all the solutions, make sure that you manage your time.
Practice: GCP ACE sample paper
GCP does provide official sample questions to get an idea of what to expect in the exam. I took the sample paper questions to verify my knowledge and know if I have any unclear concepts.
The halt
Its been 3 months of preparation for the exam. I planned to give my exam in December 2020. But most of the exam centers were closed and they were even far from my home. And the covid situation made it almost impossible to take a stay near the examination center. I was a little afraid about giving online exams as internet issues are very common at my home and I was worried that I might get disqualified. Soon my WFH internship started and I had to drop the idea of the certification.
The final decision
On March 16th, 2021 I finalized that I need to clear the examination, I can’t wait anymore because of the pandemic and closed offline centers. The gap of 2 months did bother me but I decided to revise within a week and scheduled my online proctored exam for 24th March 2021.
Setup for online exam
There are various criteria to be fulfilled to appear for the online proctored exam. Kryterion has provided videos to properly set up the room for the exam. I highly recommend viewing the videos on YouTube and test your environment using the Kryterion system check before applying for the online exam.
The exam day
The exam was scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. IST. The online proctor verified my identity and asked me to take a room tour to check for any unethical way of passing the exam. The time taken by the proctor was added in the examination duration so I had my full 120 minutes. The exam had 50 MCQ. Although I completed the exam in around 80 minutes, I reviewed all the answers and found few mistakes and corrected them. Please review your answers if you have time, it will surely help you to reverify and correct them.
The result
Soon after the exam, I got the result as PASS. But I had to wait for 7 to 10 days for the final result. And then on April 2nd, 2021, I woke up to know that I am officially GCP ACE certified. After preparing for 3 months, waiting for 2 months, revising again within the week, the happiness of finally completing the journey is unforgettable.
Here is my credential link: https://www.credential.net/169f6dd0-0f9b-4e98-83ad-3961b672f7ee
Thank you Akshit Jain and Ashwin Raiyani (HOD, BTech CE, RK University) for giving me this amazing opportunity. Good luck to future learners.
