How I got my Google Cloud Professional Architect certificate.
Read Google’s Cloud Platform documentation for each technology, study the specialization/path on Coursera and/or PluralSight from Google’s Cloud Team, play a lot with Qwicklabs, try by yourself, fail, try again, break it, try again… and you’ll make it. No need to read the rest of this article. This is the main idea.
So you decided to read the rest of my article. Ok! We’ll go step by step on my journey then.
The first thing to learn and understand how something works is to read the documentation. To tell you the truth I got lost. So many technologies to read about and how to use them, when to use them… I thought that I was dropped in the middle of the ocean.
That’s why I turned to Coursera. The specialization course is amazing. It provides you with all the information you need. Every time I was finishing a chapter of the course I was reading the documentation of the technology that I was taught. From swimming on the ocean I was now swimming on the Mediterranean sea. 😀
Then I checked the path on PluralSight. Almost the same thing with Coursera. But the repetition is the best way to understand everything.
At the same time that I was taking the courses both on Coursera and on PluralSight, I was practising on Qwiklabs. It’s an amazing tool! It gave me hands-on experience and at the same time, I wasn’t worried about paying money. The perfect environment to work. Just follow the steps of the lab and you’ll get it. You can get free credits if you attend a Cloud Study Jam from a GDG or if you follow Qwiklabs social media pages.
Finished the specialization on Coursera✅ , the path on PluralSight ✅, have worked a lot with Qwiklabs ✅, have played with the free tier of Google Cloud Platform ✅ but I still have some doubts. It’s the most difficult certification after all, as people say.
So I decided to take the course from Linux Academy also. I’m glad that I did it. While I got a lot of knowledge from the other 2 platforms, on Linux Academy they are more focused on the exams. I found very useful the practise exams they have at the end of their course.
I’ve read on the internet that PCA is one of the hardest exams. That’s why I was trying to get a score of 90% and above. It means that from the 50 questions I could fail only to 5. I also downloaded CertBolt on my pc to try more virtual exams. I also tried the practice exam from Google Cloud.
At that time I was 95% confident about myself. While spending my time on my social media accounts I saw on LinkedIn Konrad and Brian’s book. I got it. And believe me, it helped me a lot. It was so easy to read, so great flow of their material and in a simple way! I loved it! 😍 Especially the tips and SOS points they have inside their book!
Being 99.95% ready I tried to register. 🤣
I wrote tried because I wanted to give my exams at my house. And I thought that I could do it, that I could find the date and time that suited me. So Big Mistake!
The first free slot was 3 weeks away. I used all the (not so politically correct to write here) words 🤣😂 for my stupidity.
I decided to be online most of the day and wait for cancellation on a slot. 🤞🏻And guess what, I got lucky. And registered for the exams.
To try the exams from home you must download and install Kryterion’s software (no more than 5' procedure), and take a pic from the Registration page for your Biometrics.
On the day of the exams, I signed in 15 minutes before my scheduled time, as I was told. The platform opened 10 minutes before the exams. I saw a video with all the things that I should do/have done.
The person from the support asked me to turn my PC's camera around the room to check everything, the walls, the floor, the ceiling… and then with a mirror to check my pc. I was amazed by that. Never thought that people will try to cheat on the exams.
When the person from the support was satisfied with everything informed me that my 2 hours time will start. And so I was there. On my screen, with my first question.
From the 1st to the 50th question it took me 45 minutes. I found only 6 questions that were the same, or almost the same, with what I tried on all the virtual exams. On those 45 minutes, I was 100% sure about 41 questions. Not acceptable.
So I started checking these 9 questions that I marked them in order to review them later. It took me 30 minutes. I was pretty sure that I was going to pass. I checked my time. I had plenty. So I went again all the questions from 1 to 50 and then from 50 to 1. And then I clicked the submit button.
When you take the exams from home you are asked if you want to fill in a survey. I did it. And then I checked my results. I saw the Pass and I was happy!
But I had to wait for Google to confirm it. Some days later I got the email I was waiting and my badge!
If I was planning to try the exams now then the only thing that I would change is to finish the Google Cloud Training. Just follow the link and Enroll in both the Knowledge and the Skill. It will help you for sure. It’s one of the best material you’ll find!
How much money did I spend? Let's see:
Coursera: 0€
If you attend CloudOnAir or other events created by Google Cloud team they offer vouchers for a free month. That’s how I did it.
PluralSight: 0€
On the COVID-19 lockdown period, Google Cloud offered a free month for Coursera, PluralSight and Qwiklabs as I can remember. I got the PluralSight.
Qwiklabs: 0€
Did a lot of Cloud Study Jams (CSJ). For each CSJ you get $55 as credits and if you finish the Quest (5–8 labs) in a month then you get another $55 as credits.
Exam fees: $200 + vat
There is a 30% discount on the ACE exams right now but not for the PCA.
Now that I have got it I can assure you that it’s difficult. But it is possible. Don’t try to memorize the questions from the virtual tests. Instead, try to understand why one answer is correct instead of all the others. That’s how you’ll get prepared and then go for it!
Please be free to ask me if you have any questions. I’ll get back to you ASAP.
