Becoming the First Black Google Cloud Certified Engineer in Houston
/With newfound time for most of us staying home, to stop the spread of COVID-19, I’ve decided to share the steps I took to obtain Google Cloud certification. According to Global Knowledge, the world’s largest Information Technology training company, the Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect credential is the top paying technology certification for 2020. Analyzing the list reveals that cloud computing and cybersecurity expertise is in high demand.
Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect — $175,761
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate — $149,446
CISM – Certified Information Security Manager — $148,622
CRISC – Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control — $146,480
PMP® – Project Management Professional — $143,493
See the full list - 15 Top-Paying IT Certifications for 2020
Here are the steps I took to prepare for the Associate Cloud Engineering exam and pass on my first attempt. In order, I completed the Architecting with Google Compute Engine Specialization (GCE) on Coursera, I completed all related Quest labs, and in parallel with both, I read the Official Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Study Guide by Dan Sullivan (a few times).
Complete the Architecting with Google Compute Engine Specialization on Coursera
Complete the exam relevant Quest Labs
Read the Official Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Study Guide
After completing all, I felt very confident before taking the exam. The study guide from Dan Sullivan includes exam-type questions at the end of each chapter. I used these questions as a metric to reread the related content for any questions I missed.
The Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer exam requires you to debug theoretical problems in realistic hands-on scenarios by thinking through the data flows, so having a complete understanding to assess best-case is vital! For me, it seemed as if each question was more difficult than the previous one. This isn’t entirely challenging, think of it as a staircase, each step prepares you for the next one.
Exam details you should be aware of -
There are 50 questions.
Some questions are not scored.
All questions are multiple-choice.
Some are multiple response questions. You need to select all the answers correctly in order to get the points for the question. If you are asked to choose 2 answers of 5, you need to select the two correct answers or you get 0 marks for the question.
There are no true or false questions.
Exam content can update at any time, so study hard and set a personal deadline for you to take the exam.
For more info, go to the Google Cloud Certification home.
You won’t receive your score after taking the exam, which is nerve-wrecking, especially in today’s environment where we expect an immediate response. BE PATIENT. I received my official “PASS” email from Google in less than a week.
Google has a directory of credential holders, Google Cloud Credential Holder Directory. I hope to see you listed there soon! Good Luck!
“I’m an engineer in Houston, TX. I specialize in information systems infrastructure, with a more intent focus on Infrastructure As A Service. Among various Technical credentials, I recently obtained the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification. My pursuit began in April 2019, when I accepted an invitation into the inaugural Google Future Leaders of Cloud cohort. The cohort inspired me to take a deeper dive into the Google Cloud Platform as a cloud computing solution. In addition, I’m pursuing a Master of Science in Computational Data Analytics to feed my curiousity in using data to predict.”
