My Journey to becoming a Google Cloud Certified — Professional Cloud Architect 2021
By: Adarsh Prabhu
Tags: Gcp, AWS, Gcp Certification, Professional Cloud Exams, Google Cloud Platform

My Journey to becoming a Google Cloud Certified — Professional Cloud Architect 2021 Adarsh Prabhu Jul 30·5 min read

Background

25th July, 2021… Finally!!! I am Google Cloud Certified — Professional Cloud Architect. Almost two months ago I decided that I should get certified. It was also a job requirement as I had joined a Google Cloud partner in India around the same time. The certification would be a “win-win”.

I had never worked on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) when I started at my current job. But I had worked on AWS and also successfully given my AWS Certified Cloud Architect — Associate last year. AWS and GCP have very similar service offerings, so it gave me a head start to prepare for the exam.

So here is my journey to becoming a Professional Cloud Architect. I hope this helps anyone who wants the same things in work life as me.

The Journey

Google recommends 3+ years of industry experience including 1+ years designing and managing solutions using GCP. But I think my experience with AWS and the confidence of clearing a certification last year convinced me that I can ignore Google’s recommendation :smirk:

I completely underestimated Google Cloud Certified — Professional Architect exam. This was the most difficult exam that I had given. I had the same feeling when I was preparing for AWS certification. But half way through GCP prep I realized that this was going to be much more harder.

How did I prepare

I started with a visit to the Google Certification page. Exam guide gives you a blue print for the exam. At that moment I realized I knew zilch and that I am going to have some sleepless nights and busy weekends ahead.

Next, I went to Google and started researching on the courses that I can subscribe to cover the topics in the exam guide.

I started with a course on Udemy that had good ratings and decent feedback. Halfway through the course I realized it was not as good. I still completed it as I got to know the basics of all the services. But then I remembered what helped me for AWS certification — The JayendraPatil blog. To my luck, he also had a section on Google Cloud certifications.

The courses

The courses from Linux academy and Coursera were suggested by Jayendra Patil. These were also the courses recommended by few others who cleared the exams. So I had to select one of them and I went for Coursera. These are paid courses, but from my years of learning online I have realized that free is not always good when it comes to knowledge. So I went ahead and subscribed to Coursera.

Coursera also provides an option to “audit the course” that lets you go through the videos but restricts access to labs and tests. Working with a Google cloud partner gave me some additional access to partner portals and courses with Quicklabs.

Practice makes a man perfect

I knew that completing the courses and labs will only take me halfway there. I had to prepare myself with some practice tests. Google does provide a 20 question practice test, but that may not be enough. As I did for my AWS certification and also suggested by Jayendra Patil, I went for Braincert. This was my best decision. The $30 spent on the 6 practice tests was something that helped me cross the border.

No course can prepare you as best as a practice test. I scored less than 70 in the first 4 tests and with only 2 more left I had to do something. Though my scores were improving, I knew that I won’t pass the exam unless I start scoring close to 90%.

Two weeks before the exam I was up for a shock. I felt foolish not to realize that Google had updated the certification from May 2021. This meant that the Udemy and Coursera courses were not upto date. The Practice tests were also in the old format. Case studies which form a big part of the GCP certification were either replaced or updated.

The Exam

I had booked my exam for 20th July. With less than 10 days to the exam there was no way I could cover all the new topics without any help or information out there. I thought I will give my first attempt and then give my second one 15 days later. This way I would know the kind of questions that were being asked and give me enough time to prepare for the new topics.

Fate was on my side. I only had the option for remote proctored exam because of the Covid-19 lockdown. 2 hours after my scheduled start of the exam I came out of my room without even attempting a single question. I wasn’t admitted into the exam as my photo biometric did not succeed. I reached out to proctor support and they asked me to either try on a new laptop or reschedule or wait for a proctor center to open. I wasn’t ready because I had prepared so much and just wanted to get over with it. Finally I had to give up and reschedule it to 25th July.

Practice makes a man perfect — 2

After rescheduling, I went out for coffee with my wife. I was not happy, but I was not sad either. I knew it deep down that I wouldn’t have made it.

Next day there was a nice surprise in my inbox. Braincert sent me an email that they have included a new Practice test — IN THE NEW EXAM FORMAT and covering the new topics. That was all I needed. The exam was 3 days later, so with the new practice test and some more last minute revision I was ready for 25th July.

Day “zero”

First 13 questions were on the case studies, which I breezed through (because I didn’t understand what to answer). Next 37 questions also were a breeze. This time it was because of the topics covered in the new practice test. I did fail the practice test, but going through the topics did help a lot. I think I should send them a thank you note.

Destination

I am a Google Cloud Certified — Professional Cloud Architect.. Yayyyy!!

As the name suggests, the exam certifies that you are a Professional Cloud Architect. What makes this exam tough compared to others? It doesn’t just test your knowledge of Google’s cloud services. It also tests your reasoning skills and sets you on a path to become a true Cloud Architect. Today I have a better understanding of Google Cloud offerings and confidence that I am an even better Cloud Architect than before.

PS: I will share some details on my (frustrating) experience on the 20th of July and the first hour the exam on 25th July.