Google Cloud Certified – Associate Cloud Engineer: Exam Guide [2019]

You might be using Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for a while, and now want to get your first certification from Google. If the Google Cloud Certified – Associate Cloud Engineer is going to be your first Cloud certification exam or you are not sure about the question patterns, then read this article where I discussed about the exam format, question pattern, and exam test center.

I’ve also shared useful tips from my personal experience on how to prepare for the Google Cloud Certified – Associate Cloud Engineer exam, which all topics to study and what all hands-on exercises to practice.

About the Exam

The details about the Google Cloud Certified – Associate Cloud Engineer exam can be found at the official certification page.

Prerequisites

The exam has no prerequisites. This exam objectively measures an individual’s ability to demonstrate the critical job skills to deploy applications, monitor operations, and manage enterprise solutions.

If you don’t have prior experience working with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), then you can follow these learning activities:

• Create your own GCP account (free) at https://cloud.google.com/free/. You get $300 credit for your usage over 12 months. For more details, do visit the link.

• Learn GCP online courses from different sites like Pluralsight, Linux Academy, Lynda, Coursera, A Cloud Guru etc. and make sure to do enough hands-on learning activities to gain the confidence. Qwiklabs is a great place for hands-on practices.

• Take the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer – Practice exam which familiarizes you with the types of questions you may encounter on the certification exam and help you determine your readiness or if you need more preparation and/or experience.

Taking the Exam

Following are the high-level details about the exam:

Length	120 minutes
No. of questions	50 (Multiple-choice, multiple-answer)
Cost	$ 125 USD

You get 2.4 minutes per question, however I recommend to target to spend 1 minute per question. If any question is taking longer time then mark that for review and proceed for the next question. This way you can cover all the questions first and later you can revisit the questions which you had not answered earlier. Also, you will have the opportunity to go back and change the answer of any question.

Pro-Tips

Question Format

There are two types of questions – i) single answer and ii) multiple answers.

In single answer type question, you choose one single answer from a list of say 4 answers. In the other type, you may have to choose say 2 answers from a list of say 5 answers.

Testing Center

You have to take this exam at a Kryterion testing center. These centers are located in most of the major cities. Check the nearest center in your locality and choose the time and date to book an exam.

You need 2 identity proofs – at least one with photo. You need to empty your pocket before entering into the room to take your exam. They will provide you locker where you can put your belongings e.g. wallet and lock it. You don’t get any pencil or paper for your rough work.

Once you enter the exam room, they will log you in into a PC and you need to check if your name and the test that you are taking mentioned on the screen are correct or not. Next you need to agree the Google Terms which essentially says you are not going to disclose the questions in the exam. Once you agree, your exam starts, timer begins, you get your first question and a clock on your screen starts showing how much time is left.

When you are done, you can submit all the answers. If not, then at the end of 120 minutes your answers are automatically submitted and it shows your results.

Question Breakdown

Questions will come from the following 5 sections:

1. Setting up a cloud solution environment
2. Planning and configuring a cloud solution
3. Deploying and implementing a cloud solution
4. Ensuring successful operation of a cloud solution
5. Configuring access and security

Study and Learning

An Associate Cloud Engineer deploys applications, monitors operations of multiple projects, and maintains enterprise solutions to ensure that they meet target performance metrics. This individual has experience working with public clouds and on-premises solutions. They are able to use Google Cloud Console and the command-line interface to perform common platform-based tasks to maintain one or more deployed solutions that leverage Google-managed or self-managed services on Google Cloud.

Google has clearly described all topics in the exam guide which you need to study and practice for the exam. Study each and every topics with hands-on practices to build solid confidence. You may not need deep knowledge of the different services, but a fair understanding and hands-on experience are required.

I highly recommend to read Google Cloud Documentation to make your concept clear. Refer Google Cloud SDK, specially gcloud and gsutil to learn their capabilities and usage.

Hands-on

I found the questions to be little tricky in terms of choosing the right answers from a list of similar options. As this is an associate level exam, they expect you to be have good hands-on experiences. The given answers will be very close to each other and it’s difficult to answer without good hands-on experiences.

For example – they might ask you to choose an answer from a list of commands with varying parameters or how to get into a specific screen most quickly on the GCP console. These are just to give you an idea that having hands-on is a must have skill for this exam.

After You Pass

There are few benefits which you get after you pass this certification exam.

Google Certificate

First of all, you receive a Congratulations: You are Google Cloud Certified email within 5 business days, however I got it in the next 2 days. There you find the digital certificate link which takes you to your badge like this:

Perks

You also get a voucher code using which you can order an item from Google Cloud Certification Perks Webstore:

Bottom Line

I’ve cleared multiple certifications (both associate and professional levels) on different Cloud technologies and realized that there is no short-cut to achieve that. The only things that are required to clear these exams are your knowledge and understanding the context. You will get scenario based as well as direct questions. You have to solve those puzzles and choose the correct answer(s) applying your knowledge and experience.

But if you prepare well and get your hands dirty as I mentioned above, you will succeed. All the best for your exam!

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Did you appear for the exam? Then please share your experience in the comments below.