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Daniel Rojas Ugalde
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I remember when I was starting to learn about the different Data Engineering certifications. There were so many options and I had not a good framework on how to choose. I was interested in those because they could get me closer to getting hired. Almost 5 years down the road this is what I’ve learned.
Choosing a certification
If you already have a job take one from the cloud provider that your company uses. If your company uses Google Cloud, I would take the Professional Data Engineer certification. That’s what they are using today and that will teach you what you need to work on data projects with them.
Now, if you do not have a job, what I would recommend is to start from the market share. Right now there are three big leaders AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
These might change from region to region. In Central America, Azure right now is the biggest player, and AWS is the second one. You can check in your region which is the dominant player, but globally right now is AWS. I would stay between one of those three.
There’s another dimension you can think about and it is the kind of companies that use each cloud. This is not a hard, fast rule. But AWS is used a lot by startups and Azure is used a lot by enterprise companies. You can think about what kind of company you’re looking to work with and that may affect your decision.
This is not like a life-changing decision. It’s not like if you take the AWS and that’s it, you’re an AWS person forever.
You can take the AWS certification, and if down the road, you need Azure It’s not going to be the same effort. It’s going to be easier.
You’ll notice that these cloud providers, have similar tools but with different names, and additional features. Each of them has an ETL, a data warehouse, and a data lake. They have different names. In Azure will be Data Factory, in AWS it will be Glue, and in GCP it will be called Data Flow. There will be nuances between them, but the general concept will be the same.
Don’t worry a lot about your decision. Just start with the one that looks like will take you wherever you want to work.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty
Professional Data Engineer | Google Cloud
How can you study?
Each provider has free learning paths that you can start with. I recommend additional courses, hands-on labs, and doing some practice tests.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate | Learning Path
AWS Digital Training
Data engineering and smart analytics | Google Cloud Learning Path
Acloudguru has great courses and their hands-on labs are highly recommended.
Microsoft Certified Azure Developer — Exam AZ-203 Prep
AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty
Google Cloud Certified Professional Data Engineer (LA)
In Udemy you can find very good courses where they explain the concepts and some of these also have practice tests. Those are highly recommended.
DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure + Practice Tests
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty 2022 — Hands On!
Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer: Get Certified 2022
Do not optimize for passing the test, you will get the certification but that’s not the only thing you want. You want to really learn these tools. Pair the learning, studying, and memorizing with actual hands-on experience. That way when you actually get hired and you start to do the job, you’ll be able to do it right.
In case you’re not familiar with cloud technologies at all, you can get a fundamentals certification. These are easier certifications and will get you familiar with the test mechanics.
Azure Fundamentals
AWS Cloud Practitioner
Google Cloud | Cloud Digital Leader
Cost?
The cost varies depending on the region, but I will say it goes from $100 to $300. Don’t freak out about the cost (yet). You can find vouchers that will allow you to take the exam for free.
Ideas on how to get vouchers:
The cloud providers have people that interact with the community and share knowledge. Make sure to follow Azure MVPs, AWS Community Builders, and Google Experts they might have free vouchers or they will post ways you can get them.
You can ask them. Send an email or reach out in the DMs.
Closing thoughts
Making a decision is always complex. We can’t foresee the future and we are not sure if we are making the right one. Even if you end up deciding on the “wrong” certification, you’ll learn a lot. It will also set the foundation to learn a different one in the future.
If you liked this article and are interested in getting hired as a Data Engineer, I created this course that can help you.
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