The Cloud Essentials+ certification is a valuable addition to your IT skills and knowledge, and passing it requires careful preparation and dedication. However, there are few online resources available for this exam, so I have compiled some notes to help you.
What is this certification about?
For a detailed description of the certification and its objectives, I recommend visiting the CompTIA website.
In short, the Cloud Essentials+ certification covers a wide range of topics related to cloud computing, including
Foundational Principles
Planning
Compliance
Storage, Network and Compute Infrastructure
Applications and Big Data
Security and Risk
DevOps
The exam consists of 75 questions, and you have 60 minutes to complete it (less than a minute per each). Therefore, you need to have a solid understanding of the topics and be able to answer questions quickly and accurately. They will range from standard scenario-based ones (e.g., “A DevOps Engineer needs to achieve this. What would be the best service to cover this requirement?”) to ones of a more general nature (e.g., “What does this term refer to?”).
If you are familiar with cloud computing and have obtained other cloud certifications, such as AWS Cloud Practitioner, the AZ-900 or the Google Cloud Digital Leader, you may find the Cloud Essentials+ certification easier. However, don’t underestimate the exam, as CompTIA has a way of asking questions that can be misleading or confusing.
My Background
I’ve been working as a Junior Full Stack Developer for almost a year, after completing a Tech Bootcamp for career changers. I interact with AWS daily and I obtained my AWS Cloud Practitioner certification about a year ago. Hence, many foundational Cloud concepts were not completely new.
Learning Materials
I mainly used:
McGraw Hill Study Guide, which I bought second-hand from eBay at a cheaper price. The study guide covers all the topics and concepts you need to know clearly and concisely. It also comes with online practice tests and questions that you can use to prepare for the exam.
I also used additional practice exams from ExamPro.co, but I found some issues with their tests. The package comes with only three tests, and when I first tried using them, they were completely broken. I had to contact their support team to fix them, and even then, some questions were marked incorrectly. While the ExamPro courses for AWS, Azure, and Google certifications are useful, their Cloud Essentials+ practice tests may not be necessary to pass the exam.
The Exam
The exam can only be taken via Pearson VUE, either remotely or at an authorised test centre. I chose to take it at the test centre and had a positive experience. The environment was clean and quiet.
The exam itself felt harder than the practice tests — this is not because of a difference in topics covered, but rather because CompTIA has a way of asking questions that’s very good at misleading or confusing you. I felt some questions were sorely missing the additional context required to understand what they were asking.
In the end, I passed, although not by a great margin — a pass is a pass!
My strategy for the exam was as follows:
Quickly go through all the questions, answering the easier ones first and flagging all the others.
Do a second round going through the flagged questions. Eliminate wrong answers and pick the most likely correct one. Do not unflag the questions.
Do a third round reviewing answers to questions from the second round. This time, unflag them after reviewing them.
Do a final review round for all the questions in whatever time you have left.
Although this strategy may seem time-consuming, it can help you answer all the questions within the allotted time. I ended with ten minutes left, which I used to review a couple of questions I just wasn’t sure about.
Once you submit your answers, you are immediately told whether you passed or not and provided with a test score report. The actual badge is awarded to you within 3–5 business days, but I got mine within 24 hours during a weekend.
Conclusion
In conclusion, passing the Cloud Essentials+ certification requires diligent preparation and careful attention to the wording of questions and possible answers. Don’t underestimate the exam, but with dedication and practice, you can succeed. Obtaining this certification can help you build your credentials and advance your IT career.