Google Cloud Engineer

All about Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Exam

If you’re looking to make a career in cloud engineering, then look no further – the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer certification is exactly what you need!

You can use this blog post as the well defined preparation guide for the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Certification Exam.

So, let’s get started.

Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Exam

Google Cloud Certifications

As cloud technology is becoming more popular and all the applications are moving to the cloud platforms, the urge to seek a career in this field is quite demanding. Google entered this sector back in 2012 and is today one of the most popular cloud platforms. With this demand, Google Cloud Certifications came into play to help the aspirants enjoy fruitful careers.

There are 10 Google Cloud Certifications available in the market. These certifications are classified into three categories:

  1. Foundation – Beginner
  2. Associate – Intermediate
  3. Professional – Advanced

Google Cloud Certifications

Google Cloud certifications are very popular among cloud professionals. Many aspirants do not have necessary guidance for google cloud associate cloud engineer certification preparation. The following discussion would provide essential details on approaches to obtain google associate cloud engineer certification.

Who is a Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer?

A google cloud associate cloud engineer is a professional who is responsible for deploying and monitoring applications, maintaining the cloud infrastructure, and managing the platforms and solutions for enterprises.

In addition, an associate cloud engineer is responsible for various technical responsibilities like brainstorming designs through creative solutions, maintaining security and compatibility across different platforms, and measuring performance.

What is the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification?

Cloud applications make use of multiple GCP services. Customers can run their applications, data workflows, virtual machines, and the entire infrastructure.

So, it is crucial to design, structure, and build it effectively so that when customers go into production with their services or use it to run their company, they have the right personnel behind it.

The Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer exam assesses your ability to design and implement a successful cloud solution.

Learning Objectives of the exam:

  • Set up a cloud solution environment
  • Plan and configure a cloud solution
  • Deploy and implement a cloud solution
  • Ensure successful operation of a cloud solution
  • Configure access and security

Also Learn: Preparation Guide for Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer

Why should you get Google Cloud certified?

Organizations are increasingly leaning towards the cloud. Statistics show that at the end of 2021, 67% of all enterprise infrastructure was cloud-based, and the Google Cloud market share was 9% worldwide. It proves that Cloud computing is the future of enterprise IT.

GCP Key Findings
Reference: Google Cloud Certification Impact report

It implies that cloud computing must now evolve as a core competency for all IT organizations. No longer can cloud computing be dismissed as an option. IT organizations must now be geared towards creating and managing cloud-based applications. It means finding technologically skilled personnel who can meet their organization’s goals.

And this is where a certified professional comes into the picture. There is high demand for certified Google Cloud Engineers as they help organizations leverage their technologies. The certification provides a comprehensive understanding of the Google Cloud console and maintaining deployed solutions on the cloud.

It demonstrates your ability to implement secure solutions, which proves your competence in handling this technology. And this ultimately validates your skills, giving you a competitive edge in the market.

When prospects see your certification, they know that you have the skills they need. So, a GCP certification proves your competency and can help you advance your career and make you feel confident in your cloud skills while making your resume look more attractive to potential recruiters.

Advantages of being certified

Once you become Google Cloud certified, you will have access to the following benefits:

  • The digital badge and certificate you will receive upon completing the exam will showcase your achievements. You can share it through your email signature, social profiles, or resume.
  • You can validate your achievement in the Google Cloud Certified Directory, which is publicly accessible.
  • You may network and exchange ideas with other certified individuals through the Google Cloud Learning and Certification Hub’s elite Cloud Certified Group.
  • You get access to global events hosted by Google Cloud, both virtual and in-person.

Prerequisites for the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer certification

If you have just started your learning path on GCP, the Associate Cloud Engineer certification is the one for you. There are no prerequisites to undertake the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer certification per se.

A basic understanding of Google Cloud Platform products and services, virtual machines, containers, and networking helps. Google recommends industry experience of 6+ months with Google Cloud to partake in this certification.

What will you learn in Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer?

Through these courses, you will learn the following skills:

Associate Cloud Engineer Certification

Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer exam is intended for the Google Cloud Engineers who are expertise to deploy applications, monitor operations, and manage enterprise solutions. Associate Cloud Engineers can use Google Cloud Console and the command line interface to perform various tasks to maintain one or more deployed solutions on the Google Cloud platform.

The Associate Cloud Engineer exam checks one’s expertise to:

  • Set up a cloud solution environment
  • Plan and configure a cloud solution
  • Deploy and implement a cloud solution
  • Ensure the successful operation of a cloud solution
  • Configure access and security

The certification is ideal for learning more about maintaining one or more solutions deployed on Google Cloud. You can also gain credibility as a Google associate cloud engineer with a certification in your credentials. Most important of all, you can deal with solutions using self-managed or Google-managed services on Google Cloud.

Google Associate Cloud Engineer Exam Details

Here is a quick insight into the basic exam details such as the number of questions, duration of the exam, registration fee, exam format etc.

GCP Certified Associate Engineer Certification Exam Details

There are no prerequisites to appear for this certification exam. But you are recommended to possess at least six months of hands-on experience with the operations of Google Cloud. Along with that, it is better to have a brief understanding of the concepts such as containers, networking, and virtual machines.

Preparation for the Google Associate Cloud Engineer Exam

No doubt, when we discuss the preparation of an exam, the main thing is what should I study, and what are the important topics. But before sharing the important topics for the preparation of Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer exam, I’d like to answer a few questions that may be hovering into your mind.

How many hours did I spend on the exam preparation?

So, I’m a working professional and couldn’t spend many hours on the preparation. So, as per my schedule, I decided to give 2-3 hours every day for 2 months to the exam preparation. You can decide as per your schedule and your prior knowledge.

Study materials and resources for Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer

Google Cloud also offers questions, study guides, tutorials, webinars, best practices, tutorials, and more to learn how to build multiple deployment approaches, clusters, and hands-on labs that will put your cloud knowledge to the test.

The labs are designed to give professionals hands-on experience with topics and services that appear in the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Certification.

Try these Google Cloud ASSOCIATE CLOUD ENGINEER exam questions

These additional resources will have specific prerequisites and objectives. After completing each learning path stage, you will discover the following steps to continue your cloud learning journey.

Step-By-Step Preparation Guide for Clearing Google Associate Cloud Engineer Certification Exam

As you have now understood the areas of focus, it is time for you to put the pedal on the accelerator and commence with the preparation. Moreover, for that, you need a proper guide and schedule. Therefore, here is a step-by-step preparation guide for you to correct your study approach for this certification exam.

Step 1: Gain Experience on Google Cloud

Even though there are no prerequisites for the Google Associate Cloud Engineer examination, it is advisable to practice Google Cloud services and products. Google Cloud is offering a GCP free tier to let you learn how to build solutions on different cloud products.

There are monthly limits to it, but it is quite productive to give you hands-on experience with cloud products. Take up the free tier, and you will eventually be preparing yourself for the Google ACE examination. You can also use Whizlabs free hands-on labs to practice Google Cloud.

Step 2: Take Appropriate Training to Master the Fundamentals

The second step is to purchase a good training materials to prepare for the associate engineer certification exam. The ideal preparation materials are:

  1. Video Course
  2. Hands-on Labs
  3. Practice Exam Questions

Whizlabs provides all the above materials created by the Google Cloud Certified Experts.

Step 3: Master the Practice Exam Questions

You need to practice the sample questions thoroughly to check the level of your preparation. The sample questions will be in exam format, and it will prepare you to face the difficult level in the main examination. The exam simulators helps you to gain more confidence to take the real exam.

Step 5: Last Minute Revision

Once you have followed all the previous steps, now you are ready to appear for the Google Cloud Certified Associate Engineer Certification exam. On the exam day, you have to revise the important points or notes you have taken while preparing for this certification exam.

Associate cloud engineer

All about Google Associate Cloud Engineer’s Learning Path

Here is the Cloud Engineer’s learning path:

Preparing for Your Associate Cloud Engineer Journey

  • Setting Up a Cloud Solution Environment
  • Planning and Configuring a Cloud Solution
  • Deploying and Implementing a Cloud Solution
  • Ensuring Successful Operation of a Cloud Solution
  • Configuring Access and Security

Google Cloud Fundamentals: Core Infrastructure

  • Introducing Google Cloud
  • Resources and Access in the Cloud
  • Virtual Machines and Networks in the Cloud
  • Storage in the Cloud
  • Containers in the Cloud
  • Applications in the Cloud
  • Developing and Deploying in the Cloud
  • Logging and Monitoring in the Cloud

Architecting with Google Compute Engine

  • Interacting with Google Cloud
  • Virtual Networks
  • Virtual Machines

Getting Started with Google Kubernetes Engine

  • Introduction to Google Cloud
  • Introduction to Containers and Kubernetes
  • Kubernetes Architecture
  • Introduction to Kubernetes Workloads

Logging, Monitoring, and Observability in Google Cloud

  • Introduction to Monitoring in Google Cloud
  • Avoiding Customer Pain
  • Alerting Policies
  • Monitoring Critical Systems
  • Configuring Google Cloud Services for Observability
  • Advanced Logging and Analysis
  • Monitoring Network Security and Audit Logs
  • Managing Incidents
  • Investigating Application Performance Issues
  • Optimizing the Costs of Monitoring

Terraform for Google Cloud: How to Get Started

This day-long quest introduces Terraform usage for Google Cloud. It allows learners to define how Terraform can be used to execute the cloud infrastructure and to apply some of its key elements and functionalities to create and manage Google Cloud. With Terraform, students will build Cloud resources hands-on.

Cloud resource creation and management

This 5-hour introductory quest teaches you to write Google cloud commands, run containerized applications on Google Kubernetes Engine, create and deploy virtual machines in Compute Engine, use Cloud Shell, and configure network and HTTP load balancers.

Utilize Google Cloud for foundational infrastructure tasks

This 4-hour introductory quest allows you to learn to determine and access Cloud Functions and Management, Pub/Sub, and to build and merge storage-centric cloud infrastructure through the basic capabilities of Cloud Storage.

Google Cloud Cloud Environment Setup and Configuration

This is an advanced 6-hour quest that teaches you numerous ways to observe applications before deploying them. You will explore IAM roles and how to add or dismiss project access, deploy and monitor Compute Engine Virtual Machines, deploy and monitor VMs in Compute Engine, create VPC networks, deploy applications using Kubernetes via multiple deployment techniques, and write SQL queries.

A Terraform-based approach to automating infrastructure on Google Cloud

This 6-hour fundamental quest teaches you how to write infrastructure as code with Terraform. You will get hands-on experience building, changing, and destroying infrastructure, managing local and remote states, importing infrastructure, and building your modules.

Webinar

Once you complete the path, you can tune into a webinar that provides tips and tricks from certified experts to help you prepare for the exam. You will gain valuable insight into how to transform businesses using cloud technology.

Check for exam readiness

Complete the “Preparing for the Associate Cloud Engineer Examination” course and do a personal check to ensure you are exam ready.

Practice Questions 

Review example content that may be covered on the Associate Cloud Engineer exam to familiarize yourself with the format of exam questions.

Schedule

Then you can register and schedule your exam.

Win

Once certified, you can use the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification to advance your professional journey. The certificate is valid for two years from the certification date, after which recertification will be required.

Salary of Google Associate Cloud Engineer

 Let us find out what’s the expected google associate cloud engineer salary. The salary can act as a motivating force for candidates.

Who doesn’t want a high-paying job? As per Zip Recruiter’s salary report, the average Google associate cloud engineer salary estimate is $127,890 per annum. The salary estimate varies between $68,500 and $173,000.

Are you Ready to Take the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Exam? 

After completion of your preparation for Google Associate Cloud Engineer exam, take a deep breath, my friend! You are just one step away from becoming a Google Certified Cloud Engineer.

Now, Ask your self a few questions — “Am I ready to take the GCP official exam? Is it the correct time?” This is really important to understand your preparation level. But the big question is “Where to test my preparation level”

The analysis is more important!

Once you are prepared, it’s time to introspect yourself and identify your strong and weak areas.

For now, you can try Google Cloud Engineer Practice Exam by Whizlabs.

If you are not able to score well in the practice exams, put extra time on your weak areas and make yourself confident. That’s it, guys. You are ready for the exam. 

All The Best….!!

Summary

Generally, becoming a Google cloud engineer is the best way to gain expertise and excel in your cloud career. Cloud adoption becomes easy with skilled and certified personnel. With its ability to transform businesses, cloud computing has become a sought-after skill. Therefore, one can expect a surge in cloud computing training and certifications.

You can prepare for associate cloud engineer certification with hands-on labs and Google cloud sandbox. Real-time learning on Google Cloud helps you to learn more about the core concepts of the GCP associate cloud engineer certification exam.

About Girdharee Saran

Girdharee Saran has a glorious 13 years of experience transforming the way e-learning and SaaS start-ups approach digital marketing for their organisations. He has successfully chartered tangible results, which have proven beneficial. Working in the spaces of content marketing and SEO for a considerable amount of time, he is well conversant in his art. Having taken a deep interest in content and growth marketing, his urge to learn more is perpetual. His current role at Whizlabs as VP Marketing is about but not limited to driving SEO, conversion optimisation, marketing automation, link building and strategising result driven content.

6 thoughts on “All about Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer Exam”

  1. Karen Tamrazyan

    Thanks, Srinivas! Very interesting overview of the Associate Cloud Engineer exam. Also, congratulations for passing the exam! I’m planning to complete this exam as well later this year.

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