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Guide to Preparing for the Professional Cloud Architect Certification
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Posted on 12-06-2022 01:36 PM and filed in cloud-community-blog
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Lauren_vdv 
Community Manager

As cloud adoption continues to grow, so does the need for skilled professionals who can help organizations take advantage of what the cloud has
to offer.

By earning the Professional Cloud Architect certification, you can demonstrate your skills and distinguish yourself among your peers with your
ability to design, develop, and manage robust, secure, scalable, highly available, and dynamic solutions to drive business objectives.

To help prepare for the exam, Google Cloud recently held a live session covering:

Why become a certified Professional Cloud Architect?

Resources and recommendations to support your path to exam readiness

Tips from a Google Cloud certified Professional Cloud Architect

Live Q&A
In this post, we’ll provide an overview of the session, including key takeaways, links to supporting resources, and written answers to your questions
so  Cloud Architect Certification exam feeling prepared and ready to pass!
you can go into the Professional

For
Homeany additional questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and someone from the Community or Google Cloud team will be happy to
help.
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Why become a certified Professional Cloud Architect?
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Groups Who should take the Professional Cloud Architect Certification exam?

Information about the exam

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Recommended steps and resources to prepare for the Professional Cloud Architect Certification exam
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Why become a certified Professional Cloud Architect?
For the fourth year in a row, Google Cloud certifications rank among the highest paid IT certifications in the industry, with the Professional Cloud
Architect Certification in particular, being in the top three in 2022. So if you need one reason, it’s that you’ll get paid.

Certifications are also helpful when it comes to promotions, raises, career changes, and overall confidence in cloud skills and your professional
future. According to the Google Cloud Certification impact report, 85% of Google Cloud certified individuals reported feeling more confident in their
cloud skills, while 78% reported feeling more confident in their professional future.

Furthermore, more than one in four Google Cloud certified individuals took on more responsibilities or leadership roles, while almost one in five
received a raise.

Additional benefits to earning your certification include:

Exclusive Google Cloud Certified merchandise and digital toolkit

Network and exchange ideas in the Google Cloud Certified Community

Special recognition at select events

Opportunity to join the Google Cloud Certified Directory

Check this out: Why IT leaders choose Google Cloud certification for their teams

Who should take the Professional Cloud Architect Certification exam?

Google Cloud offers a range of certifications, with each one suited for different job functions, roles, and requirements. So who is a good candidate
for the Professional Cloud Architect certification?

The recommended candidate includes experienced technical professionals who design, plan, optimize and ensure reliability of cloud solutions.
These individuals have hands-on experience with deployment and configuration of solutions.

It’s recommended you have 3+ years of industry experience, including 1+ years designing and managing solutions using Google Cloud.

With the Google Cloud Credential Holder Directory, you can see thousands of Professional Cloud Architect certification holders and which job roles
they have today.
Information
 about
 the exam
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Here are details about the Professional Cloud Architect Certification exam format, delivery options, renewal requirements, and more:

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Length: 2 hours 
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Registration fee: $200 (plus tax where applicable)

Languages: English, Japanese

Learning & Certification Hub

Format: 50-60 multiple choice and multiple select questions
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the online-proctored exam from a remote location or b) Take the onsite-proctored exam at a testing center
Exam delivery methods: a) Take
Community

ResourcesThe exam includes 2 case studies that describe fictitious business and solution concepts. Case study questions make up 20-
Case studies:
30% of the exam and assess your ability to apply your knowledge to a realistic business situation. You can view the case studies on a split
Cloudscreen
Events during the exam. See the Exam Guide for the 4 available case studies.

Certification Renewal / Recertification: Candidates must recertify in order to maintain their certification status. Unless explicitly stated in the
detailed exam descriptions, all Google Cloud certifications are valid for two years from the date of certification. Recertification is
accomplished by retaking the exam during the recertification eligibility time period and achieving a passing score. You may attempt
recertification starting 60 days prior to your certification expiration date.

Recommended steps and resources to prepare for the Professional Cloud

Architect Certification exam
1. Set your exam date well in advance and reverse plan your study/preparation time leading up to the date. Generally, people study incrementally
over a few months, but if you’re new or already experienced with Google Cloud, more or less time may be required.

2. Register and select the option to take the exam remotely or at a nearby testing center. Review testing requirements and FAQs here to make sure
you have everything you need to take the exam.

3. Complete the Professional Cloud Architect Learning Path (at no cost for 30 days for new users), including the hands-on labs, quests, and
courses. It’s not a requirement to go through each step in the Learning Path before you take the exam, but the more you know, the better prepared
you’ll be!

The following image outlines the Learning Path to prepare for the Professional Cloud Architect Certification. Get started here!

As you complete each step along the Learning Path, you’ll earn Completion Badges and Skill Badges, and then eventually, your Certification. These
are all tangible validations of your skills that you can share on your LinkedIn profile, resume, with potential employers, and more.
 Completion badges: Rewards learner for engagement and completion of learning activities (e.g. courses. quests)
learner’s knowledge and hands-on skills with Google Cloud, demonstrated by completing a series of hands-on labs
 Skill badges: Recognizes
and taking a final assessment challenge lab.
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Certifications: Validates an individual’s understanding of Google Cloud technologies by passing a proctored exam.
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The first course you’ll see on the Professional Cloud Architect Learning Path is the Preparing for your Professional Cloud Architect Journey Course.
This course (available at no cost on Google Cloud Skills Boost) touches on each section of the Exam Guide and will ask diagnostic questions to
help you identify gaps in your knowledge and where you may need to focus more or less.

From there, you can use the provided workbook to devise a study strategy, identify weekly goals, and keep track of study materials. It’s definitely
recommended you start with this course to optimize your studying and preparation.

4. Review the sample questions to familiarize yourself with the format of the exam questions and example content that may be covered on the
exam. Test your knowledge with the sample questions, identify those that you got wrong, and review those topics again.

5. Take and pass the exam! Share your new certification with the Google Cloud Community in the Learning & Certification Hub, on social media,
and even on your fridge

NEW: Google Cloud Skills Boost + Innovators Plus

The Google Cloud Skills Boost annual subscription is now enhanced with Innovators Plus developer benefits. Choose your learning path and build
your cloud skills with the support of the Google Cloud Innovators community behind you, now available for $299 USD/year* - a 14% discount from
standard subscription rates. Benefits include:

Access to over 700 hands-on labs, skill badges, and courses

$500 Google Cloud credits

A Google Cloud certification voucher

Bonus $500 Google Cloud credits after the first certification earned each year

Live learning events led by Google Cloud experts

Quarterly technical briefings hosted by Google Cloud executives

*Benefit redemption subject to limitations

Cloud Architect Certification resource roundup

Pro tip Bookmark this page so you can refer back to these resources at your convenience.

Professional Cloud Architect resource page

 Professional Cloud Architect Learning Path
 subscription options
 Google Cloud Skills Boost
HomeGoogle Cloud Community Learning & Certification Hub
Cloud Certification help center and FAQs
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 FAQs
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 refreshed? I’m asking because I’m curious if recently-released products or features will be included on
1. How often are the exam questions
the exam.
Community Resources

CloudThe material is refreshed yearly and the question bank is always evolving, so you’ll see a variety of questions over time.
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2. Do we need to pass the Associate Cloud Engineer exam beforehand?

Not necessary, but it can be helpful.

3. Where can I find credits, discounts, vouchers, or no-cost options to take the Professional Cloud Architect Certification for free?

Learn all about vouchers and discounts here.

4. What happens if you don't pass a certification exam? How many times can I retake the exam?

If you don't pass an exam, you can take it again after 14 days. If you don't pass the second time, you must wait 60 days before you can take it
a third time. If you don't pass the third time, you must wait 365 days before taking it again.

All attempts, regardless of exam language and delivery method (onsite or online testing), count toward the total permissible attempts, and
the waiting period between attempts still applies. Circumventing this retake policy by registering under a different name or any other means
is a violation of our Exam Terms and Conditions and will result in a denied or revoked certification.

Payment is required each time you register for an exam. Learn more about the retake policy here.

Also note that the questions will be different each time you take the exam.

5. I’ve taken the training courses in Coursera. Do I need to retake it in Google Cloud Skills Boost? Why doesn’t Coursera offer skill badges?

The course content and individual lab content is the same on Coursera, but skill badges are only available on Google Cloud Skills Boost. A
skill badge is earned by completing a series of hands-on labs and taking a final assessment challenge lab to test a learner’s skills, through
the Google Cloud Skills Boost learning platform.

6. Is the exam (in-person or online) open book? As in, can I use study notes or access resources online during the exam?

Both the in-person and online exam are “closed book,” meaning you are not able to have any resources or digital devices with you or to
search/access anything online other than the exam itself. See all Testing requirements for proctored exams here.

See additional FAQs and answers in the Help Center here.

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Lauren_vdv
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4 Comments
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12-30-2022 12:56 AM
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kim_nilsson
Cloud Events
Participant V

Wow, what a fantastic article, @Lauren_vdv! Thanks.

Are there similar articles about all/most certificates?

 3 Likes


12-30-2022 08:20 AM
Lauren_vdv
Community Manager

Thanks @kim_nilsson ! We're working on it - more to come in 2023, but for now, we also have a guide to the Professional Google
Workspace Administrator Certification here.

Any certifications you think would be best to focus on first?

Thank you!

 3 Likes


yesterday
prl07
Explorer

Hi @Lauren_vdv - Thanks for the detailed post. Really helpful!

In the upcoming GCP Professional Architect syllabus updates/changes can we expect case studies to get fully removed from the
exam similar to the Professional Data Engineer certification?

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