HashiConf Digital: HashiCorp Certifications Panel

As the Product Certification Manager at HashiCorp, I was so thrilled to see how much enthusiasm the audience at the Certification Panel had for our work! We are honored by your excitement and we hope all the effort we've put into the HashiCorp Cloud Engineer Certification program that was launched in April helps you learn more about our products, while also growing your career.

If you missed the Certification Panel during HashiConf Digital in June, you can watch the video here. There were many excellent questions brought up, that were a bit beyond our wonderful HashiCorp Ambassadors' visibility, so I thought I'd write a post to answer some of your biggest questions. I've also included some highlights from the panel and additional study resources.

»The Value of Certifications

Panelists and HashiCorp Ambassadors, Bryan Krausen, and Ned Bellavance started off talking about how technical certifications can be a way to prove your knowledge about a technology. This is the most important goal of the HashiCorp Cloud Engineer Certification program. We have set out to provide a baseline of what someone should know to be successful using Terraform, Vault, and other HashiCorp products.

Ned also brought up a secondary value that isn’t talked about as much; technical certifications can serve as a structured pathway to learning a new technology. What better way to learn a technology than to follow the associate-level certification objectives? Our exam objectives are made up of curated objectives that subject matter experts inside and outside of HashiCorp have agreed are the most critical.

»Available Exams, Formats, and Prices

As of today, the Terraform Associate and Vault Associate exams are generally available, and the Consul Associate exam is in beta. HashiCorp’s Associate level exams are all one hour long, predominantly multiple-choice tests that are taken online with a proctor. The question types in our Associate level exams include multiple-choice, true/false, multiple correct answers, hot spot, and text matching. Hot spot questions test your knowledge of the UI. Text matching questions are the type that Bryan spoke about during the panel, where he had to type the correct command to use based on the scenario presented.

To further familiarize yourself with the question types and see samples of each type per exam, visit the example questions for the Terraform Associate, Vault Associate, and Consul Associate exams on the HashiCorp Learn platform. As we release more advanced exams you will see their content including less multiple-choice and more “performance-based” question types.

If you have never taken an online proctored exam, the experience can be a little hard to picture. Instead of going to a test center, you take the exam remotely. We chose this modality so that the exams would be accessible in most locations/time zones, and so that people could take exams with fewer disruptions to their schedule and responsibilities. You do need to be alone in a quiet room with good internet access. The only device present should be the computer you are taking the exam on. That means no phones, no other computers, no second monitors. A person called a proctor uses videoconferencing to greet you at the beginning of your exam appointment, establishes your identity with your government ID, and watches you take your exam. The proctor is responsible for ensuring that exam procedures are followed and that exam-takers aren't capturing exam content, or receiving assistance (in-person, audio, or digital) during the exam.

HashiCorp’s Associate exams are priced at $70.50 USD per attempt. We have deliberately not baked a “free retake” into the price, but have instead priced the exam as low as we could so that as many people as possible would be able to take it. You can expect future advanced exams to have a different price.

»Future Exam Roadmap

The Consul Associate exam is currently in beta and will be released next. During the panel, there were a few questions about a Nomad Associate exam and the panelists speculated that it would be coming next. I regret to inform you that Nomad Associate is not the next exam HashiCorp will be working on. It is on the roadmap, but has not begun production. Instead we are working on some more advanced exams first. Head over to hashicorp.com/certification and enter your email address in the “Stay Informed” box to be the first to know about future exams and other certification announcements.

»Preparing for Exams

It is important to echo what Ned said during the panel; there is no substitute for keyboard time! If you are preparing yourself for an Associate level HashiCorp exam here is what I suggest:

1. Familiarize yourself with the exam objectives. They can be found from hashicorp.com/certification and then use the top or bottom navigation to get to the exam of your choice.

2. Use one or several of the training materials listed below.

3. Try it out. Use the technology in a way that is as close to production experience as possible.

4. Visit the official review guide to revisit any objectives you are still unsure about.

5. Terraform Associate Review Guide

6. Vault Associate Review Guide

7. Consul Associate Review Guide

After their exam, we ask what study resources exam-takers used to prepare for their tests. While HashiCorp does not officially endorse any externally created materials—below are some of the resources most often cited by your fellow community members. Panelists Bryan and Ned are both HashiCorp Ambassadors partly because of the training materials they have created for HashiCorp products. Therefore you will notice both their names listed!

»Terraform Associate

• Official Study materials and sample questions on Learn.hashicorp.com
• Official Terraform product documentation
• Practice exams on Udemy including:
  • HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate Practice Exam 2020 by Bryan Krausen
• Video training on Udemy including:
  • HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate 2020 by Zeal Vora
  • HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate Prep Course 2020 by TJ Adams
• HashiCorp Terraform Certified Associate Preparation Guide by Ned Bellavance and Adin Ermie
• Terraform training on LinuxAcademy
• Book Terraform: Up and Running by Yevgeniy Brikman

»Vault Associate

• Official Study materials and sample questions on Learn.hashicorp.com
• Official Vault product documentation
• Katacoda interactive scenarios created by HashiCorp
• Practice exams on Udemy including:
  • HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Practice Exam - 2020 by Bryan Krausen
• Video training on Udemy including:
  • HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate 2020 by Zeal Vora

»Consul Associate

Since the exam beta has just begun, I have not yet captured what people are using to study. But, you can find the official review guide and sample questions on the HashiCorp Learn platform.

»Watch the Panel Recording

You can watch the recording of the certification panel below. And if you want more information on our certification program or the exams we offer head to hashicorp.com/certification.

Full transcript available here