A few months ago Polontech team became Atlassian Certified. We’d like to share your experience and help those who is planning to pass these exams. If you are also in a need of Atlassian trainings, please contact us.
Atlassian Certification Process
If you have a look at Atlassian website the Atlassian Certification process might seem quite simple. There are 3 steps you need to take. But is it really that easy?
Step 1 – Preparation.
The exams aren’t for newbies. For most of the exams you need to have 2-3 years of experience in the related sphere. This will ensure you are comfortable navigating the different menus, resolving bugs and running JQL.
After choosing the exam you’d like to take you should download the Exam Topics in order to evaluate your readiness. Critically analyze your proficiency across all the topics. If you happen to be unfamiliar with some topics there’s Atlassian product documentation you can consult to learn about the nuances of each topic.
You can also find answers in Atlassian community.
There are Certification preparation courses available to you. Normally they include an in-depth explanation of what to expect on the exam, lectures across the exam topics, sample exam questions and a preparation plan based on business cases and study questions. This four-hour online course will greatly increase your chances of passing on the first try. The cost of one preparatory course is $150.
Remember that you get access to the course for 120 days. So if you have no time to study all the topics in 4 months, you will have to pay USD $150 again. Individuals can use On Demand (for up to 30 days) or attend Public (Virtual) classes. Teams of up to 12 can schedule private sessions, either online in Team (Virtual) classes, or experienced Atlassian experts come to your site for Team (Onsite) classes.
There are multiple courses available to you depending on your level of knowledge and preparation.
Atlassian also provides a free sample exam. Carefully study the sample questions. They might give you an insight on what to expect at the exam.
Step 2 – Getting Certified & Atlassian Certification Process.
First, you need to create a Certification Portal account. You are to enter your full name as written in your IDs.
During registration at the certification portal and in the Kryterion test-system, indicate your personal e-mail address first and only then add your work e-mail. The ACP status is given to you, but not to your company. From the Certification Portal you’re to pay for and schedule the exam. You’ll get a special code which grants you access to examination questions, so it is important to take it with you on the exam day.
The venue is Kryterion testing center. It’s also possible to pass the exam online. However, technical requirements are quite burdensome. When you sit an exam online your web camera must always function. Mind that you should own a camera that meets the requirements. There are limitations on the programs installed on your computer. It goes without saying that no people should be in the room when you take an exam.
On the day of your exam remember to take two forms of ID with you signature on both of them.
Here are some tips from the experts who took the exam:
- Approach the JIRA Administrator certification exam topics from multiple angles. For example, if you have a small organization, with a handful of projects and users, you’ll want to consider how a large organization, with hundreds of projects and thousands of users, would tackle a problem. If your organization uses the server version, you’ll want to consider how a strategy might differ in the cloud version.
- Earplugs can be very useful. You won’t be distracted by background noise like mouse clicks, cars
- Take one exam at a time. It is hard to take several exams at once because of a great amount of information you need to repeat and study.
- Think of scenarios that don’t apply to your organization but would be common among others. Think of areas of your application that aren’t setup quite right and how you’d do it better. It’s not enough to understand your application’s intricacies, you need to understand how JIRA is generally intended to be configured.
- Some of the beta testers formed a study group. Why not form your own study group?
- Attempt the short questions first and mark any question which is bigger than two paragraphs for review later. There will be a check box below the question to mark it. Even if you don’t mark it, there is a Review all link that will show you an overview of all the questions that you have attempted, not attempted and marked for review.
Some pieces of advice from Polontech experts:
- Try to leave home in advance to avoid the rush. Bear in mind that there can be traffic jams, accidents. Better safe than sorry. If you miss your exam appointment you won’t be allowed to reschedule. You must pay the whole fee again. Waivers of the fee will be considered in cases of accident, illnesses if the official documentation is provided.
- Read carefully all the terms and conditions(e.g. you aren’t allowed to take any personal belongings into the testing room, e.g. wallet, phone, keys)
- Carefully go through sample questions.
- Don’t neglect the product documentation. You can learn about the aspects of the product that you don’t deal with frequently.
- Create a plan and work it. Break the work into manageable tasks.
If you passed the exam – congratulations. If you fail then you can retake your exam. But you must wait at least 7 days to re-register. We recommend taking additional time to prepare, to maximize your chances of success.
Exam retakes are discounted to USD $150.50 but there are discounts.
Step 3 – Maintaining your certificate.
ACP Certification is valid for 18 months only. So, how can you keep your ACP Certificate? There are two options available to you:
- pass the exam again
- earn a related Badge before certificate expiration date
Badges help you learn new skills.
To renew the ACP-100 Jira Administrator certification you could obtain, before 18 months from the original certification have passed, one of the below related badges:
Atlassian Certified Badges:
- Advanced Jira Workflows
- Jira Reporting and Dashboards
Atlassian Skills Badges:
- Email in Jira
- Scaling Jira
Each Badge renews your Certificate for another 18 months
How to showcase your Atlassian Certifications?
Atlassian offers several options:
- Download your e-Certificate for your ACP Credential
- Share your Credentials to your social media stream(LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)
- Add your Atlassian Certifications to your accomplishments in LinkedIn
- Add digital badges to your email signature
- Get a URL for a Credential for your website or online resume/CV
- Share multiple Credentials online or via email using a Transcript
We hope that this blog post helped you to clear out all the details.
Best of luck with your Atlassian Certification! And let us know if you need Atlassian JIRA training or Confluence Training.
