GenAI helped me become a Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate

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How I prepared

I used several techniques to prepare for this certification.

Databricks study/preparation guide

My first stop was to review the official Databricks exam guide because it listed all the topics covered and included practice questions.

Created learning plan and scheduled the exam

I created a basic list of each topic I needed to learn with an estimate of how much time it would take. From this, I predicted that I needed four weeks to study (outside my normal working hours). So I was able to schedule the exam four weeks in advance. Having this deadline helped me focus and motivated me to study each day, to stay on track.

Databricks Academy

Since my employer is associated with Databricks, I had access to the training material from Databricks Academy. I watched the videos and studied the notebooks associated with “Data Engineering with Databricks.”

Databricks environment

I was able to use my employer’s Databricks environment to run the sample notebooks and click around the UI.

Practice Questions

I also purchased WhizLab practice questions. I love WhizLab’s practice mode and detailed explanations for each right and wrong answer.

Databricks Assistant

This AI Assistant helped me understand the Databricks components as well as notebook code. These were some prompts I used:

1. How is pricing calculated for the clusters?
2. Do clusters automatically shutdown?

Conclusion

It took me about four weeks to prepare for this exam and I need several approaches to get ready. I hope this information helps you in your learning journey,