Cloud Certification Spotlight #1

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Last week we introduced the idea of doing “certification interviews” as we called it in the “Innovation in Cloud Services” newsletter. Calling it an interview seemed a bit stuffy so we did a little pivot on the name. Going forward it will be published as “Cloud Certification Spotlight”. 😄 

And today we are beyond thrilled to have our first person to spotlight! Hopefully the floodgates will open and many more subscribers will join in on the fun. You’ll see how easy it is to follow the script and answer a few questions. Don’t be shy. Also, please answer the quick poll at the end.

Let’s get started…

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Personal Background

Which region or country are you from?
I am married and have a wonderful family and reside in the United States, Midwest region. Getting ready for the colder weather to arrive pretty soon now. Definitely not looking forward to that.

How old are you?
I am on the “back nine” (golf reference) of my working career and in my early 50s. But I feel like I am just getting into my groove. :)

What is your highest level of education?
I graduate college with a Business degree (Marketing) but got my first job in Manufacturing. I realized then my love for computers and programming and then pursued a Masters in MIS. Later in my career I went back to school for a Certificate in Business Analytics.

I can say that each education step I took opened more doors and raised my ceiling (both career-wise and monetary-wise).

Can you share a bit about your family life or personal circumstances that have influenced your career?
I touched on a bit about my personal life above so I can expand on the career influences a bit. Job prospects were slim when I graduated college so I jumped at the first opportunity I had. It was basically in a low level data entry position that was not too challenging. I got extremely bored and started tinkering with the “dumb terminals” we had in the office and started programming reports on the mainframe, which turned into my first programming experience.

Windows software was the rage and the GUI nature of development was taking off. Can you say Visual Basic? (I am dating myself now!). That was the beginning of my software development career and I wanted more education in that area so I applied to graduate school to pursue my MIS degree. One of the best decisions I made.

Professional Journey 

Which is your current role?
I am currently an entrepreneur in the technology space running a business with a variety of digital products. I am pretty new to this line of work but loving every day of it! Having complete control of my schedule, what I work on, and who I work with is such a breath of fresh air.

How did you arrive at your current position?
It has been a long and windy road for sure. As I mentioned, I started out as a lowly data entry associate, was promoted to a systems developer, and then left for greener pastures as a consultant after my graduate degree. I worked for a consulting company just as the World Wide Web / Internet was taking off working on a number of projects in the Internet space.

I jumped to another agency when everyone was growing like crazy, until the dot.com bubble burst. I decided to hang out my own shingle and worked as a consultant/contractor for a couple of years until one of my clients hired me as a full time employee. It was a great move at the time and I stayed for a long time until my current move into entrepreneurship.

I had many roles with my former company and had a ton of opportunities along the way. A piece of advice for anyone starting out. Take on those roles you don’t think you can handle. They help you grow so much and can open even more doors down the road. There were several pivotal moments in which I look back - times where I in my own mind I didn’t think I could do it but others saw the potential. As the old saying goes, “Just do it”.

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Outside Interests

What activities do you enjoy outside work?
I enjoy a ton of different things. I grew up playing various sports and still enjoy playing ice hockey (still in a men’s league), golf, and pretty much any type of water sport since I live near a large lake. I have since taken up pickleball and just getting the hang of it.

How do these interest contribute to your personal or professional growth?
They really are an outlet to my work since I am behind a laptop most of the time. However, I do like to tinker with new technology and projects. That always gets the juices flowing for me. Especially when I immerse myself in a project that is interesting to me. Somehow I always seem to find a part of that personal project that makes its way into my professional project.

 Are you involved in any community projects or volunteer work?
I am currently not involved with specific volunteer work at the moment. However, I was a trustee for a charity and do charity work with my family. My wife spearheads much of our charitable work.

Learning and Development

What methods do you use to learn and stay updated on the latest technologies?
One of my favorite topics! I am a lifelong learner and love to stay up to date on the tech world. I subscribe to various blog, listen to podcasts, and love to be hands on with my learning - lots of Coursera, Udacity, and Microsoft Learn courses. Always be curious and never stop learning!

I find the “doing” is what makes me learn best.

Can you recommend any specific resources or tools that you find particularly helpful?
My tool of choice would be VS Code or VS Studio to get hands on with whatever programming language, database technology, or web application I am working on. Nothing beats rolling up your sleeves and diving right in.

As I mentioned above, there are so many different types of online courses that can be taken. If you have interest in it, there is bound to be someone teaching it.

Are you working on any personal or open-source projects?
I’m not working on any open-source projects but do dabble in some personal projects as I learn new tech. Right now, working on a Gen AI project using OpenAI in the healthcare space. So much fun!

How do these projects enhance your skills or knowledge in your field?
They give me the hands on work that I crave and this translates into acquiring new skills. For the above project, I am creating custom GPTs to handle a specific healthcare industry activity. Learning a new technology and a new industry at the same time.

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Cloud Certification Pursuits

What inspired or motivated you to pursue cloud certification?
Well, my job kind of required me to at least get the fundamentals down for Azure so that was the “motivation”. After that it was my own interest in learning more about Microsoft Azure that inspired everything else.

How do believe this certification will impact your career?
Not much now, lol. But, it did get me more interested in the cloud space in general so you can say it started a new career for me!

Which cloud certification are you aiming for (e.g. Microsoft Azure Administrator, AWS Solutions Architect)?
For 2025 I plan on looking at the Azure AI Engineer certification paths. Think that would be cool after the Fundamentals.

Why did you choose these specific certifications?
No specific reason other than my interests are taking me down the AI path. I also am a data nerd so Fabric could be something I tackle too.

What sources are you using to study and practice before taking the exam?
Leaning heavily on the Microsoft Learn documentation and labs, and of course the Learn Azure app for the fundamentals. Hopefully they have the AI Engineer certification learning path ready by 2025!

How do you structure your study plan to stay on track?
I am somewhat of a scatter brain when it comes to this due to my various projects I’m working on. But, I try to carve out a few hours a week, or if I have some down time on the weekend to read the related materials and do a few labs. I might even take a Coursera class if it aligns well with my area of study.

Experiences and Insights

Have you passed any cloud certification exams already?
Yes, AZ-900 was the required certification I needed at the time. It was required. It wasn’t too challenging and I passed the first time with the help of the Learn Azure app.

What study techniques or resources did you find most effective?
As mentioned above, Microsoft Learn labs and Learn Azure app, and various YouTube videos within the app.

What words of wisdom or tips would you offer to others pursuing cloud certifications?
Follow a path that is of interest to you. Otherwise you may lose interest or have a hard time focusing. Sometimes you may not have a choice due to work obligations.

Future Aspirations

What are your plans after obtaining your certification?
Right now I am obtaining certification just for my personal growth and hopefully apply it towards future projects. Since I am no longer in a corporate role, I am not taking certifications for any type of new role.

How do cloud technologies and certifications fit into your long-term career plans?
They don’t necessarily “fit” into career plans but they are something I will lean on when I want to validate my learning of a new topic. The certification content is so helpful for furthering my education, and I don’t plan stopping learning!

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years professionally?
I see myself building my business and applying what I have learned from my certifications. Hard to say given how things change so much!

Additional Thoughts

How has being part of the Learn Azure / Learn AWS community influenced your professional journey?
It has been great to share ideas, answer questions, and interact with everyone in the Telegram group. It opened my eyes to the various roles people have and the “why” behind the certifications they pursue.

Do you have any suggestions for our newsletter or ways we can better support your learning and career growth?
Well, this spotlight series is a great start! I can’t wait to see what others submit so we can all learn from everyone’s experiences. Everyone has a unique story to tell and no one has the same path as others. Please get your stories in - it was actually a fun exercise to do.