Failure is just a stepping stone to success
At the end of 2022, I took the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional Exam and failed it on my first attempt, obtaining a 699 out of 1000 where 750 would have been passing.
When I shared it with a few of my developer friends I was reminded that "Failure is just a stepping stone to success". I feel fortunate to have this belief in my belief system after working in engineering for several years, I also feel fortunate for the friend who reminded me of this (you know who you are ;).
I recently passed that exam at the beginning of February 2023, and I feel it is worth reflecting on a bit, so I am writing this post in hopes to remind my future self that "failure" is just part of the process; bonus points for if I inspire anyone else to attempt something difficult.
How do I learn engineering and new technologies?
I am a self-taught technologist who started working as a Level 1 support rep nearly 10 years ago in 2013, who now for the last several years has been in responsible for production systems.
I have taken a few course at my local Community College but ultimately the majority of my learning has taken place on the job or in self learning outside of work.
The most value tool/skill I have encountered for learning new technologies is to spend 1 hour a day (ideally at your ideal learning environment, for me that is in the morning) learning something new.
The progressive skill of learning requires time and patience and space to manifest and most importantly consistency (and resilience to keep up that consistency).
If you only spend a few hours a few times, you will not realize the gains of getting deep into a subject compared to someone who comes back each day for training.
A few more tips
- It is ok to fail, try not to wait 6 months to a year before your next attempt. You will be not be starting over completely so take the next attempt a month or two later.
- Try adding a few new materials to help you study. Using note cards, picking up a new practice test on Udemy and going over my notes helped me on my 2nd attempt.
- Share your learning experience with others. Learning shouldn't have to be a solo event, if you can, pair up with a friend or build accountability with others so that you stay consistent and growing.
Below are a few online learning sites that have been helpful in my journey to obtain more certifications as well as skills as an engineer and developer.
A Cloud Guru
If you want to learn Cloud Technologies, I couldn't recommend this site enough. I used to be a member of Linux Academy before it was bought and mergd into A Cloud Guru (Parent Company Pluralsight) and this site has what you are looking for.
They have sandbox cloud accounts for all the major cloud technologies so that you can have real world hands-on experience to play with infrastructure.
They also have courses designed to help you pass most certifications with practice tests and quiz's and hands on labs.
This was what I used most to help me pass the AWS DevOps Professional Certification.
Real Python
If you are not a developer and are interested in learning a programming language, I couldn't recommend Python enough as a good language to start on.
Real Python is accessible to people on all levels and I frequently find their content extraordinary and very digestible.
They even have a great podcast that talks about different articles and new things in the Python world.
I am no longer doing daily Python development work, but I love the stuff they come out with and using them as a reference when I have a challenging Python problem is so helpful.
O'Reilly
A previous company I worked for had a subscription to the O'Reilly Catalog of Books and Courses and what a treasure that was for my learning.
I used their content to help me learn Linux and passed my RHCSA (Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator).
I started teaching myself GO and a few other things from this site and I can't recommend it enough.
If you are an engineer or dev, chances are you have either purchased/borrowed or seen one of the O'Reilly books with a creature or animal on the front cover as they cover almost any technology you can think of.
Most of my favorite books are hosted on their site that you can read with a subscription; The Phoenix Project, Site Reliability Engineering, Software Engineering at Google to name a few.
Udemy
Udemy has a ton of great courses, in particular if you are studying for a multiple choice exam they likely have affordable practice tests for an exam you may be working on.
There are also hands-on courses that you can follow along with experts who have written the textbook.
A few of my favorites so far have been learning Kubernetes with KodeKloud with Mumsahd Mannambeth and Automating the boring stuff with Al Sweigart.
Whether studying for a certification or learning a new skill or building a new tool/project Udemy has lots to offer.
Laracasts
This is the newest site I have started using for learning, specifically to learn PHP, Laravel and Vue.
I am a PHP, JavaScript and TypeScript novice and those are programming languages used heavily at my current job, so I figured it was time to get more into these technologies.
I am still new to the platform but so far in the first course I have taken I am loving it.
To me, being a newcomer or a novice is exciting as I know that in learning something new I am going to make way more progress than going deeper into a subject I am more familiar with.
The greatest gains are to be had by someone who hasn't ever even started a new type of training.
This beginners mindset can be intimating, but maintaining a curiosity in learning and being ok with being wrong has been helpful in me overcoming the uncomfortable feeling of "not getting things right".
This was my first post of this sort, so let me know if this resonates with you at all and I may create some follow-ups on the subject and learning.
