Essential Tips to Ace the Acquia Certified Drupal 10 Site Builder Exam

I recently achieved the Drupal 10 Site Builder certification after around two years of work experience in the Drupal space. Hopefully, this initial step to accreditation will be the first of many more.

I was apprehensive of taking the exam for such a long time but in retrospect, I wish I had done it sooner as it has given me confidence to proceed with my Drupal training and engagement in the community and actually look forward to undertaking my next certification (most likely Frontend Specialist).

I was apprehensive for the following reasons (maybe some of these resonate with you):

• As a career changer, formal exams were a thing of the past, something I was happy to leave behind during my academic years. Suddenly having to revisit exam conditions was unsettling at first, but like many things, you find your rhythm and settle in to the exam.

• Imposter syndrome: I had been using Drupal 9 and 10 (for over two years) on an almost daily basis at work so I felt the time spent was justification enough for obtaining the certification. When I read through the exam study guide and realised, there were many core features I hadn't touched (because my workplace projects didn't need it or had it implemented already) this left me with a sense of lack of competence. With that, an unsuccessful exam mark could reflect poorly on me with my work colleagues.

• The cost (non-refundable) was burdened by me (I would only try and claim the exam cost from my organisation if I passed) and so I placed pressure on myself to succeed.

• Not knowing if I had enough spare time to revise and whether what I was revising, was directly relevant to the exam questions.

Fortunately, I had some valuable learning resources which paved the way towards gaining familiarity with Drupal's site building experience. Maybe some of these will be helpful:

• I had a dedicated apprenticeship trainer who introduced Drupal's capabilities, drawing on years of experience and stepping through site building, some theming and backend coding examples.

• Spend a couple of months (depending on your time commitment) getting to grips with Drupal - it would be very difficult to pass the exam I believe, if you haven't tried to implement the many core features that are available to you as a site builder. Go through the study guide in earnest.

• Go through Acquia's video tutorial on site building (if you're not doing so already in your workplace). This is a great resource if you have never experienced Drupal's admin interface before.

• There's a mock exam (20 questions) which gives you a feel for the wording of questions and topics encountered - I leaned on this heavily even though the questions are the same I believe, regardless if you repeat the mock exam.

Don't wait two years like me, before embarking on your first certification if you are serious about a Drupal career. Good luck on your Drupal journey!