𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚 (𝐂𝐊𝐀, 𝐂𝐊𝐀𝐃, 𝐂𝐊𝐒) 𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬...
It still feels unreal, but in 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, I managed to pass all three Kubernetes certifications—𝐂𝐊𝐀 (Certified Kubernetes Administrator), 𝐂𝐊𝐀𝐃 (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer), and 𝐂𝐊𝐒 (Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist).
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧:
- CKA took me about 𝟐 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬.
- CKAD was done in just 𝟑 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.
- CKS? That took 𝟏𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.
𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲:
Some days I was putting in 𝟒-𝟓 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, and others I was grinding for 𝟖-𝟏𝟎 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 (especially for CKAD). I hit play on those videos at 𝟐𝐱 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 (I'm not crazy I promise, might have fried my brain though 😅) and my strategy was to spend the bulk of my time doing labs and hands-on practice. The exams are 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝, so I knew mastering the practical side of things was key.
I know 𝟑𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 sounds like a short amount of time, but trust me, spending 4 to 10 hours a day learning, troubleshooting and practicing is 𝐧𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞. Let’s do the Maths: that’s around 𝟏𝟖𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟒𝟎 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 of focused, hands-on practice over the month!
Plus, there’s a bit of overlap between the certifications, especially between CKAD and CKA. I’d say even as much as about 𝟓𝟎% of CKAD content is the same as CKA, which definitely helped speed things up. But doing that much practice every day, for 30 days straight, is what really made the difference. It was 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, but it worked!
This was the biggest lesson I learned. It’s all about getting your hands 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲. The more practice you have with troubleshooting, answering questions, and building things from scratch, the more knowledge you'll have at your disposal to solve the questions in the 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦. Hands-on experience is what really made the difference. Kubernetes can seem intimidating, but with enough practice, you’ll surprise yourself!
𝐌𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬:
Thinking about becoming a 𝐊𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭 👀
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐝:
- Mumshad/KodeKloud: Brilliant courses with practice labs.
- Killershell Mock Exams: Designed to be harder than the real thing, so they make the actual exam feel a bit easier!
- Killershell Solutions Playlist on YouTube to help me understand where I went wrong after the Killershell Mock Exams
- Killercoda Scenarios: I used these scenarios to practice weak areas
- CKS Mock Exams Walkthrough Playlist on YouTube by saed were very helpful, especially since CKS was the hardest.
𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬:
- Docker
- Linux
- Networking
So, if you’re thinking about tackling the 𝐊𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚, don’t hesitate. It’s 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, but if you put in the time and focus on real-world practice, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭!
#Kubernetes #CKA #CKAD #CKS #DevOps #Linux #Docker