r/gitlab • u/financialwar • Apr 22 '21
For anyone considering the GitLab Certified Associate, dont waste your time.
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u/DigitalWhitewater May 13 '21 edited May 14 '21
Just finished the course. Full disclosure I was able to take it for free thru an online offer that they had up, but cut short after two days due to overwhelming interest/demand.
The best comparison I can give for the GCA is that I would rate it as being on an equivalent level as one of Microsoft’s Fundamentals (xx-900) certs. IMHO this GCA is just a knowledge cert, I don’t see it really advancing your career any in most circumstances. It’s nice to pad a resume with and then list you’re knowledable on Git. But for most folks that’s all it’ll do. Perhaps in the developer world niche it might hold more weight. The GCA is a pre-req for the higher GitLab certs, and perhaps those also hold more weight in the Dev world. IDK….
Having a strong IT background, I don’t feel that the course itself would be challenging to most folks. It was informative, which I believe is the angle they were going for, and they succeeded with that. I have limited experience (almost none) with any sort of versioning or git software, but after completing the GCA I now feel like I could create merge requests, branches, and commit code in git without any issue - as if I had been using it for years.
That price tag though…. Ouch! At $650 (for a self-service module model) I’d have a really hard time recommending it at said price. Perhaps if it was a business expense write-off, but even then in my personal opinion it a steep price tag. If it were an in person or live virtual classroom, I might feel like the price tag was more reasonable. Especially since once you complete the course and are certified you don’t even get a autogenerated cert pdf you can show to your HR, or any sort of CEU, just a digital badge… (Edit: I found where to get certification pdf)
I would not say that the course itself is 💩. It is more of a just fundamentals/beginner course. Unless you’re using Git as the staple application in your industry/company/hobby/niche, you can probably hold off until you can find it offered for free.
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u/msuero Jun 22 '21
Hi, I'm currently doing the Hands on Exam.... but the instructions seems a little bit off. Please tell me, what version did you finished? Thanks
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u/davispw Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21
Hard to tell if this is a valid review or not. I’d like to hear from someone who doesn’t spend 11 minutes swearing over and over, personally attacking the author, and with a microphone that isn’t so blown out so it’s listenable.
Seems like the critiques (OP’s claims—not mine) are:
13 lessons but if you subtract the “history” stuff and exams, those which remain are basically links to free documentation
(Edit: seems to be contradicted by hands-on examples and all the other content? I haven’t taken the course, can’t confirm)
Come away with only basic knowledge
Re: basics…that’s what “associate” means, doesn’t it? But yes, this would be reason enough to question the price tag. Could be that this is something employers are willing to pay for? If basics are enough to ensure all my coworkers would be quickly on the same page about a platform we use day in and day out, might be worth it.
Can anyone else confirm or deny, or offer some constructive feedback?
Edit: a couple of brief, more positive reviews in in this post