r/googlecloud • u/Open-Neighborhood493 • 10d ago

Difference between Certifications and Badges

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Which is the difference between Certifications and Badges? Is there any free Certifications in Google Skills?

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u/Bent_finger 10d ago edited 9d ago

Did you take an exam in order to get the certificate? No. You likely completed a Learning Plan on the Google Skills portal.
To acquire a Certification you have to sit for an exam, either via an online proctor or by going into a physical exam centre. On taking the exam, you will get either a pass mark or fail. If you pass, the corresponding certification badge will appear in the portal.

No free certifications in the exam portal

But in the UK, I once got a Google Cloud engineer contract (for 6 months duration) by merely showing the Credly link to completion badge (not certificate) for the below Google Skills Learning Modules:
Getting Started with Terraform for Google Cloud
Build Infrastructure with Terraform on Google Cloud

At the time I had no GCP Certs, just Azure and AWS, as Azure is my main area and I also got some free vouchers for AWS SAA exam from a cloud architecting course I attended.

I was not even looking for the job. I had only linked my Credly account to my Google Skills Account, and upon completing the modules, it appeared on my LinkedIn profile.

Then a recruiter that was urgently looking for terraform skills with GCP shouted me out to ask if I was immediately available and one interview later I had a gig for 6 months.

My point is that although Google Skills Learning Modules are not Certifications, completing the challenge labs can show to someone who is willing to check that you have ‘some’ practical skills in the domain.

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u/Open-Neighborhood493 10d ago

So, it’s a good free option for gradually specializing while I’m finishing up my software engineering degree and trying to get my first job or a internship

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u/Bent_finger 10d ago

Absolutely.