Young engineer at FPT Smart Cloud ‘collects’ more than 30 certificates before turning 30

Setting a goal of 30 technology certificates before the age of 30, Dang Duc Huy – FPT Smart Cloud Solution Research and Development Engineer exceeded expectations with 31 certificates, although the journey was not easy.

Graduated from K58 Hanoi University of Science and Technology majoring in Information Technology, Dang Duc Huy started taking the first Public Cloud certification exam at the end of 2017. By 2021, after collecting 6 certifications of many famous Cloud providers in the world such as Google Cloud, Azure, AWS, Oracle Cloud, Huy wondered what he would do next, what to study, what is the next path.

Once I read an article by a Japanese Cloud engineer about the challenge of achieving 30 certificates before the age of 30, 40 certificates before the age of 40, Huy immediately became interested. Having studied and worked in the technology industry, he understands that the speed of change in this industry is very fast. To keep up with technology, it is necessary to constantly learn and update in parallel with going to work every day. So the guy born in 1995 decided to set a similar goal for himself, even though he knew that the older he got, the more obstacles he faced in acquiring new knowledge.

However, he only had two years remaining and 24 more certificates to complete. Huy estimated that he would need to take a certificate exam on average once each month. “It’s also a little difficult to figure out how much the exam will cost, where to get the course, and how to find the time. But you’ll have to give it a try to see whether you like it”, he reasoned. The management is in favor of the exam and even views it as a “personal OKR” since maintaining the company’s partner standing with large businesses is advantageous.

Therefore, every night after coming home from work at 6pm, Dang Duc Huy regularly takes online courses on Coursera, Udemy… from 9pm to 1-2am. Huy’s parents help him with household chores. Huy hesitated from having a protracted vacation since “just taking a week off to go out can drag on for a whole month after that”. He also arranges to have lunch at the company’s cafeteria to save time on commuting, after taking a nap so that he can stay awake until late at night to study.

Huy confided that the FPT Smart Cloud provides him with more than just a place to solve difficulties; being a member of the F family also grants him many benefits on his journey to mastering information through free learning accounts. Yet test fees and vouchers are also generously covered by FPT, a partner of Google Cloud and Azure. That was another major factor in his decision to speed up the exam.

Huy remembered his exam trip, saying that the first two years were difficult for him since he lacked experience, frequently failed, and felt demoralized. He had to retake the exam three times before passing several qualifications. Each certificate is often valid for a period of one to two years, thus he must retake the test to be able to renew it. A certificate can be studied for as long as 1.5 to 2 years, or as little as a few months. The road to passing the following certifications is a little bit more pleasant once you are familiar with them and have a solid knowledge basis.

To systematize the knowledge he has learned, the engineer often rewrites or records a video and saves it on Youtube or on TikTok as a short video. He also often goes to Cloud events to update his knowledge as well as find like-minded people.

The most difficult journey for Huy was to become a Google Developer Expert because he had to do 2 interviews with Google and took 4 years working in the community to be recognized. Huy is also confident that in the future it will be easier to obtain other certifications because he has a wide network of relationships with engineers in the industry, which can be consulted when facing difficult problems, instead of “swimming” like the first time.

There are also cases where knowledge of studying and taking exams is not applied in practice, such as it cannot be deployed in Vietnam due to geographical differences, different conditions… but according to Huy, he does not consider it a waste because thanks to that, he does not meet difficulty communicating with foreign experts.

When asked where there is time for other hobbies, Huy shared that his hobby is also…studying – he enjoys learning not because he is forced to. On weekends, the young engineer can still jog or drink with his colleagues, who share the same orientation. “The story goes back and forth, it’s still technology,” Huy laughed.

According to Mr. Nguyen Khoa – Huy’s manager at FPT Smart Cloud, the certification exam for technology professionals, especially consultants and implementation worker, is very necessary. The technological proficiency of the business is also evaluated in part by the technological certifications that its personnel have earned.

“Huy is a young technologist with good background, and has joined the youngest and most dynamic technology company in the group, so it’s like a fish in water. Colleagues are all talented, everyone has strong technology skills around. Such a good environment also creates conditions for him to practice and study well.

Obtaining as many professional certifications as possible for young individuals like Huy is comparable to a guarantee for a focused and disciplined study investment. But obtaining 30 Pro certifications is also a significant accomplishment, and many individuals find it challenging to persist in that way.” Mr. Khoa said.

He highlighted, however, that he really valued Huy’s abilities not just as demonstrated by this exam (all certificates have a period), but also as demonstrated by his capacity for customer service, capacity for teamwork, and appropriate demeanor around coworkers.

Not only an engineer specializing in research and development of solutions, Huy is also a talented writer, a familiar face at forums of young programmer communities, owns a personal blog to share experiences on the web technology conquest. He is one of the “core” members of the Google Developer Group (GDG) Cloud Hanoi network – a community organization that updates information about Cloud. This place gives him a network of contacts in the same field so he can learn, and also find like-minded talents for FPT Smart Cloud – Huy revealed. In the future, Huy’s wish is to have the opportunity to go abroad to exchange.

Hà An