Question about esri technical certifications

lekanhaji

I know esri is kind of secretive about what is on the exams and just says “look at the lesson plans” but as someone who wants to focus on more than the lesson plans (for foundation level exams) is the only way to really cover all the bases just by having more general hands on experience?

ChristopherCounsell

Which exam are you looking at?

Except for the beta exams there are loads of resources to help understand what is in the exam, who it is for, and what will or wont' be in the exam. For example, the ArcGIS Pro Foundation 2101:

https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/611c21fd6db91a43604966bb/arcgis-pro-foundation-2101/

The ArcGIS Pro Foundational Exam tests the candidate's experience applying ArcGIS concepts and processes to workflows. Qualified candidates should demonstrate comprehension of basic GIS concepts within ArcGIS at an entry-level. Candidates should perform entry-level mapping and visualization tasks, editing, sharing, analysis, and data management tasks. Qualified candidates should have less than two years of applied experience and should be proficient in best practices and uses of ArcGIS Pro.

Then you look at the Exam Information Guide:

https://www.esri.com/training/assets/courses/611c21fd6db91a43604966bb/EAPF2101v9.20231113.pdf

It outlines:

• What tasks you should be able to perform
• What you do not need to be familiar with
• What tools you should be familiar with
• A breakdown of skills
• General resources 

And the ArcGIS Pro Foundation 2101 Certification Learning Plan:

https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/61bbd43777f5d5238027af3e/esri-arcgis-pro-foundation-certification-2101/

Undertaking the above learning plan is a great way to get hands on experience. Other resources, like the Esri Learning Academy tutorials, or the Esri MOOCs (cartography is a good one!) will expose you to the skills.

What more would you like to see? They are generally open to feedback in the Esri Certification community. However, I'd imagine they don't want to encourage people studying for and passing the exam without having the experience and skills - so they won't do things like give all the questions upfront. This benefits no one.

If you want to cover more than the 'foundation' start by checking off the subjects covered in the above. Then go do the same look through on the associate and professional. A lot of people actually fail the professional as they assume their experience translates, but looking at the exam information, they need more in less practiced skills like LiDAR and Raster. Never assume you know it all and always be open to learning more.

Source - have 10 Esri certifications