I was 10 questions into the Marketing Cloud Developer cert when I realized I was actually gonna pass the test!
It was the best feeling ever.
The confidence that I felt was unlike anything else.
And in this letter to you, I want to share how you can pass the Marketing Cloud Developer cert too!
I wanted the Marketing Cloud Developer cert, But Didn’t Think I Was Smart Enough.
For the longest time, I wanted the Marketing Cloud developer cert, but I never thought I had what it took to become a certified Salesforce Marketing Cloud Developer.
It affected my confidence and led me to believe that since I didn't have a developer background, I would never achieve a cert like this.
I wasn’t able to help other people learn the coding languages that could help them in their careers.
I was holding back from learning a skillset that could propel my career to the stratosphere.
And I wasn’t 100% able to help other people pass this cert because I didn’t know what it actually took to pass it
Why Did I Want To Pass The MC Developer Cert Anyway?
I knew that passing the MC Developer cert would give me the confidence to say I can learn how to code.
But there are so many other reasons why I wanted to pass the Marketing Cloud Developer cert!
I can now go in with confidence anywhere and talk about API’s, SSJS, AMPscript, and SQL with anybody.
I know a whole new world of conversation and development now that I’ve studied these developer topics for so many hours.
A new way of logical thinking has been unlocked in my brain.
I have the confidence that I can succeed in any job in the world (even outside of Marketing Cloud development) - I can do rocket science if I put my mind to it long enough.
I believe that I can learn anything I put my mind to now.
I can now help other people have the confidence to learn coding languages.
I can now help other people pass the MC Developer certification.
I have proven that the practice questions that I created and verified are legit to help someone pass the test if they put in the work to learn the concepts.
I’m not intimidated by other Marketing Cloud developers.
I may not have as much experience as some, but now I know that I can learn what they know.
I feel like I can get any Marketing Cloud job and be proficient in it with enough time.
I don’t feel overwhelmed by anything coding related now.
I know where to research Marketing Cloud coding topics.
Even though I knew what I wanted, there were still lies in my head that were holding me back from achieving what I wanted.
All The Lies That Held Me Back
Hit that "Reply" button if you've ever thought any of these things:
I’m not a developer
I don’t have a developer background
I’m not smart enough to be a coder or programmer
I didn’t go to college for computer science, so i cant do this
I don’t understand the coding languages
I don’t want to be a developer, so I don't need to learn coding
I don't want a developer job
I don’t know anyone who is a developer
Being a developer is a hard job - you have to do hard work all day
ServerSide JavaScript is so hard
AMPscript and SSJS are too hard
API’s are a foreign concept to me and they’re too hard to understand
Developers are a different breed of smart
After I got over all of the stories in my head, here's the route I took to pass the Marketing Cloud Developer Certification!
My Personal Journey To Passing The MC Developer Cert:
How I passed the Marketing Cloud Developer cert on Thursday night (June 1st, 2023):
Originally, I was studying for the mc Developer cert for about 50 days with Therion.
We documented the process on the blog for about 12 days.
Then we started going live on youtube every day to document the journey in real time.
You can see the playlist here.
We were learning AMPscript almost everyday.
It was such a foreign concept to us.
Then we created the ultimate MC Developer Trailmix.
Then we created the ultimate MC Developer study guide.
Then Therion got a new job and we stopped meeting as much.
I started teaching a new MC Admin class and wasn’t motivated to study for the MC Dev cert.
I didn’t study for about 6 weeks.
After the class I was teaching was over, my manager asked when I was gonna get the cert.
I told her a date and that made me accountable to someone else again.
I took the exam 2 weeks ago (May 19th, 2023) and failed.
I wrote a blog post when I failed the exam and announced my plans publicly.
This made everything REAL and accountable.
I did everything i could to pass and my focus went WAYYY up.
I set a plan to work my butt of and pass the cert - You can see that plan in this blog post.
I set an exam re-take goal of 2 weeks.
I worked my buttttt off these past 2 weeks…
I couldn’t show up to the exam and feel like I had more left in the tank.
I was studying for 2 hours per day every. single. day.
ChatGPT was my friend and helped me with questions I wasn't familiar with.
I was blogging on and off about my experience so you can see what I was studying on certain days.
I'll release those blogs soon.
(So make sure to keep up with the MinuteAdmin blog).
Then I started doing practice exams and scoring 90%+ and I felt confident in my ability to pass the cert.
Then, last night... I was watching the finals (Denver Nuggets vs Miami Heat) with my mom in Dallas and I said to her:
“ I think I'm gonna take the exam tonight”
And she encouraged me to do it.
So I got back home from dinner with my mom and scheduled the exam.
I took it and passed!
So now I’m writing to you as an Official Salesforce Marketing Cloud Developer!
That’s my story!
I stuck to the 2 week timeframe that i set for myself 2 weeks ago.
And the results paid off!
Humble flex - I passed it before the 2 week window (1 day before the 2 week time frame i set for myself)
I passed the cert on June 1st rather than June 2nd, so to say I’m hyped is an understatement.
I’m here to tell you that anything is possible and you can pass this cert too!
You have to be willing to put in the work…
That’s it.
But now you might be wondering…
“Kaelan, what was your routine and what steps did you take to pass the Marketing Cloud Developer cert?”
Well I’m glad you asked…
Here you go:
How I Passed The MC Developer Cert
(Step by Step)
Morning Routine:
Go to WeWork
Set my timer for 45 minutes
Open ChatGPT
Look at study questions (from these mock exams)
I verified that the answers were correct (and made sure to understand WHY they were correct).
I did lot’s of research on each topic by following this framework:
Google search the Marketing Cloud Developer topic I’m studying
Find articles on that topic
Read each article and learn what it’s talking about
Save that website as a bookmark and put it in my notes for the topic I was studying
I did this process for 45 minutes
Then I repeated this process for another 45 minutes (For a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes per day)
Afternoon Routine:
Go for a walk - (With no cellphone - to let my brain relax and process information)
Eat
Workout
Play outside with friends (Ultimate Frisbee, etc…)
Evening Routine:
Reflect on my day in the Monk Manual
Set my priorities for the next day in the Monk Manual
#1 Priority every day was to repeat my morning routine (from above)
I only focused on the material on the Marketing Cloud Developer exam outline (nothing else)
Every night, I wrote down my daily daily goals in the Monk Manual
Priority #1 was to study for the MC Developer cert for (2 - 45 minute sessions)
Lessons Learned
Set your intentions in public:
If you keep your goals to yourself, you can always back out…. Give yourself no excuse to back out.
When you make your intentions known, the thought of other people judging you and also motivating you will drive you further than you can ever imagine.
This also gives you accountability partners, which is crucial for your success.
Have a consistent Sleep Schedule:
(10:30 PM - 6:30 AM)
Every single day of the week (Sat & Sun included)
Plan and Reflect in a journal:
(Write down the top 3 things you need to do for the day)
(You need to build awareness of your habits)
(If you aren’t aware of your habits, you’ll lose focus and want to do something new)
Get out of your house or apartment
There’s something about being around people at a coffee shop or shared working location that pumps you up to be focused.
Study a minimum of 2 hours per day:
45 Minutes of studying (Study Session #1)
45 Minutes of studying (Study Session #2)
Pick a study time that works for your schedule
Anything else you study will be a BONUS everyday
Be Flexible:
If you’re working in Marketing Cloud, (Or tech in general), you probably work remote.
Try not to be so rigid with everything in your life.
Have fun and enjoy the process.
That’s why sticking to one thing at a time is important because it gives you the bandwidth to accomplish hard things (one at a time), while still allowing you to live life.
Focus on one goal at a time:
If you can focus on one thing at a time, you’ll achieve that thing easier and faster than ever before.
If you have too many big goals going on at once, then you’ll short circuit.
Your brain is like a computer, it’ll slow down if it has too many tabs open.
Plus, the more data you collect about a subject, pattern recognition kicks in faster, which means you’ll be able to master a subject faster.
This allows you to put your learning on autopilot.
Focusing on one thing at a time is how you hack your biology to help you learn faster.
Alright, that’s all I got for ya today!
Go out there and crush your goals!
They’re within your reach, you just have to attack them with full steam ahead!
Kaelan Moss - MinuteAdmin Out ✌🏽
