How I Aced the ACP-600

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Let's chat Atlassian Certifications! Do you manage and configure your organization's projects in Jira? Are you eager to become certified and show your expertise? Atlassian recently introduced a new contender into the Atlassian Certification realm, Project Administration in JIRA Server. They have also provided a very detailed on-demand online course in the learning paths portal to help you manage and configure projects in partnership with your JIRA Administrator. Before you embark in your certification journey, check out some tips and tricks below.

1. Practice makes perfect. This certification is made for a superuser who has had at least 6 months of experience or more working in Jira. If this is not you, don't worry. Practice makes perfect. I'd recommend practicing the different activities from the lab workbook in a dev instance using a project admin account. If you're already a JIRA admin, your permissions and capabilities are very different then a project administrator. This can cause you to be confused. It's important to listen to the on-demand online course provided by Atlassian. As there may be some areas you think you know, and have been recently updated or you misunderstood.  Studying the Atlassian coursework is definitely beneficial but getting hands-on experience will create muscle memory. 
   
   
   
   
2. Organize what you don't know. Whether it's using index cards, writing down notes or using a Trello board. It's important to narrow down what you don't know or understand and study it. You need to understand all of the concepts and terminology in the coursework, so it's important that you find a study method that works best for you. Some people find studying alone to be useful. I recommend going over the topics with other project admins or JIRA admins. Whether it's getting clarification on what field configurations is or listening to other people's questions that cause you to better understand a topic. If you're unable to find others to study with, I'd recommend posting a discussion on Atlassian Community. There are many community members who are highly experienced and can answer your questions. There are also others who are prepping for the exam and can study with you offline.   
   
   
3. Take the exam. When it's time to take the exam, get a full nights rest and use the bathroom before you start! While you're taking the exam, read every question carefully. Many times, the questions have details that help you eliminate answers. Be mindful of your time, if you do not know the answer to a question, checkmark the questions for review. This way, you can go back and take a look at them. Do not leave a question unanswered. It's better to answer a question and get it right, rather than leaving it blank and you do not get any points.  And last but not least, review all of your answers. Make sure all of the questions are answered and double check that the questions requiring two or more answers have just that.

Good luck on your certification journey! If you have any tips or tricks, comment below. 

[Bridget]

FANTASTIC article! Thanks for sharing, @Mary Ramirez :) 

[Erica Moss]

Just now discovering this article, but what a great resource — thanks, Mary! 😄

[Deleted user]

great article please

[DesRuqMania]

Wonderful!!  I'm inspired by this. 

[Tanya L Christensen]

This cert is on my list.  Thanks for the advise.  

[Muhammad Fahad]

great article

[Anthony Ossai]

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

[danang]

I want this cert

[Daniel Schröder]

I read this 15 minutes before the exam. In retrospect, point three was most important to me. Passed! Thanks.

[Anwer Mustafa]

Is there no negative marking for ACP-600 exam?

[Kat Warner]

@Anwer Mustafa - there is no negative marking. Definitely make sure you have an answer saved for each question before you submit your exam.

[Anwer Mustafa]

@Kat Warner Thanks for the information.

[Syed Mohsin Ali Shah]

where I can find tutorials?

[Pavel Junek]

Very helpful article! Thanks

[Diego Siqueira]

This post still inspires people in 2020. Thanks for sharing!

[Mary Ramirez]

I'm happy to hear that @Diego Siqueira !

[Randy O_Neal]

Good advice all.  I realize this article has a bit of age on it, but the advice is still valid.  I'll add a couple more recommendations:

1. Leverage a testing center, if possible.  Allowing them to proctor you takes the pressure away from you having to clear the desk, clear the room, and validate *everything* for your online proctor.  It may cost an extra $100, but it's worth every penny.
2. Take the online quizzes over and over again until you not only get 100% of the answers correct, but until you understand the underlying concepts you may have missed the first 2-3 or dozen times through.  Take it until the concept in question is crystal clear in your mind's eye.
3. A bit old school... but use flash cards to drive particularly sticky concepts into your gray matter.
4. Again... practice, practice, practice... be it in a sandbox, in your daily job duties, or anywhere else you can squeeze it in.  Especially focus on those things you only do infrequently.

I put all the above into practice last year and passed my ACP-620 certification.  Thanks, @Mary Ramirez for some great advice... it still applies!

[Joanna Thurmann]

Thanks, @Randy O_Neal, and congrats on passing ACP-620!  🌟 🏆

For those preparing for any of the Atlassian certs, please check out this great post with lots of other exam tips: Earn an Atlassian Certification to Advance your Career: Where (and How!) to Start