Many organizations are in the process of transitioning their work to digital platforms. With that, IT companies have begun offering cloud services to meet the growing demand. Apart from cloud infrastructure, companies will also need trained cloud experts who can implement and manage cloud deployments.
Read on to find out how Google Cloud Skills Boost can help you acquire the necessary skills to become a cloud-deployment expert.
What Is Google Cloud Skills Boost?
Google Cloud Skills Boost is an online learning platform for Google Cloud and related skills. It also provides guided courses, certifications, and badges that enable you to capitalize on Google Cloud skills to secure top-paying IT jobs.
Google Cloud manages and delivers all the online learning content, exams, certifications, hands-on Google Cloud labs, and badges. Therefore, the skills you acquire are highly objective for Google Cloud-related roles. Companies will consider you job-ready for a particular Google Cloud skill when you successfully complete the corresponding learning path from this platform.
The platform gives you access to high-quality learning content like role-based courses, 700+ hands-on labs, certification resources, skill badges, and 18 learning paths. All of these Google Cloud training resources are available from anywhere on the globe.
Related: What Is Cloud Computing? How Does Cloud Technology Work?
How to Sign Up for Google Cloud Skills Boost
The Google Cloud Skills Boost learning platform is powered by Qwiklabs. Alphabet is the parent company of both Google Cloud and Qwiklabs. Here is how you can sign up for this platform:
- Visit the Google Cloud Skills Boost page.
- Find the Join button in the top-right corner of the website. Click on it.
- Click on the Sign in with Google link if you have a Google email, like Gmail.
- If you don’t want to link your Google account or don’t have one, fill up the displayed form. Then click on Create account to complete the process.
How to Pay for Google Cloud Skills Boost
You’ll need to purchase credits or subscriptions to access paid courses, quests, or hands-on labs. Though, you’ll find a few free hands-on labs, quests, and courses as well. You’ll see the details of the content below its title, like duration, level, paid/unpaid, and language.
You can access paid content by paying in the form of Qwiklabs credits. Each credit is equivalent to $1. You can get discounts on credit purchases in bulk quantities like 40, 1000, and 4000 credits.
Credits give you one-time access to the courses, quests, or hands-on labs. Therefore, if you’re on a career development journey, you should subscribe for unlimited access. Here are the subscription options and their benefits:
- One month unlimited access to all learning resources for $29/month.
- Unlimited yearly access to the entire learning catalog for $299/year.
You need to know that subscriptions auto-renew themselves. So, cancel the subscription before getting a charge if you don't want to continue.
Related: Irresistible Learning Resources for Mastering Google Cloud Platform
The Components of Google Cloud Skills Boost
The navigation around the platform is easy as it has minimal components. You’re good to go if you familiarize yourself with the following sections:
1. Labs
Labs are essentially the practical sessions on this platform. Hands-on labs and challenge labs are the two types of labs that you'll interact with.
The hands-on lab is an interactive environment of the Google Cloud console. Here, you need to complete scenario-based use cases.
You get temporary access credentials to enter this console. Hands-on labs come with specific instructions and a time limit. In a challenge lab, you’ll see minimal instructions while building a cloud solution. At the end of any skill-based quest, you’ll have to solve a challenge in this lab to pass the assessment.
2. Catalog
The catalog lets you personalize the training your way. It’s the repository of all courses, labs, and quests. You’ll find all the 768 learning activities in this section, and the number is growing.
You can use the search box to find the content you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can use the filters on the left to view a list of courses based on your choice.
There are seven filters that you can apply. These are Solution, Role, Format, Level, Duration, Modality, and Language.
3. Quests
You need to complete quests to earn digital badges. A quest might contain more than one hands-on lab. Its primary objective is to teach you how to use a tool or product.
There are four levels of quests like introductory, fundamental, advanced, and expert.
A specific hands-on lab could show up in multiple quests. There are no challenge labs in quests. If you’ve already completed one lab before, it’ll automatically show up as completed in a new quest.
4. Courses
Google Cloud Skill Boost offers both on-demand and classroom-based courses. A course contains a series of training modules. Each of the training modules in a course consists of readings, videos, quizzes, and labs.
You can access courses by changing the Format filter to Course on the catalog page. If you want to switch between On-demand and Instructor-led courses, activate the respective filter on the Modality option.
5. Badges
There are two types of badges, like a skill badge, and a digital badge. You can display both the badges on your social media profiles to showcase your achievements.
You’ll earn a skill badge when you successfully complete a series of hands-on labs and finally a challenge lab. On the contrary, you get a digital badge when you complete a Course or Quest successfully.
Getting Started With a Learning Path
If you want job role-based learning content, then learning paths are ideal. A learning path is a package of curated courses, quests, and labs that get you ready for a specific job role.
Let’s say you’re a software/app developer and want to grow your career in the cloud computing sector. You can choose the Cloud Developer Learning Path from the Paths tab of Google Cloud Skill Boost.
After successful completion of this learning path, you’ll be able to design, build, analyze, and maintain cloud-native apps on the Google Cloud Platform. If you have a monthly or yearly subscription to Google Cloud Skill Boost, you get free access to all the learning paths.
Training Yourself Quickly and Conveniently
After knowing Google Cloud Skill Boost inside out, you might have become more familiar with this learning platform. It’ll be easier for you to sign up and start getting trained if you’re a fresher.
If you’re a veteran Google Cloud user, you’ll be able to explore new learning and certification opportunities. Being a teacher, you can also utilize this platform to create unique Google Cloud-oriented online courses that your audience will love to learn.
