Category: Career

I Passed the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA) Exam!

I woke up at 5am today and the first thing that came to my mind was to check if I got an email about the result. So I reached for my phone and yes, there it was! An email from Credly saying Congratulations you earned a badge! Yayyyy!

https://www.credly.com/badges/40f4d449-9133-429e-abd8-12f1a05db77a/public_url

I feel like I Failed the SAA

Just finished taking AWS SAA and I feel like I failed the exam. I wasn’t 100% sure with 90% of my answers.

There were 65 questions to be answered. I forgot how long, I have to check but I think maybe in 140 minutes. The questions and the options were really long. I had to read them over and over again to make sure I am not missing important keywords. Plus I was distracted. MJ (My dog) kept on trying to get in, the neighbors are mowing or doing whatever that’s generating a very distracting motor noise, and my own head itself was busy buzzing with random thoughts. What if I fail? What will I tell everyone? Oh no, I knew I wasnt ready yet. What if I scheduled it for later? What if I have a mental black out? Etc..etc..

Ugh, I hate that you have to wait for the results. I thought it would be instantaneous. This waiting is killing me. I feel like I failed but I hope I passed. I need to get out of the house and take my mind off of this.

What Do I Really Want for My Career?

It’s performance reviews time and there’s a lot on 1:1 discussions, which forces me to pause and take time to think of what I really want for my career.

What do I do best? What work do I enjoy doing? What do I want next? What support do I need?

I have been constantly reinventing myself at work. Recently my aspiration is to be a data scientist and work on cool new technology. I learned Python in my Data Science and Business Analytics course and I really enjoyed using newer technology. I have also learned a lot while reviewing for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam. There are so many things I want to learn and have more experience on. I hope I can find the right opportunity for me so that I don’t get stuck and stop growing.

Day 8 Since Positive Result

I went back to work today. I am still coughing and it makes my head hurt when I cough. Technically I can still take a leave of absence but I also just feel like I needed to get back to work. That’s ok I guess…

I took the 6th mock exam for AWS Solutions Architect Associate. I still don’t get 80% right though 😥, which worries me. I have 2 more days before Saturday and like 8 mocks to take. I don’t think I will have the time to take all of it before the exam. I just hope I get the questions that I know the answers to.

It is really hard to remember everything, there are so many terms and acronyms and all of them sound the same. I will give it my best and hopefully I will pass! If not, I hope I can take it again and pass next time!

Working on AWS Solutions Architect Associate

I finished all the training videos on A Cloud Guru. I have taken the mock exams and my latest scores for both mock exams is 92%. So I went ahead and asked for a voucher. I am taking the exam on Jul 2, 2022, Saturday at 8am. It is 4 days from now!!! I surely hope I will pass. I was thinking of taking it on the 4th of July but I also want to enjoy the weekend.

1 week ago (Monday), we found out that daughter had covid. And then I also started having a sore throat so I got myself and my husband tested on Tuesday. My test came back positive while my husband’s came back negative.

I worked most of the day Wednesday but then I was not feeling well that night and took Thursday off. Then I knew I had a lot of work to do Friday so worked the entire morning again.. I was supposed to be on PTO anyway to prep the house for my friend James’s visit. Unfortunately that got cancelled, because of, well.. covid! Damn covid ☹ So my family and I have been stuck in the house for more than a week now. Except for husband’s occassional trips to the store. Myka has been doing great while I still have coughs. 🤢

Well anyway, I do hope I pass this certification exam…

Thoughts on Career

I decided to take a 6 month course on Data Science and Business Analytics. I started the course on October 2021. It cost me I think $3,325.00 so it’s not cheap at all. I was thinking that I needed to invest in myself and push myself to learn something new. Since it cost a lot of money I’m going to really take the time and try my best to get the most out of it.

I’ve finished 2 modules of the course and got an Excellent grade for both. I was at one point #1 in the class – when we were still starting with Python basics. Now I’m like at #14. It’s been harder to find time and focus especially because I’m also a little stressed at work.

Lately I’ve been doubting myself, if I made the right choice. If I should have invested in something like ITIL or PMP. I’ve browsed through the job postings on data engineering positions and I feel intimidated by the requirements like at least 3 years of experience in data engineering using Python, Hadoop, etc. Well… I have 10+ years experience in software engineering using Java… but it doesn’t count.

Then I’m thinking, I’m already a manager now… am I really going back to coding? Should I focus on project management? I don’t know… I guess I’m just getting a little frustrated that I’m not where I want to be. I want to learn and I enjoy learning, but I feel like I am a little behind. I am also worried that my investment won’t pay off or that I’m wasting my time. Right now I can’t decide. Should I stay where I am until they get rid of me? Or should I give myself time, enjoy each day of working and learning, then slowly gain confidence and experience in this new field? I think I know the answer…

2 Weeks of Being a Design Lead

Lessons Learned:

1. Check calendar if someone overbooked you and give a heads up so they can adjust the schedule if you’re really needed in the meeting.

2. Prepare, prepare, prepare!

3. Minimize multitasking especially during important meetings.

4. Reach out to other team members who can help you prep for client sessions.

5. Be a little patient with yourself.

6. Take time for self-care.

1 Week After Being a Design Lead

2 months ago (Nov 2020), I volunteered to move to Design team to learn something new. I’ve been with this project for 7 years, working on batches and interfaces. I was promoted from Team Lead to Associate Manager after almost 3 years. Then I moved to Maintenance and Operations. It’s been fun but also stressful when I couldn’t sleep at night because I am on call.

I thought, instead of leaving the company or leaving the project, I can move to a different team to try something new. Design’s senior manager took an LOA so I wanted to help out the lead who’s also a momma of 2 toddler boys. I could just imagine te struggle of working from home with 2 toddler boys. Although she sends them to day care most of the time but they have been getting sick a lot.

So I moved to Design team in December 2020. It was nice, learning new stuff but then the lady announced that she was leaving the company. Gasp! That leaves me as the most senior in the team. I literally panicked. I did not want to be the lead. I only wanted to support her. Plus, I got promoted to Manager, which was highly unexpected because I knew there were only a few spots during the pandemic. I realized it must be because the company is promoting gender equality so they are putting slots for women to be promoted.

So, my entire Christmas vacation and holidays, I spent on preparing and thinking about how to be an effective manager. During that time, I stumbled upon videos of Julie Sweet, our CEO.

I learned a lot from her, about working hard, dreaming big, and preparing yourself.

I think I did well on my first week. I managed to get things done and be on top of the team’s activities and status reports.

I do have a big hill to climb, as what my client counterpart said, but I’m going to prepare my mind, body, and soul for that climb!

Leading a Team of Software Engineers

I have been an Associate Manager for almost 3 years now. I have been learning the ropes in management. It’s been a breeze planning the work of a team of 4, but now that my manager is temporarily away and unable to work, I am left with 5 additional team members to manage and reporting to higher bosses.

I am reflecting and trying to think of smarter ways to increase my own productivity and the team’s. We have targets we need to meet and we also need to be able to quickly resolve Production issues as they arise.

Now, more than ever, my people and time management skills are needed. I also need to adapt and find ways to ensure high quality code is delivered to Production in every release so that we are not stressed out with issues. And of course, so we maintain or increase client satisfaction with our product.

This weekend, I will set aside some time to think of producing highly effective and productive teams of software developers.