Reflection is an important part of growth, it not only challenges us be critical of ourselves and the environment around us but it beautifully transforms experiences into genuine learning (a theme that will persist throughout this article) and so with my personal six month anniversary with BlakYaks fast approaching, it seemed only appropriate to take a step back from all the certifications and office comradery to reflect on what has been my first six month at BlakYaks.

Before we take our trip down memory lane, I think it is for the best that I provide you with some personal background. I graduated from the University of Portsmouth back in July of 2020, although even as I’m typing that out it already feels like a lifetime ago, and despite the pandemic and restricted access to university materials I remained as determined as ever to finish my studies, achieve my goals but more pressingly complete my final year project. Whilst on that subject, I was tasked with creating & developing an iOS application that assisted carers for whom are responsible for multiple individuals, more specifically help keep track of their medication intake and even when the prescription was ending and needed re-ordering.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at university and believe it not only allowed myself to grow and mature as an individual, but it also provided myself with the perfect skill set and more importantly helped nurture the mentality required to thrive and ultimately succeed at BlakYaks. Circling back, you are probably wondering how it all went and whether it all ended up in glory or disappointment, well I won’t leave you hanging for long, I am pleased that I did in fact graduate with a First-Class Honours degree in BSc Computing thus concluding that chapter of both my life and this blog.

So fast forwarding on six months, I find myself joining this new, exciting but most importantly ambitious tech start-up, BlakYaks. Joining the company at its birth exposed myself to elements of a business you just simply wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience in your usual graduate role, like browsing potential office spaces, but that’s skipping ahead. As I just briefly eluded, a combination of no office space and Covid-19 restrictions at the time meant starting this experience from home, meeting new faces for the first time from home, getting to grips with the requirements of the role from home, a prospect daunting enough to unnerve anyone, but here lies another beauty of joining at birth, everyone else was going through the exact same thing something of which I took comfort in knowing. Upon starting It became apparent that I needn’t worry, in fact even in the weeks leading up to joining I was made to feel accommodated for, whether it be adjusting my start date or ensuring that I had all the correct equipment to ensure my work from home setup was perfect.

The foundations for the company culture were being built and already it was clear to see what kind of atmosphere was being harboured. Day one, meeting one and the plan for my role was set out, the training and development path I was set to undertake was laid bare; AZ-900, Hashicorp Terraform Associate, AZ-104.

An immediate sense of excitement and determination washed over. Leaving university, it’s easy to feel like you know everything, and that the learning part of your life is over, and whilst that may be true in some fields, that not only would have been the completely wrong mindset to have upon becoming a Yak, but it’s also the wrong mindset to have when you are a Yak.

If at any point my re-telling of acquiring the three certifications comes across as arrogance or it sounds like I’m down playing the difficulty and effort required then please do rest assured in that it is only for time’s sake and interest of making the reading palpable that I need not describe the sheer number of hours dedicated towards each individual certification, whether it be reading pages long documentation surrounding the necessary resources that should accompany a virtual machine upon its creation or the countless attempts I had at the various mock exams. The main takeaway should be that these certifications take time, hard work and dedication, and in my view simply cannot be rushed, as you may get the pass on exam day but your knowledge needs to be deeper than that as you will be interacting with elements from each of the certifications every working day, that is if you are like me and join a company that exclusively work on providing cloud services on the Azure platform.

Studying for the AZ-900 certification…

Progressing onwards, I felt confident upon undertaking the AZ-900 as I felt like I had solid base of foundation knowledge, having not only my university degree behind me but also a six-month stint as an IT support analyst which allowed for familiarity with concepts such as networking and storage. However, learning and understanding them in the context of Azure was entirely new and something I found extremely enjoyable as I was working through the excellent virtual learning tools that I had been provided with, alongside the official Microsoft documentation I thought best to read alongside the course to just further deepen my understanding.

All together the AZ-900 took me just over three weeks to obtain from watching my first introductory lecture to sitting the exam and getting the all-important pass, and although I wouldn’t describe it as the hardest certification to acquire, I would say it was essential not only for myself but also for any future aspiring cloud engineers that may be reading this as it allows you gain a broad understanding of both cloud concepts and azure services whilst unlocking the ability to begin to specialise on the Microsoft cloud platform.  

…And for the Terraform Associate Exam

Next on the agenda was the Terraform Associate exam, one I was personally looking forward to getting stuck into as it would grant me my first exposure to HCL and terraform itself, something of which I knew was an integral tool we use here at BlakYaks. Its easy to feel overwhelmed when starting a new certification as you are on the receiving end of, what feels like constant, bombardment of new information, however this is where you must remain determined and committed to the cause as eventually the pieces of the puzzle do click into place. I found this certification to have the most interactive learning journey of the three, and so it should as you are learning a new language, HCL, that will allow you to easily deploy and automate your infrastructure as code.

My one recommendation for this certification would be to ensure that you have a playground environment at your disposal, as I found it extremely useful to be able to test and try out my newfound skills rather than just solely relying on the online lecture materials. Again, I was made to feel accommodated for having been provided with an excess of learning materials, and one major benefit of working in a team with expert engineers was that I was frequently given terraform demonstrations and walkthroughs that would not only create a link between my learning with real-world examples but also help plug gaps in my knowledge.

Pursuing the AZ-104 Azure Administrator

The final certificate on the check list was the AZ-104: Azure Administrator and with it brought new challenges and hurdles to overcome. Firstly, the passing of the Terraform associate and transition to the AZ-104 happened as the company itself was moving into its first office, no longer were we confined to virtual meetings and text conversations, but the Yaks were getting a place that we could call our own, although come the end of summer, expansion was already a blaze as BlakYaks continue their rapid acceleration of momentum with multiple new additions to the team & customer engagements signed.

Speaking of the latter, studying for the AZ-104 also coincided with the commencement of client work meaning that my time had to be divided, with the client getting the priority, although I found that to be beneficiary as when undertaking a mass amount of study it is easy to become an exam-passing locomotive but not only did it provide a change of pace from the revision, but it served as a timely reminder as to why I was undergoing this period of intense studying and helped re-focus the mind on the goal, providing that extra boost of motivation.

The AZ-104 was without a doubt the most time consuming of the three as I found the level of difficulty and complexity in the content crank up a gear (in fact Microsoft even recommends you have at least six months experience in the Azure world before sitting this exam!) , and rather than just being able to remember facts about specific azure services or concept, the AZ-104 focuses much more on ensuring you know when to use a specific resource or how to create one with the exact criteria required.

Although with days in the office now a main stay of life at BlakYaks, an opportunity presented itself as I was able to use the time commuting to and from work on the train to keep reading the study materials or sitting the online mock exams which allowed me to ensuring my time was being used effectively, for example, I was able to identify areas in which my understanding was lacking thus meaning I was able to dedicate more of my time to things I just didn’t understand as well.

The sheer sensation of relief that beset upon myself when I got the pass at the first time of asking was unrivalled as it felt almost as if the decision to bring me on board had been vindicated, and that I now had the building blocks in place to kick on and become a valuable asset to the team.

About working at BlakYaks

I often get asked by friends and family what my favourite thing is about working at BlakYaks, and while the easy answer would be to just simply say we’ve achieved the perfect balance between office days and work from home or the impromptu rooftop socials after work, the actual answer goes far deeper than that and lies within the company culture that has been created.

You don’t have to spend too long browsing the internet before you stumble upon a company who describe their culture or work environment as “fun and friendly”, and while that is certainly true here at BlakYaks, I believe we have created a combination of feelings or atmosphere that is both hard to achieve and even harder to replicate, those being transparency and openness that has ultimately built a key pillar in the BlakYaks culture: Inclusiveness.

Not only do the engineering team here at BlakYaks have years of high-quality industry experience but BlakYaks as a whole is filled to brim with individuals who bring a plethora of expertise with them, and whilst I am only at the start of my journey it would be easy to have been side-lined as the more senior members of the team engage in conversations that go beyond my level of experience, however there’s a conscious yet natural effort to ensure that I am involved and whilst I don’t have full comprehension of the content being discussed the sheer fact that of being in that conversation is highly beneficial as it only serves to further the personal desire within to continue elevating ones individual knowledge.

But it doesn’t stop there, from spontaneous white board session to our weekly team catch-ups where all sorts can be discussed ranging from potential customer engagements to daily tasks and even discussing personal plans and achievements, like a member of the team passing their driving test. The singular fact that they are held weekly rather than monthly highlights the level of transparency that exists here.

In other workplaces, you would just simply be told that you have been assigned to new customer engagement and that would be the end of discussion, but here at BlakYaks there is real beauty in seeing things progress from the first conversations and meetings to the delight and euphoria around the place when the signature is secured meaning a customer engagements can be announced, a feeling that is only enhanced because it feels like you were being brought along on that journey with the company rather than the alternative.

Since acquiring all three certifications of which were asked of me way back at the start of my six months, life here at BlakYaks has continued at a rapid pace. Multiple new members have joined the team, I’ve personally had the opportunity to work on multiple pieces of work for clients, and I’ve even been granted the freedom to carve out my future certification path beginning with the AZ-204, having earnt the trust of my fellow peers thanks to the prior months hard work.

So much has changed here at BlakYaks over the last six months that it would be near impossible to predict what the next six months might have in store for us, but there is just one thing I can’t see stopping…the learning.

Written by Harry Bagnall, Cloud Engineer at BlakYaks.

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