This is part of the How to Prepare for Atlassian Certification blog series. Missed out on earlier articles? Check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Distinguish yourself from the millions of Jira and Confluence users with an Atlassian Certified Professional designation. In this part of our series, we cover how to tackle the ACP-300 exam for the Agile Development with Jira Software (ACP-JSW) certification.
The ACP-300 is the certification exam for Agile Development in Jira Software. The earned designation for the ACP-300 exam is ACP-JSW. This is one of the oldest and most unique of the certifications. Currently, all of Atlassian’s certifications revolve around administering Jira or Confluence or both, and are completely agnostic to the project management methodology used (Agile, waterfall, water-scrum-fall, etc.). This one is for the Agile power user!
Do you live and breathe Agile all day every day? Have you been part of or are you currently leading an Agile team (Scrum Master, Tech lead, Project or Product Manager)? Earned your CSM® or similar? Are you in constant pursuit of reporting data, process efficiencies, and workflow easements? If yes, this is the certification for you.
The ACP-300: Agile Development with Jira Software
In our previous article, we discussed how the ACP-600 is focused on administering a project within Jira. This exam focuses primarily on running an Agile project within Jira with some configuration and administration related topics as well. This exam challenges your skills and experiences on using the tool as part of a team who is also responsible for reporting data on the team and project.
Jira Software is more complex than the average user realizes. You probably already know there are some intricacies in Jira. The course material will explain the ins and outs of some of those particulars. If you have only ever used Jira and not any of Atlassian’s other products, you will learn about the awesome integrations available with Jira and how to utilize them.
The course material will also likely expose you to many topics and techniques you don’t yet know exist. You will absolutely learn some valuable skills by preparing for this exam using Atlassian’s training courses. We recommend the courses Getting Started and Getting More even if you have numerous years of experience. There are gems of knowledge littered throughout the courses, so watch for them! Knowing the material inside out may be the difference between a pass or fail result on exam day.
If you feel like you can’t be bothered with the basic training materials, we highly recommend concentrating on the more complex material. Jira Reporting and Dashboards is really very helpful. Do NOT skip the Agile Development with Jira Software Certification Prep course. We felt the most challenging aspects of the exam were related to Jira Query Language (JQL) and Reporting. So, we recommend over-preparing in those topics, but do not neglect all other topics in favor of these two. Just know the material!
Want to test your skills before you take the exam? Atlasstian offers a handful of sample test questions. Be careful to use them wisely! There are only a few. We recommend using them after you feel you’ve adequately prepared, not before.
As with the ACP-600 and any other Atlassian certification, the Atlassian Product Documentation is your best friend. If you’ve never used it or haven’t in a while, now is the time to (re)introduce yourself. You can, and should, use this to help study and understand the exam material.
Resources
Atlassian does a terrific job providing all the information you need for certification. Familiarize yourself with the provided information. For details on pricing, material to study and associated badges required to maintain your certification, refer to the respective Atlassian Certification exam and FAQs pages. Many of the frequently asked questions about the exam, the testing center policies, how to register for the exam and more is found on Atlassian’s Policies page.
Atlassian certification overview for the ACP-300
Agile Development with Jira Software Certification Prep
Conclusion
Atlassian certification is challenging but worth every ounce of effort you put into it. Stay tuned for a deep dive into preparing for additional certification exams.
