Become a Magento Certified Developer Plus!

I have noticed many people interested in getting their Magento certification (either as Magento Certified Developer or Magento Certified Developer Plus). I have seen a lot of questions being asked on forums about how one should prepare for such an exam.

Our team seems to have it all figured out, as Emanuel has just announced us yesterday that he is now a Magento Certified Developer Plus. So we now have 6 colleagues that are MCDP!!

To help other enthusiasts in need, I asked him what he did (and studied) to be ready to ace this exam. When he decided to take the test, Emanuel first talked with other colleagues that have taken this exam, to get recommendations. It is not an easy exam, but with the right preparation, Magento developers can obtain it!

To make the study process easier, I’ve broken it down into several steps, as follows:

Step 1: Decide you want to do it and allocate resources!

You will need time and motivation.

The most important resource you need to have is time, so make sure you keep the perfect balance between your daily projects, personal time and study (taking a few days off would be essential). In a few weeks you can surely rock this exam, if you have previous experience on Magento projects (so you are quite familiar with the platform and its challenges).

You have to commit yourself to this project – it is, of course, for your own good. So stay motivated and work hard to get this important accreditation.

Step 2: Register on On-Demand

You can train yourself on Magento’s best practices by following the available videos on On-Demand. This way, you get 40 hours of videos about Magento’s fundamentals. And if you need more, you can surely purchase them.

Download the official Magento Study Guide.

Step 3: Start studying

Create your own study plan, with sections you need to cover.

Just then, start reading. Begin with Magento’s Wiki and then try to actually implement everything you find in here. On this Wiki page, you can find an important number of tutorials that explain several of the sections you will take your test from. (such as Api, Shipping Methods, Payment Methods and so on).

For example, try to create a payment method module. Even if this solution is not fully functional, sometimes it is good enough to understand the way things work and how to make a debug.

Study Magento’s dashboard. Understand your ways around it and its options.

Other useful (unofficial) resources: