My Journey to Optimizely Certification: Study Tips, AI Tools, and Exam Strategies

How I Prepared for My Optimizely Certification Exam

Hello everyone, I recently took the Optimizely Certification Developer Exam and became certified, and I want to share my experience. First of all, I didn’t take the new exam through the Optimizely website—I did it using the older approach with a third-party application. Either way, I think the overall experience is the same.

What Reference Materials Did I Use?
For the most part, I used the video lectures taught by Bruce Gordon. There were two sessions—one for Fundamentals exam prep and the other for advanced prep. I was able to register for these classes at the time, so make sure to ask in the Optimizely Slack if they can provide them to you. This really helps because Bruce navigates through the relevant parts of the documentation, meaning you don’t have to read everything and overwhelm yourself.

The PDFs for these topics were crucial because Bruce explained the key concepts needed for the exam. For example, in the CMS 12 Fundamentals course offered by Optimizely, I don’t recall seeing anything about DXP or how to use the API for deployment (wink wink). That topic appeared on the exam, and without those notes, those questions would have caught me by surprise.

Did I Use AI to Study?
Yes, I did use AI to study—and yes, I used ChatGPT. But you need to use it the right way. After watching the lectures, I added a prompt to ChatGPT: “Act as a tutor and create multiple-choice questions based on these resources, but don’t provide the answers immediately. Instead, correct me if I’m wrong and score me.” I used this as a review for every single topic that Bruce taught.

Another AI tool I used was NotebookLM. It was really helpful because I uploaded the source materials—the PDFs from Bruce that I was able to download. You can also add links from the documentation as sources and create a sort of podcast. The podcast was very useful because I could listen to the exam concepts while driving. I did this every time I needed to drive, as I usually listen to podcasts during my commute, so I made that time productive.

How Much Time Did I Prepare?
I wanted to be fully prepared, but with a full-time job, it was challenging, so I made a study plan. I set aside one month to study for the Optimizely exam, studying for 2 hours every day. During those 2 hours, I divided my time into Pomodoros—25 minutes of focused study followed by a 5-minute break. A month gave me the flexibility to space out study sessions around trips or social events. Although a month worked well for me, if you’re in a rush, you could be prepared in as little as 2 weeks. I suggest allowing yourself at least 2 weeks to study.

What Are the Questions Like?
The exam questions are multiple choice with a single correct answer, and yes, they include code snippets. If you study and know the code, it’s really easy to identify the correct option. There are also scenario-based questions, so make sure you understand the concepts well to recognize the best approach in each case.

During the Exam, What Did I Do?
For any online proctored exam, I suggest adding some buffer time. I started 30 minutes in advance to be prepared for any unforeseen issues. This extra time allowed me to fix some internet connection problems before and during the exam. The support team was very helpful and always ready to resolve any issues.

Also, be sure to read the questions carefully—this applies to any exam. I read the questions three times if I didn’t understand what they were asking. Once I comprehended the question, I was able to answer correctly and have that “eureka” moment.

How Difficult Is the Exam?
I think the difficulty of the exam depends on your preparation. If you study the material and have a good grasp of the concepts, you should be able to pass the exam.

Any Other Reference Materials?
You can also check out this reference guide for the exam:
Optimizely Exam Guide

So, that was my experience with the Optimizely Content Cloud Developer Certification Exam. Good luck to anyone taking the exam, and please feel free to ask questions—I’ll be happy to help.