A few weeks ago, I took and passed the new dbt Architect exam. I wanted to write down my thoughts on it to address the following questions:
- What’s the exam like?
- How does it compare to the dbt Developer exam?
- Who should take it?
- How would I recommend preparing for it?
I’ll make reference to several learning resources throughout this blog so I’ll link them all here to make them easier to find:
What’s the exam like?
This is a certification that covers admin-level responsibilities in dbt. You’ll learn about things like connecting to data warehouses, job deployments, managing environments, and assigning permissions, among other things. It doesn’t put much emphasis on the more hands-on development side of dbt, which is tested in the dbt Developer exam.
Your dbt setup can vary quite a bit depending on factors like which data platform you use, which Git provider you use, and how large your organization is. When it comes to these differences, the test does a good job of keeping questions general. Instead of asking nit-picky questions about the semantics of Snowflake grants, for example, the test will simply ensure you understand that data warehouse accounts for developers will need read and write access to their development schemas, whereas service accounts will need read and write access to production schemas. In other words, when there’s any possibility of ambiguity, they’ll test your understanding of broadly applicable best practices.
How does it compare to the dbt Developer exam?
The dbt Fundamentals course is listed as a prerequisite for the learning paths that dbt Labs provides for both certifications. It covers the basics of development in dbt, introducing key components like models, tests, and sources. Beyond that, there’s little overlap between the two. The Developer certification is definitely not a prerequisite for this one, though it is crucial that you at least complete the Fundamentals course even if your intention is to focus solely on the tasks of an architect and leave development to others. Without that, you’re missing out on some necessary context and won’t understand why it’s important to do the things you’re learning how to do.
Who should take it?
The obvious answer is people who intend to operate as dbt administrators. This certification will definitely expand your knowledge of dbt’s capabilities and familiarize you with the best practices for implementing dbt at your organization.
My background, however, is that of a developer. Having completed the Developer certification, I wanted to learn more about dbt and be better prepared to use it, both in client work and internally here at The Information Lab. While I don’t expect to act in an administrative capacity in dbt anytime soon, I do think the things I learned while studying for this certification are more broadly applicable. Having a better understanding of things like environments, deployment, and dbt Catalog is definitely relevant to the work of a developer. Even beyond that, extra knowledge about the tools you use is never wasted. If you’re interested in the development side of things, I’d recommend you take this certification too (though after completing the Developer one).
How would I recommend preparing for it?
The most important learning resources are those that dbt Labs provides for free and I highly recommend you use them. My suggested approach is:
1. Go through the Fundamentals course - As mentioned above, this will teach you the basics of dbt, all of which is necessary information on which the later materials will build. The content is presented through videos as well as written lessons
2. Read the certification overview - This will give you the bullet points: which topics are covered, some helpful resources, sample questions, and how to register for the test
3. Go through the learning path - Once you’ve done the above, you’re ready to get started on learning the exam content. The learning path is the best place to start. Like the Fundamentals course, it’s a structured curriculum presented lesson-by-lesson by instructors from dbt Labs. Once you complete it, you’ll have a solid foundation in all the major topics covered in the exam
4. Read the study guide and its linked pages - While the learning path will teach you a lot, there is still some content left to learn afterward. The learning path focuses on teaching you the core concepts but the questions on the test can sometimes be more in-depth. For example, you’ll learn about the best practices pertaining to permissions and role-based access control in the learning path but the test may ask you about the names of the specific permission sets you can assign to groups, which you’ll need to have read the docs to know. This is the part of your learning that will be most similar to traditional studying. I found that reading each page and typing up what was written in my own words was more effective at reinforcing the information than simply reading it. I’d suggest finding your own way to make this a more active process because this was an important part of my preparation and I learned a ton
5. Read a few more pages - There were a few things that were referenced in the test that weren’t linked in the study guide. I’d recommend reading about hooks (not to be confused with webhooks, which are on the study guide). You can see these referenced in one of the official sample questions. I'd also recommend you read up on source freshness. You’ll have covered the basics of this but it was tested in more detail than I expected. This page might help you get an extra question or two right
6. Do some practice questions - You can go back to the certification overview in step 2 for the practice questions that dbt Labs provides but since those are just intended to give you an idea of the question types, there are only four of them. I found it helpful to feed the links provided in the study guide into NotebookLM and ask it to quiz me. It was definitely easier than the actual test but was helpful nonetheless. Revisiting topics like this is a good way to identify your weak spots and reinforce things you might not have covered recently
Once you’ve completed these steps, you should be well-prepared to take the test. I hope this guide was helpful and good luck!