The SnowPro Core Certification is the Snowflake’s Foundation level certification which aims to test the individual’s understanding of the Snowflake’s Platform, and knowledge necessary to design, develop, and manage secure, scalable Snowflake solutions to drive business objectives.
In this article let us discuss in detail about the SnowPro Core Certification and various resources that will help you in your preparation.
1. Understand the Exam Structure and Syllabus
The SnowPro Core Certification is an online proctored examination consisting of 100 Multiple Choice/Multiple Select format questions which are to be answered within a total time of 115 Minutes.
The passing score of the exam is 75% and registration fee is $175 USD.
Below is the table showing the list of topics covered in the exam and the breakdown of their respective weightage in the exam questions.
| Domain | Domain Weightings on Exams | |
| 1 | Snowflake Data Cloud Features and Architecture | 25% |
| 2 | Account Access and Security | 20% |
| 3 | Performance Concepts | 15% |
| 4 | Data Loading and Unloading | 10% |
| 5 | Data Transformations | 20% |
| 6 | Data Protection and Data Sharing | 10% |
For the breakdown of individual topics covered inside each domain, refer the exam study guide provided by Snowflake.
You will be required to login to enroll to the course. Create a Snowflake Community account if you do not have an account already.
2. Register for Snowflake Level Up Track
The Snowflake Level Up Track is a free online course provided by Snowflake which covers the basic concepts of the Snowflake . This is a good starting point to begin your preparation.
Enroll in Snowflake Level Up Track using the link provided below.
As shown in the image above, there are several individual topics covered in the course.
- In each track, there are learning materials provided in the form of PDF related to the topic.
- In each track, there is a Quiz section at the end which helps you test your understanding.
- There is also a Final Exam at the end covering all the topics of Level Up series.
3. Review Snowflake Documentation
The best place to review Snowflake concepts and features is the Snowflake Documentation. Snowflake states that all the SnowPro Core exam questions are 100% referenceable with Snowflake Documentation.
The Snowflake Documentation page is divided into multiple sections available in a horizontal list on the header part of the page. When you select a particular section, all the topics covered in the section are visible in a vertical list on the left side of the page as shown below.
The Snowflake Documentation is vast and covers a lot of details about each topic which might become a very tedious task for anyone to consume. I suggest keeping the exam guide (referred in section-1) handy and reviewing each topic one-by-one mentioned in the guide from the documentation page helps you stay on track and measure your progress.
4. Udemy Courses that help you in SnowPro Preparation
Udemy is a leading online learning platform. You can find some of the best courses on Snowflake in Udemy which will help in your preparation journey.
Below are some of the courses that I personally referred during my preparation journey.
Snowflake Decoded – Fundamentals and hands on Training
This is one of the top selling courses on Udemy with an average rating of 4.5 provided by 11K+ students and subscribed by 43K+ students in total.
The total duration of the course is 5 hours. This course covers all the required fundamentals of Snowflake and helps you familiarize with Snowflake if you are an absolute beginner.
Snowflake Decoded – Fundamentals and hands on Training
Snowflake Masterclass[stored proc+demos+Best practices+Labs]
This course according to me is one of the best comprehensive course on Snowflake that is available online. It covers all the basics along with all the advanced topics that you need to learn in Snowflake with in depth lab demonstrations.
This course has an average rating of 4.4 provided by 3K+ students and subscribed by 18K+ students in total. The total duration of course is 22 hours.
Snowflake Masterclass[stored proc+demos+Best practices+Labs]
Snowflake SnowPro Core Certification Practice Sets
Finally a Practice test course to test your readiness for the examination.
[COF-C02] Snowflake SnowPro Core Certification Practice Sets
This Practice test course consists of 6 practice tests with a total 600 questions replicating the actual exam pattern and the topics covered.
- The first three practice tests are individual tests covering all the topics of the examination.
- The next three practice tests are repetition of above three practice tests but each test focuses on specific topics only.
- Once you complete a test, the answers and explanation for each question are provided topic wise.
- Each test can be taken any number of times and the result of each attempt of every test can be tracked.
These questions are for testing your readiness and make you feel confident before the exam only. These are not the dumps that are taken from the actual examination.
Key Points to consider while choosing a Udemy course
- Before making a purchase, thoroughly research the course and the instructor.
- Look for reviews and ratings from previous students as they can give you insights into the course’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Take advantage of the Preview Course feature to get a sense of the instructor’s teaching style and the course’s content.
5. Free online resources that help you in SnowPro Preparation
Here are some of the free online resources that I personally referred during my preparation.
ThinkETL Blog
Well, I hope it wouldn’t be a surprise. There are 50+ articles published on the website covering basic to advanced concepts of Snowflake and we are actively adding new ones.
As we discussed, sometimes Snowflake documentation can be very vast and difficult to follow. Try referring the article on same topic on ThinkETL. I can confidently say that these articles are written with a developer perspective in mind in an easy to understand manner which will help you save a lot of your time.
Quickly jump into the list of all articles published on Snowflake using the link below.
YouTube
If you are looking for resources on YouTube to learn Snowflake, I highly recommend the below linked YouTube channel. The channel covers topics dedicated to Snowflake and there is a lot of content that is covered specifically for certification. There are several practice tests available topic wise created in the form of videos. (This is not our channel)
ExamTopics
ExamTopics is a large online aggregator of practice tests on various cloud technologies. Below is the link to Snowflake SnowPro Certification Practice tests.
You can access the initial 200 questions for free and the rest are paid. I personally suggest not to go for the paid questions. The questions that are available for free are good enough for your preparation.
Also the answers provided by the website may not be right always. But the community on the website is very active and you will find the highly voted answers by the community members which are a more reliable answers in most situations.
So be cautious while referring the questions from this website and I would suggest this should be the last step of your preparation just to feel confident before going to exam.
6. Prepare your own notes
Above all, it really helps to prepare your own notes when you learn something new or a complex topic which might require another reading before exam. This need not be a comprehensive document with a lot of details but a simple notes focusing on key areas which becomes a quick reference point.
Creating your own notes acts as an effective revision tool. Instead of revisiting lengthy documentation or online resources, you can quickly review essential points in your own notes, saving valuable study time.
The notes you create during certification exam preparation can also serve as a useful reference in your future professional assignments and recertification.
7. Conclusion
The resources shared in the article are for informative purpose. All these resources were something which I personally referred in my certification preparation journey and which helped me clearing the exam.
Some of these resources are Snowflake provided, some are free online resources and some are paid courses. Remember, each individual’s learning preferences and needs are unique, so what works well for one person may not be the best for another. Do your research and consider your own preferences before making any purchasing decisions.
So, what are other resources that helped you in your preparation? Share them in the comments section.
Happy Learning !!
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