GitHub Certified: Administration Resources

I learned that GitHub was offering certifications some time in early 2023. Even though I work at Microsoft, I missed the initial announcements as they were directed at GitHub partners. Being a Microsoft employee I was also eligible to take the exams. Full disclosure - I was able to take these exams at no cost through my employer. Since joining Microsoft, upskilling on GitHub has become a required skill as more and more of the customers I work with are using the platform to support their DevOps initiatives. It was time to prove to myself that I had the knowledge to pass the exams.

Disclaimer: GitHub reviews certifications regularly to help ensure that they remain relevant, technically accurate and that they assess the skills needed to thrive in a cloud-based world. Exams evolve over time and may change without notice. This post represents my best knowledge of the GitHub Administration exam as of Q2 2023, but you should always consult the GitHub Certifications Page for the contents of the exam.

What is the GitHub Administration Certification?

As a GitHub Administrator, you need to maintain a healthy, robust, and secure GitHub environment that supports the needs of my customer’s requirements and developer workflows. The GitHub Administration exam is an opportunity to certify your ability to optimize and manage a healthy GitHub environment. The exam allows you to prove your expertise in repository management, workflow optimization, and efficient collaboration to support successful projects on GitHub.

The exams covers the following objective domains:

Support GitHub Enterprise for users and key stakeholders (15%)
Manage user identities and GitHub authentication (20%)
Describe how GitHub is deployed, distributed, and licensed (5%)
Manage access and permissions based on membership (20%)
Enable secure software development and ensure compliance (15%)
Manage GitHub Actions (20%)
Manage GitHub Packages (5%)

How Did I Prepare?

As mentioned in previous posts I am not a developer by trade. Development of Git was not even started until I was five years into my professional career. I honestly don’t even remember if I learned anything about a specific version control system while attending college for my B.S. in Computer Science. To say my knowledge and experience using GitHub was limited would be a massive understatement. I knew enough to get by and not look like a fool in front of customers.

I spent a month working in GitHub to get more familiar with the platform and read through as my documentation as I could prior to taking the exam.

What Resources Did I Use to Prepare?

I used the following resources to get ready:

I worked through as much of the content above as I could in my month of study to learn as much as I could.

Since taking the exam, GitHub has released additional study material that I would highly recommend you have a look at as part of your study for the exam:

My Challenge Area

While I cannot talk about exam specifics for obvious reasons, I do want to point out the area that I struggled with the most:

Manage GitHub Actions related questions were the most challenging for me on this exam. I really struggled with Actions and even continue to struggle to this day. I have a hard time understanding the syntax no matter how much I look at and work with examples, but I am committed to continue learning and become more familiar with the capability.

The Test

This was my first exam taken through PSI. I took the exam remotely rather than drive to an onsite testing facility. I gave myself a month to prepare and study when I scheduled the exam. I’ve found that giving myself a deadline forces me to study and prepare for the exam.

Same exam procedure that I’ve used for taking Microsoft exams through Pearson VUE. I took the exam in our guest bedroom which worked out well as I did not have to take down pictures, remove paperwork, disable technology, etc. I set up my laptop on a folding table, provided pictures of the room, my driver’s license, and face, then sat in front of my computer while the proctor verified that everything was good to go. I never had to talk with them at all, the exam launched, and I spent the next 120 minutes working through questions. I finished with 20 minutes remaining.

Immediately after the test, I received my detailed score breakdown in various areas and was told that I passed. An e-mail showed up no more than an hour later with details on getting my certificate, claiming it on Credly, sharing it on LinkedIn, etc.

The PSI exam experience was similar to the Pearson VUE experience. I didn’t have any issues and I personally don’t have a preference of one or the other. Your mileage may vary.

What’s Ahead?

The GitHub Administration exam covers a lot of material and you will really need to know the material if you want to pass the exam.

Here are a handful of other exams to consider if you’ve passed the GitHub Administration exam:

As for me, I moved on to the GitHub Advanced Security exam to expand my GitHub platform skills.