five certifications from a third world country

I'm taking five certifications, maybe all this year, maybe bleeding into next year. The lineup is locked in either way.

#	Certification	What It Proves
1	CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator)	I can run clusters, not just talk about them
2	AWS SAA (Solutions Architect Associate)	I understand cloud infrastructure at scale
3	Terraform Associate	I can codify infrastructure, not click through consoles
4	CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer)	I can build for Kubernetes, not just administrate it
5	RHCSA (Red Hat Certified System Administrator)	I know Linux beyond `sudo apt install`

the money problem

I live in the Philippines. The median software engineer salary here is around ₱65,000/mo and devops sits at about ₱80,000/mo. A single CKA exam costs $445 which is roughly ₱26,000 for one exam and one attempt.

Certification	USD	PHP
CKA	$445	~₱26,000
AWS SAA	$150	~₱8,700
Terraform Associate	$70.50	~₱4,100
CKAD	$445	~₱26,000
RHCSA	$450	~₱26,000
Total	~$1,560	~₱90,800

Wtf??? That's expensive shit ₱90,800 on exams alone. Not counting study materials, Udemy subscriptions, lab environments, or the energy drinks I'll need to survive the review sessions. That's a disgusting amount of money in this economy.

why bother

I don't have a degree because I dropped out. School wasn't for me and I learned better on my own, which is ironic because now I'm paying for exams to prove I know things I taught myself. It's a compromise.

The education system here doesn't help either. It's way too reliant on degrees as a measure of competence and the quality of what you actually learn is questionable at best. You spend four years getting a diploma so you can apply for jobs that are underpaid regardless of how good you are. HR departments filter by education and job postings require "at least a bachelor's degree in a related field" for roles where the actual work is writing code and debugging why things don't work. The degree requirement just makes it harder for people who chose a different path.

I want to level up where I am right now and eventually have the option to work somewhere outside the Philippines. That's the real reason I'm doing this. Certs are one of the few things that translate across borders when you don't have a degree, and I need every edge I can get.

Certifications won't replace a degree in the eyes of every employer. They do prove that I can actually do the work right now though, and that matters more than what I studied in a classroom.

I've been running a homelab for a while now. Kubernetes clusters, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring stacks, the whole thing. I've debugged OOMKilled pods at 2am, written Helm charts that actually work, and set up infrastructure that handles real traffic. But none of that shows up on a resume in a way that gets past HR filters, so a certification is basically a third party vouching for me with a serial number attached. And...

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

the roadmap

flowchart TD
    A["CKA – Feb 2026"]
    B["AWS SAA – Mar/Apr 2026"]
    C["Terraform Associate – May/Jun 2026"]
    D["CKAD – Jul/Aug 2026"]
    E["RHCSA – Sep/Oct 2026"]

    A --> B --> C --> D --> E

CKA first because Kubernetes is what I use daily and my homelab runs on it. I've already fought most of the battles the exam covers: etcd backups, network policies, RBAC, troubleshooting nodes that decide to stop being Ready for no apparent reason. The exam is a performance-based lab, which means my actual experience matters more than memorization.

After that, AWS SAA since I've used AWS before but never got the cert for it. Then Terraform because I already write it daily and just need to make it official. CKAD after that because it shares the Kubernetes domain with CKA but focuses on the app developer side. RHCSA last because it's the most expensive and I want four passes behind me first.

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

current status

Already started reviewing for CKA about a week ago with a Udemy subscription and a KodeKloud account. Planning to take it around February 28th.

KodeKloud's labs are the closest thing to the actual CKA exam environment I've found. Udemy for the theory, KodeKloud for the practice. If you're studying for CKA, this combo is it.

One week in and the review is going well so far. Most of the CKA curriculum is stuff I've already done in my homelab and the exam just forces you to do it under time pressure without your bookmarks.

the real enemy

The hardest part is the voice that says "why bother" or "that's a lot of money for a piece of paper." Impostor syndrome hits different when you're self-taught and everyone around you has a diploma on their wall.

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The thing is, passing these exams means more here than it does in countries where everyone already has three certs and a master's degree. Most candidates here have degrees with no hands-on experience, so certs backed by real lab work actually stand out.

If you're in a similar situation, the certs are probably worth it.

the war begins

This post is partly an accountability thing. If I put it out in public I can't quietly abandon the plan like I do with everything else. If you see me posting about something completely unrelated in three months and none of these are done, feel free to call me out.

"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

See you on the other side of the first exam.