Certification Roadmap

Data Engineer

Targets senior data engineering roles across platforms. IBM Data Science Professional provides Python and ML depth, Databricks validates modern lakehouse architecture skills, and the AWS or GCP data engineering cert adds cloud platform expertise for enterprise data infrastructure roles.

12–18 Months$110,000–$150,000

Data & AI

IBM Data Science Professional

IBMDSassociate

Study time

200–300 hours

Exam cost

$200

$85,000–$120,000

IBM Data Science Professional provides comprehensive Python, data analysis, and machine learning foundations. It establishes the programming and statistical skills that underpin all data engineering work.

Databricks Data Engineer Associate

associate

Study time

80–120 hours

Exam cost

$200

$110,000–$145,000

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Price varies

Databricks Data Engineer Associate validates modern lakehouse architecture skills using Delta Lake, Apache Spark, and Unity Catalog. High demand in organizations adopting the Lakehouse paradigm for enterprise data infrastructure.

Data Engineer Associate

DEA-C01associate

Study time

80–120 hours

Exam cost

$150

$120,000–$155,000

Get the Study Guide →

Price varies

AWS Data Engineer Associate adds cloud platform expertise to your data engineering credentials. It validates the ability to build and manage data pipelines on AWS using Glue, Kinesis, Redshift, and Lake Formation.