GCP Certification: Associate Cloud Engineer vs Professional Cloud Architect

Hello reddit,

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I currently work as a systems administrator with very limited cloud knowledge except for spinning my a droplet or two on Digital Ocean. I want to learn more cloud technologies to advance my career, but I am a bit conflicted by these two certifications offered by Google. Doing a quick search online and on reddit, people are saying the Professional Cloud Architect is better for beginners, however the website makes it seem as though the Associate Cloud Engineer is the one to get first over the "Professional" level certs.

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Can anyone chime in?