Since sharing our developers’ first impressions, our journey with Hyvä has only grown stronger. It has transformed the way we build Magento stores, with faster performance, cleaner code, and a better experience for both developers and clients.
As a Hyvä Silver Partner, we’re proud to be part of a growing community that’s pushing Magento forward. When we heard the news about Hyvä Certification, we knew right away it was the perfect opportunity to validate the skills we’d already been putting to work, project after project.
Josip and Karlo didn’t hesitate. They were the first ones on the battlefield, ready to test their knowledge and represent the team. We even put a Ghibli-style image of them as the featured photo, because every great frontend story deserves some animation flair.
Certified and battle-tested, here’s their take on the experience.
Motivation & Preparation
Every journey starts with a reason and motivation. For our developers, the drive to earn certification was sparked by a combination of personal challenges and a passion for growth:
This was actually my very first certification ever, so I was really motivated to challenge myself and see what I’m capable of. I’ve always enjoyed pushing my own limits, investing in personal growth, and continuously improving my skills. This felt like the perfect opportunity to do just that!
As a developer working with Magento 2, I’ve always been interested in improving performance and developer experience. Hyvä stood out as a game-changer in that space, offering a modern, lightweight alternative to Luma that drastically improves site speed and simplifies front-end development. Pursuing the Hyvä certification was a natural next step. I wanted to deepen my expertise, validate my skills officially, and be part of the growing Hyvä community.
With motivation in hand, the next step is putting in the work to get ready. Preparing for certification isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing, so we’re curious to know how each of them tackled it.
How did you prepare for the exam? Were there any specific resources (like courses or documentation) that helped you, aside from your hands-on experience with Hyvä in projects?
My main preparation came from hands-on experience; working on real Hyvä projects gave me a solid foundation. While there isn’t an official course, the combination of real-world usage, Hyvä documentation, and community content really helped me feel prepared for the exam.
Experience helped, but my team helped even more. Not just during certification prep, but throughout my entire time working. They were always there to explain tricky parts and guide me through real challenges. I also used docs for Hyvä, Alpine JS, and Tailwind, and watched some YouTube videos too.
Exam Time!
The countdown had ended, and the exam was here. Left alone in a big office room, with pre-exam hype echoing from the team Slack, Josip was the first to put his Hyvä skills to the test. A week later, Karlo took his turn.
While we won’t spoil any specific exam question details, we can share what they found to be the most challenging part of the certification exam:
Honestly, waiting for the exam to start! 😅 I was number 37 in the Webassessor queue and had to wait nearly 30 minutes, which made me really nervous.
But once I started, I was surprised by how well I could focus and handle the tricky questions, which were definitely a challenge too.
The biggest challenge? Trying to beat my high score in a game while waiting in the queue 😅. All jokes aside, as Karlo mentioned, the most challenging part was handling the tricky questions. Some of them I had to read a few times to fully understand. I think that’s pretty normal when English isn’t your first language. It was also my first time taking any kind of certification exam, so getting used to the format and experience was part of the challenge too.
Why Certified Developers Matter
Certifications aren’t just about personal growth. They’re also a statement about the kind of work you want to deliver. Let’s hear from Josip and Karlo about what having certified developers brings to our team and clients.
This recognition brings trust and credibility. For the team, having certified developers means we have proven knowledge of Hyvä best practices, which helps us deliver clean, efficient, and high-performance code. For clients, it’s reassurance that they know they’re working with developers who are officially recognized for their expertise. It reduces risk and increases confidence in the solutions we build.
I hope it builds even more trust with our clients, showing them that we take our craft seriously. For the team, it’s been a great learning opportunity. Even though we’ve been working with Hyvä for a while now, there’s always something new to discover, and that knowledge will help us build even better online stores in the future.
Post-Exam Feels
With the exam behind them and the certificates in hand, it’s safe to say there’s a feeling of relief and a huge sense of accomplishment. Now that they’ve been through it, we asked them: What advice would you give to developers who are considering the journey to get Hyvä certified?
Get hands-on experience first; nothing beats building a real project with Hyvä. Go through the official documentation, pay attention to how things are structured, and try to understand the “why” behind it all.
The exam isn’t just about code, it’s about understanding the Hyvä mindset. And don’t stress too much, take your time with the questions, read them carefully (especially if English isn’t your first language), and treat the exam as a learning experience, not just a test.
Let’s Give This Exam a Title
As we wrap up, let’s have a little fun. We asked our developers to describe the Hyvä exam using just a movie title or a song. Let’s see what they came up with:
I can’t think of a movie or a song, but there’s one saying I totally agree with. Some questions were absolutely brutal, like they were out to finish you. But you hold on, get through it, and in the end you can proudly say: What doesn’t kill you makes you… Hyvä-certified. 😄
Josip, on the other hand, had a movie on his mind:
“John Wick” (the original) — a relentless journey where persistence, skill, and staying cool under pressure are your best weapons to win, just like powering through the Hyvä certification.
Doing Things the Hyvä Way
They might not brag, but we will. Our developers passed their Hyvä certification exams with impressive scores of 88.33% and 93.33%, well above the 70% required to pass.
What more can we say? We’re proud to have such skilled and dedicated professionals on our team. For us, doing things the Hyvä way means going the extra mile – and clearly, they did just that!
Is Your Magento Store Ready for Hyvä?
Hyvä has transformed the way Magento frontends are built, bringing speed, simplicity, and flexibility where it was once lacking. With many successful Hyvä projects behind us, we can confidently say: Hyvä-powered Magento is the way forward and it’s the way we build.
Considering Hyvä for your next move? Let’s chat, because you’re in good hands here. Our certified developers are ready to help you do it right!
