diff --git a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/finalizer_example.go b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/finalizer_example.go
index a3101d02cb5..b2b8e54b9ad 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/finalizer_example.go
+++ b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/finalizer_example.go
@@ -67,10 +67,23 @@ func (r *CronJobReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ct
 		// then lets add the finalizer and update the object. This is equivalent
 		// to registering our finalizer.
 		if !controllerutil.ContainsFinalizer(cronJob, myFinalizerName) {
-			controllerutil.AddFinalizer(cronJob, myFinalizerName)
+			log.Info("Adding Finalizer for CronJob")
+			if ok := controllerutil.AddFinalizer(cronJob, myFinalizerName); !ok {
+				log.Error(err, "Failed to add finalizer into the custom resource")
+				return ctrl.Result{Requeue: true}, nil
+			}
+
 			if err := r.Update(ctx, cronJob); err != nil {
 				return ctrl.Result{}, err
 			}
+
+			// we re-fetch after having updated the CronJob, so that we have the latest
+			// state of the resource, and avoid the error "the object has been modified,
+			// please apply your changes to the latest version and try again".
+			if err := r.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, cronJob); err != nil {
+				log.Error(err, "unable to fetch CronJob")
+				return ctrl.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		// The object is being deleted
diff --git a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/api/v1/cronjob_types.go b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/api/v1/cronjob_types.go
index ee782bfb488..95d76ce7941 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/api/v1/cronjob_types.go
+++ b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/api/v1/cronjob_types.go
@@ -144,9 +144,12 @@ const (
 
 // CronJobStatus defines the observed state of CronJob.
 type CronJobStatus struct {
-	// INSERT ADDITIONAL STATUS FIELD - define observed state of cluster
 	// Important: Run "make" to regenerate code after modifying this file
 
+	// Represents the observations of a CronJob's current state.
+	// For further information see: https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/master/contributors/devel/sig-architecture/api-conventions.md#typical-status-properties
+	Conditions []metav1.Condition `json:"conditions,omitempty" patchStrategy:"merge" patchMergeKey:"type" protobuf:"bytes,1,rep,name=conditions"`
+
 	// A list of pointers to currently running jobs.
 	// +optional
 	Active []corev1.ObjectReference `json:"active,omitempty"`
diff --git a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/internal/controller/cronjob_controller.go b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/internal/controller/cronjob_controller.go
index c85d8883994..784d84dd85e 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/internal/controller/cronjob_controller.go
+++ b/docs/book/src/cronjob-tutorial/testdata/project/internal/controller/cronjob_controller.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/robfig/cron"
 	kbatch "k8s.io/api/batch/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	ref "k8s.io/client-go/tools/reference"
@@ -66,6 +68,14 @@ type Clock interface {
 	Now() time.Time
 }
 
+/*
+Definitions to manage status conditions of the CronJob
+*/
+const (
+	typeAvailableCronJob = "AvailableCronJob"
+	typeDegradedCronJob  = "DegradedCronJob"
+)
+
 // +kubebuilder:docs-gen:collapse=Clock
 
 /*
@@ -111,15 +121,41 @@ func (r *CronJobReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ct
 
 		Many client methods also take variadic options at the end.
 	*/
-	var cronJob batchv1.CronJob
-	if err := r.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, &cronJob); err != nil {
-		log.Error(err, "unable to fetch CronJob")
-		// we'll ignore not-found errors, since they can't be fixed by an immediate
-		// requeue (we'll need to wait for a new notification), and we can get them
-		// on deleted requests.
-		return ctrl.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
+	cronJob := &batchv1.CronJob{}
+	if err := r.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, cronJob); err != nil {
+		if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			// we'll ignore not-found errors, since they can't be fixed by an immediate
+			// requeue (we'll need to wait for a new notification), and we can get them
+			// on deleted requests.
+			// If the CronJob is not found then it usually means that it was deleted or
+			// not created. In this way we will stop the reconciliation
+			log.Info("CronJob resource not found. Ignoring since object must be deleted")
+			return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+		}
+		// Error reading the object - requeue the request.
+		log.Error(err, "Failed to fetch CronJob")
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
 	}
 
+	// Let's just set the status as Unknown when no status is available
+	if cronJob.Status.Conditions == nil || len(cronJob.Status.Conditions) == 0 {
+		meta.SetStatusCondition(&cronJob.Status.Conditions, metav1.Condition{Type: typeAvailableCronJob, Status: metav1.ConditionUnknown, Reason: "Reconciling", Message: "Starting reconciliation"})
+		if err := r.Status().Update(ctx, cronJob); err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "Failed to update CronJob status")
+			return ctrl.Result{}, err
+		}
+
+		// Re-fetch the CronJob after updating the status so that we have
+		// the latest state of the resource on the cluster and avoid raising
+		// an error should we try to update it again in the following operations
+		if err := r.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, cronJob); err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "Failed to re-fetch CronJob")
+			return ctrl.Result{}, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	// TODO(dev): add finalizer logic
+
 	/*
 		### 2: List all active jobs, and update the status
 
@@ -255,7 +291,7 @@ func (r *CronJobReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ct
 		The status subresource ignores changes to spec, so it's less likely to conflict
 		with any other updates, and can have separate permissions.
 	*/
-	if err := r.Status().Update(ctx, &cronJob); err != nil {
+	if err := r.Status().Update(ctx, cronJob); err != nil {
 		log.Error(err, "unable to update CronJob status")
 		return ctrl.Result{}, err
 	}
@@ -396,7 +432,7 @@ func (r *CronJobReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ct
 
 	// figure out the next times that we need to create
 	// jobs at (or anything we missed).
-	missedRun, nextRun, err := getNextSchedule(&cronJob, r.Now())
+	missedRun, nextRun, err := getNextSchedule(cronJob, r.Now())
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err, "unable to figure out CronJob schedule")
 		// we don't really care about requeuing until we get an update that
@@ -500,7 +536,7 @@ func (r *CronJobReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ct
 	// +kubebuilder:docs-gen:collapse=constructJobForCronJob
 
 	// actually make the job...
-	job, err := constructJobForCronJob(&cronJob, missedRun)
+	job, err := constructJobForCronJob(cronJob, missedRun)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err, "unable to construct job from template")
 		// don't bother requeuing until we get a change to the spec