2024 has been a whirlwind of exams, questions, and certifications. After completing the AWS certification journey, I wanted to share the tips, insights, and strategies that helped me succeed—and answer some of the most common questions I received along the way.
FAQS
Q: Are certifications really important?
A: It depends.
I know that's not the answer you were hoping for, but it’s the truth. Certifications can definitely be a plus because once you have it, it's yours for the keeping (unless they expire, but even then, it’s just outdated not seized). It all depends on your career path and the kind of companies you want to work with. For example, in consulting, certifications can be a huge reassurance to clients about your expertise. Consulting firms often encourage and support employees in getting certified. On the other hand, if your career doesn't need or appreciate certifications, it’s more about your personal goals. Having one can still be useful, but it’s not as important.
Q: Certifications take a lot of time to prepare for. How can I prepare well for them?
A: Know yourself.
I always say this to anyone who’ll listen—there are a lot of study plans out there, but only you know your own strengths and weaknesses. For example, I’ve seen a recommended study plan that suggested one month of preparation, but I prepared for it in two days. Your level of exposure to cloud services, your interests, the reason you’re taking the exam, and your ability to assimilate certain types of information are all variables that will impact your timeline.
So, take the time to understand your own learning style. Get hands-on experience because that’s what will stick with you beyond the exam.
Q: With all these certifications, shouldn’t you be looking for a senior role?
A: Definitely not yet.
I still have a lot to learn. The challenges my senior colleagues face and the way they handle problems with professionalism and experience can’t be learned through studying for an exam. Honestly, I’m a bit scared of the day I become a senior because then there won’t be as many people to learn from, and my opinions will carry more weight. By the way, I have a 'project-time-estimation theory' for identifying seniors, but I’ll save that for another time.
Q: So, did your AWS intensive role prepare you for the exams or did the exams prepare you for the role?
A: Haha, I prefer not to link them together like that, but the relationship is symbiotic.
The exams help me expand my knowledge for my job, and the job helps me understand the material better for the exams.
Q: I have xxx certification. How long will it take me to prepare for yyy certification?
A: Same answer as earlier.
However, I find it helpful to explain the coverage of different certifications to people asking this question. Comparing them allows people to estimate what they need to study to bridge the gap before pursuing the next certification.
Overview of AWS Certifications
Here's a quick overview of all the current AWS certifications and my personal experience with them. This will help you compare them and identify the path that’s right for you.
1. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
This is the first step into AWS cloud. If you already use AWS and understand how it works, you can prepare in a day. If you're familiar with cloud services but haven't used AWS yet, give yourself about a week. If you're completely new to technology, refer to the official page for an accurate preparation estimate.
2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
I found this to be the perfect next step after the Cloud Practitioner exam. It covers a lot of AWS services, with a focus on networking and the ability to explain what a service does, its limits, and when to use it. You need to know the services well, as the exam tests your understanding of how they work together to solve solutions.
3. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
This is the senior version of the SAA. While SAA tests your knowledge of services and their functions, SA Pro challenges you to understand business scenarios and find solutions within constraints. You'll be asked long case-based questions where you need to choose the most cost-efficient solution, weighing service impacts and trade-offs. Experience or deep study is essential for this exam.
4. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate
This exam was my favorite to sit for because it had a practical section. It focuses on configurations, troubleshooting, and automations/deployments—think system admin role. No design questions here, just practical, hands-on questions.
5. AWS Certified Security - Specialty
This exam is pretty smooth. If you regularly use AWS for anything, you're likely already familiar with many of the security topics, since security is essential in AWS cloud. It goes deeper, but it's the simplest of the specialist exams due to the importance of security in everyday cloud operations.
6. AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional
This is one of the two exams I had to take twice, but I enjoyed preparing for it. It’s all about DevOps in AWS—understanding your tools and how they fit into your SDLC. Focus on DevOps methodologies and providing solution in given business scenarios, such as automating manual tasks and implementing continuous integration. With more experience as a DevOps engineer now, I feel more comfortable with the content than I did at the time.
7. AWS Certified AI - Practitioner
I took this exam impulsively with some history in AWS, AI, and ML. I prepared in less than a day and took it during its beta phase, which made it intense with more questions than expected. Treat this like an associate-level exam; it’s more in-depth than the Cloud Practitioner exam.
8. AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty
This was the toughest exam for me, though difficulty is subjective. I struggled because I couldn't replicate many scenarios, like setting up a Direct Connect, and struggled with networking concepts I hadn't touched before. It required understanding theory and concepts that were hard to practice. At one point, I even doubted if I should continue this certification journey, as I wasn’t aiming to become a network engineer.
9. AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty
Surprisingly, I found this easier than the Machine Learning Engineer and Data Engineer associate exams. I realized that specialty exams test deep, domain-specific knowledge. You need to know your trade-offs because the exam revolves around solving business problems and understanding how your decisions impact customers, not just the solution.
10. AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate
This exam tests your ability to implement machine learning tasks in AWS. Know your machine learning stages, which AWS services apply to each stage, and how they work together, particularly in relation to the three Vs (variety, velocity, and volume of data).
11. AWS Certified Data Engineering - Associate
The role of a data engineer is very different from that of a machine learning engineer. I was reminded that data engineering deals with handling data, governance, privacy, and storage—sometimes unrelated to AI or ML. It’s about managing data and using it in various contexts, and understanding the importance of (and how to implement) data governance, data privacy, and related concepts.
12. AWS Certified Developer - Associate
This exam focuses on building cloud-native applications while following best practices. Be familiar with deployment options for serverless apps, and services that fit well with web applications and different system architectures. Pay particular attention to Lambda, databases, queueing systems, authentication, and compute options asides from lambda.
General Advice for All Exams
- Follow the exam guides. They’re very accurate and will help you focus your studies and identify any gaps.
- Understand the basics. Concepts like the AWS shared responsibility model, the Well-Architected Framework (security, cost optimization etc.), and AWS Global Infrastructure come up in all exams, so make sure you know them well.
- Plan your exam sequence. The order in which you take the exams really affects your experience. For example, after preparing intensely for the Machine Learning Specialty, the exams that came after were much easier to study for because they are somewhat related.
Completing all AWS certifications has been a challenging yet rewarding journey. I hope this guide inspires you to take on your own certification goals—whether it's one exam or all of them. And don't forget, the key to success lies in understanding yourself, preparing effectively, and embracing the journey!
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.
Top comments (4)
Hey, Rumania for sharing this. I am interested to take the AWS practitioner certification. Do you have any course to learn as a beginner? Thanks
All this certificate was achieved in 1year ?
Hi @usalih, I completed 3 certifications in 2022, 3 more in 2023, 2 earlier this year, and the last 4 just this past week.
Very informative