Hi, I'm Danang, a Cloud DevOps Engineer at a cloud services company in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is my first article on Dev.to. I want to share how a beginner can earn a first AWS certification, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CCP), with just two weeks of preparation.
How It Started: AWS Back-End Academy 2024 Batch 2
The opportunity came in 2024 through the AWS Back-End Academy 2024 Batch 2 program, run by Dicoding, an Indonesian tech learning platform. I was selected as one of the top 40 participants out of hundreds of applicants to receive a global AWS certification token. I received the announcement email on September 21, 2024.
One important note: this program no longer hands out free certification tokens, so please read this part as my personal story, not as an opportunity that is guaranteed to still be available. If you want to study from official sources, AWS Skill Builder offers plenty of learning material, including Cloud Practitioner preparation.
Study Resources
I started studying about two weeks before the exam, which I took on October 18, 2024. The resources I used:
- Stéphane Maarek's Udemy course: udemy.com/course/aws-certified-cloud-practitioner-new/
- Official AWS documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/
- Articles from the internet covering the services that appear in the exam, as a supplement whenever a concept was unclear.
Study Strategy: Fundamentals First, Services Second
The CCP exam (version CLF-C02) is split into four domains with the following weights. Always check the official AWS exam guide, since weights can change in newer exam versions.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Cloud Concepts | 24% |
| Security and Compliance | 30% |
| Cloud Technology and Services | 34% |
| Billing, Pricing, and Support | 12% |
The principle I followed: understand the fundamentals before learning what each service does. So my plan was:
- Week 1: Cloud Concepts and Cloud Technology and Services, to build a big-picture view of how the cloud works and what the core services are.
- Week 2: Security and Compliance, then finishing the remaining material such as Billing, Pricing, and Support.
It did not go as smoothly as I had imagined. In week two I hit my biggest challenge: the security and compliance domain.
The Biggest Challenge: Security and Compliance
Security was not a familiar topic for me at the time, so I put in extra effort, especially on AWS security best practices and IAM. These are the concepts I found most important to understand:
- Shared responsibility model: AWS is responsible for security of the cloud (the infrastructure), while you are responsible for security in the cloud (configuration, data, and access).
- IAM (Identity and Access Management): users, groups, roles, and policies. Roles are used for temporary access, for example, so one service can reach another without storing credentials.
- Least privilege: grant only the permissions that are truly needed, nothing more.
- Root user: protect it with MFA, and do not use it for everyday work.
- Other security services worth knowing at a high level: AWS Artifact (compliance reports), GuardDuty (threat detection), Inspector (vulnerability scanning), Shield (DDoS protection), WAF (web request filtering), and KMS (encryption key management).
Exam Day Strategy
I answered the easier questions first. That kept my time under control and left a calmer amount of time for the harder ones.
Result
I passed on my first attempt, and it became my first AWS certification.
Frequently Asked Questions
I also shared this experience at Tech Talk #2 by Dicoding Cloud Community on December 6, 2025. These were the three questions participants asked most:
Where did you study? Official AWS documentation, Stéphane Maarek's video course on Udemy, and supporting articles for the services in the exam.
How long did you study? About two weeks in my case, though it depends on your background and how much time you have each day.
Which topics need extra attention? Security and Compliance, especially IAM and AWS security best practices.
You can see the session documentation here:
Key Takeaways
- Start with cloud fundamentals before diving into what each service does.
- Two weeks can be enough if your focus is clear, but adjust to your own situation.
- Give extra time to Security and Compliance, especially IAM.
- On exam day, answer the easier questions first to manage your time.
- Always check the official exam guide, because the exam structure can change.
Thanks for reading. If you have questions or your own CCP experience to share, leave a comment. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
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