As software engineers, we need to keep up with the pace of technology evolution by constantly learning. One example of evolving tech is cloud computing, which saw the rise of cloud providers like AWS being used in modern-day applications. Since cloud technologies are constantly evolving, certain standards for validating one's skills in the cloud are needed, which is where AWS Certifications come in.
Getting a certification isn't necessarily needed for most jobs, but having one gives you a sense of accomplishment and something to brag about.
In this article, I'll share how I got my first AWS certification, starting from my Google Cloud certification, my experience with AWS, scheduling and canceling my AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam, and finally taking and passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.
Before starting my AWS certification journey
Before I share my AWS certification journey, it would be helpful to share my professional background since my previous experiences helped me in getting my first certification.
Back in 2019, I passed my Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer exam.
This was my first experience taking a certification exam at a testing center near my previous workplace. Then for my exam preparation, I mostly did hands-on labs in Qwiklabs. These hands-on activities helped me retain cloud concepts since Google Cloud (GCP) was my first experience with cloud computing.
Then in 2020, I started working with AWS. My first two years with AWS were mostly interacting with the Node.js apps I've deployed in EC2 and reviewing logs since we had a DevOps engineer who managed the cloud infrastructure.
After two years, I moved to a Web3 startup where I was given a lead software engineer role. This new role gave me more hands-on experience with AWS, where I've learned to implement serverless technologies like Lambda and DynamoDB.
After a year, I joined a new startup founded by my previous colleagues, where I managed to explore AWS more deeply since I'm the only backend engineer. I architected backend systems using serverless technologies for the POCs and MVPs.
Here's a summary of the technologies I've used in AWS to give you a sense of my knowledge before taking my AWS certification exam:
With that out of the way, let's continue with my journey.
Scheduling and canceling my AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam
Back in September, I saw a Facebook ad for the Get AWS Certified: Associate Challenge where you can get a 50% discount on the exam fee. The fee costs 150 USD at the time of writing, so you only need to pay 75 USD.
I signed up for the challenge and received an email with the voucher code.
Then I scheduled my exam in October and reviewed the landing page and resource hub to learn more about the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification.
For my preparation, I did the following:
Reviewed the exam guide.
Answered the sample exam questions
Took the following AWS Skill Builder free courses:
For the official practice question set, I scored 50%.
Then for the Solutions Architect Knowledge Badge Assessment, I didn't pass. My score was 62.3% and the passing score was 80% out of 50 questions.
If you didn't pass, you can always retake this assessment after 24 hours.
Given the results of the assessments above and my exam schedule getting nearer, I didn't feel confident enough to proceed with the certification exam.
Then I decided to reschedule my exam to a later date. When I still felt that I lacked preparation, I finally canceled my certification exam and got a refund.
Scheduling my AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam
After the Get AWS Certified: Associate Challenge ended in October, I saw another ad for the Get AWS Certified: Cloud Practitioner Challenge where you can get a 25% discount on the exam fee. The fee for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam costs 100 USD at the time of writing, so you only need to pay 75 USD, which was the same price I paid for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate exam.
I signed up for the new challenge and received an email with another voucher code.
Preparing for my AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam
To be honest, I only had one day of preparation for this exam. I scheduled the exam on a Monday and ended up cramming my review on a Sunday night.
But as I've mentioned earlier, I already have over three years of professional experience with AWS. I have also previously attempted to take the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification, where the preparation I did carried over.
For my short preparation, I reviewed the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner page and took the following AWS Skill Builder free courses:
And here are my results on the assessment tests.
For the AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials course, I skimmed through the transcripts, finishing the course in three hours.
Having passed both assessments on the first try, I was more confident going into exam day.
There's also the Exam Prep Standard Course: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, which I didn't take due to lack of time.
Taking my AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam
On the exam day, I received a text message saying that I could take the exam earlier from 11:00 am onwards if I wanted to. My exam is scheduled at noon and I'm already planning to go to the testing center one hour early to give myself time to settle down.
After arriving at the testing center, I did the registration steps; verifying my identity, signing terms and conditions, and emptying my pockets. Then I took a few deep breaths before asking the proctor to start my exam. The proctor showed me to my computer, then I started the test.
The exam has 65 questions with a 90-minute time limit. After completing and submitting my answers, I filled up a post-exam survey. Then, the final screen showed that I had passed the exam!
I finished the exam in 30 minutes, which surprised the proctors, and then I happily shared that I passed the exam.
Some tips I found helpful when taking the exam
For taking certification exams, or any exam in general, here are tips that I've found helpful.
Rest well the night before the exam day.
Read the whole question and understand what is being asked.
When you're not sure about your answer to a question:
Skip questions you're not sure of and flag them for review later.
Spend one minute max per question, if you still can't answer, review it later.
Eliminate choices when you know it isn't the answer.
Sometimes, our brains fill in the gaps which ends up misinterpreting the question. That's why I recommend being intentional when reading the question.
Then for questions you're not sure of, always answer with your best guess and avoid spending too much time on one question. It's important to keep moving since you have limited time and resources.
For eliminating choices, let's say "a company requires an object storage solution" and you're given four choices:
Amazon DynamoDB
AWS Lambda
Amazon S3
Amazon RDS
Continuing with the example, you're not familiar with object storage solutions in AWS, but know what DynamoDB, Lambda, and RDS are:
DynamoDB is a serverless key-value NoSQL database.
Lambda is a serverless function.
RDS is a fully managed relational database.
Knowing that none of the services you know are "object storage", you can eliminate them when deciding on your best guess. Then you'll end up answering Amazon S3, which is the correct answer.
This is a simple example. In actual exams, you might find it harder to eliminate more than one choice for difficult questions. The point is increasing your odds of having a correct answer for questions you're not sure of. This in turn maximizes your chances for passing the exam.
Passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam
When I got home, I received an email for my digital badge on Credly.
I also checked my AWS Certification account and saw the results along with the perks for passing a certification exam, which includes a 50% discount voucher for my next certification exam.
Here are my exam results, where I scored 739/1000, which is just a little above the passing score of 700.
The exam results showed me that my one-day preparation was good enough to pass the exam, while also realizing that I need to have better preparation for my future certification attempts. Ideally, I'd like to pass my future certification exams with a higher buffer from the passing score, scoring at least 800 and above.
And finally here's my digital certificate.
What's next for me?
In starting my AWS certification journey, I achieved what I set out to do. By passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner foundational certification, it helped me familiarize myself with the certification process and gave me a boost in confidence, while also showing areas for improvement in my preparation and review processes.
For 2024, I'm targeting the Application Architect certification path shown here, which consists of the following certifications:
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - PASSED
Then I'd also want to take the AWS Certified Security - Specialty certification if I still have time, since security is important for cloud-based solutions.
I hope my experience can help and give you ideas for your own AWS certification journey.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to comment or connect with me here.