In this post I’ll try to share my view on AWS certification. Amazon Web Services (AWS) certifications are getting more and more popular but are they really matter? If you have similar questions in your mind than the answer is yes, they are worth, but let’s see in details why.
Table of Contents
Introduction
In 2022 I earned 5 of AWS certificates. You can find the complete list here. In this post I’d like to share my view on the certification in IT. I’ll mostly focus on AWS certification program, but you can consider this post as a general opinion. This post is not a promotion or other marketing activity, it’s purely my vision.
What AWS certification offers?
AWS certification program offers 4 groups of certificates. You can find the complete description here.
Foundational level is a good starting point if you’d like to understand what is cloud and what AWS offers. The Cloud Practitioner certificate is also worth to earn if you are a marketing person and you’d like to understand AWS offering.
Associate level is the best starting point if you’re a technical person and you want to start building your solutions using AWS cloud. I recommend to start with Solutions Architect – Associate certificate which will teach you when to use the proper AWS service in specific real-world scenario.
Professional level is an extension of the Associate level. I recommend to learn for these exams after getting some commercial experience in AWS, because Solutions Architect – Professional certificate requires deep understanding of the cloud usage but based on experience you have. This exam will challenge you with selecting the proper AWS service in real-world use-case scenarios.
The last group of certificates is a Specialty level. This is the group of certificates where each of them is focusing on a specific topic (e.g. Specialty or Advanced Networking). For example, if in your work you are focusing on building the database architectures in AWS, then go ahead with Database – Specialty certificate.
How to learn for AWS certification?
Remember that it’s not an achievement to get the certificate, the goal for the certification is to get a knowledge not only a badge. That’s why it’s important what resources you’ll use to get this knowledge.
AWS Skill Builder
First place where you can find free resources is AWS Skill Builder. You can find there Learning Plans, readings and exam tips. There’s a newly released (on AWS re:Invent 2022) Learning Plan for Serverless which I really recommend to attend.
Adrian Cantrill courses
Adrian describes himself as a technical trainer, Solutions Architect and consultant based in Brisbane, Australia. He focuses on Cloud, Security, Blockchain and other emerging technical areas. He made a ton of videos showing different AWS cloud topics. His courses are characterized by a very detailed approach to the subject. He also offers many hands-on courses with demo lessons for practical experience. I don’t know a better source of knowledge than Adrian’s courses. You will find them here.
Tutorials Dojo
Before attempting to the final AWS exam it’s worth to check yourself in similar testing environment. I recommend Tutorials Dojo offer which has great practice exams. These exams have different modes such as section-based mode, review mode and timed mode. You can find the complete offering here.
Is AWS certification really worth it?
As mentioned at the beginning, it is worth getting certificates in the IT industry. The IT industry is so dynamic that we must constantly take care not to lag behind and develop. The most important thing is to remember that a valuable certificate is one with knowledge behind it. Remember that it’s not quantity that matters, but quality.
When choosing sources of knowledge, focus on those that approach the topic holistically, and not just the specific assumptions of the exam.
The appropriate approach to the subject of certification will result in a meaningful career development, participation in interesting projects, building proper practices and expanding your professional network.
Summarize
Thank you for reaching out to that place. If you want to know more about AWS and the cloud, check the below posts:
- Air pollution monitoring system built with AWS IoT and Greengrass
- How to run your own mail server on Amazon AWS EC2
