AWS Certification Preparation

If you have reasonably good knowledge in AWS and whitepapers/videos are like lullabies to you then this might be worth trying. Also if you like to learn by problem solving, then attempting loads of sample questions and then reviewing corresponding study materials in depth might help. But before I delve into it, let me tell you how I ended there.

I started my professional certificate by dutifully doing the certification course in acloudguru.com. In my opinion it is a good refresher course if your last certification was quite a while ago. But it not enough to master the complexity of the professional level exam. After reading some of the recommended whitepapers and watching youtube videos, I gave my practise test which I failed. It was a big wakeup call for me.

Challenges Faced

  1. Exam Completion
    The first problem was I couldn’t complete the practice exam. Just reading the questions and multiple-choice answers was exhausting. As someone for whom English is not first language this is really hard. This is true for the actual exams too. You may come across questions where you are not sure you fully understood the nuances. So please keep that in mind (Tip: You are offered additional 30 mins if your first language is not English. Worth utilising it!).

  2. Problem-Solving Approach
    Second problem was I was concentrating on how I would solve the problem rather than picking the best answer from the lot. Sometimes no answer is best. You have to choose the best among the given answers.

  3. Understanding Complexity
    Third and most important problem was while I had good understanding of the concept, it is the nitty gritty, subtleties and how different services work together that count in the professional exam. In real life, I would have quickly looked up the appropriate area, asked more questions, and decided on the best course of action. However, when you read linearly whitepapers/docs/videos, you tend to miss details if you already have certain familiarity and understanding in that area.

Useful Resources

Here acloudguru discussion forums are really useful. Each question in the AWS practice test has been discussed at length. Used that to review the relevant areas, whitepapers, and videos.

Also, AWS conducts a one-day virtual workshop for Professional exam prep. This was very helpful. This is available for the Partners. If your company is a Partner, definitely ask to be enrolled in this. Studying for exams is a lonely business. It was good to virtually be in a room with others and learn from the fantastic AWS instructor. Each area had a brief intro and 3 questions. Exam tips were discussed and the reasons for why an answer was correct/wrong were discussed in detail.

I also enrolled in cloudacademy.com and picked up portions specifically on security and networking, which was much better than acloudguru.

Now in my last few weeks, I was still not feeling confident. It was then I chanced upon whizlabs.com and decided to give it a try. They have 400 questions. According to them, all 400 are unique. But in my experience, at least 10 to 15% were repeats. However, that was okay. Each test has 80 questions, and upon completion, I reviewed each question irrespective of whether I got it right or wrong. The review for each question on whizlabs had explanations on why a particular choice in the answer was most suitable/unsuitable, with corresponding link to AWS FAQs/docs/whitepapers/videos. I found this very useful.

I also considered variations to the problem and thus could focus on the material before me and create mind-maps/tables for different combinations. I also focused on related materials in depth. This means a single question would lead me to hours of studying in the related area. By the end of all the questions, I had criss-crossed AWS materials in many different directions.

Primary Benefits Achieved

  • Helped me understand the question and answer style and how to interpret them.
  • Get into an exam mode and focus. Progressively getting faster and more accurate.
  • Armed with a question in mind, the same study materials provided more clarity. I was less distracted (which really helps!).
  • Focus on a problem instead of one particular service/area. Working out how/what combinations of services come together to solve a problem. Figuring out other variations in a problem and the best responses for them.
  • Was able to focus on all areas and not get keyholed into any particular one for too long.

And the last few days, I re-read FAQs on EC2, DynamoDB, S3, VPC, etc. For the final night walked through AWS Services Cheat Sheet.

Obviously, the preparation is a combination of going through structured courses, reading whitepapers/docs/FAQs, videos, hands-on labs, and practising with sample questions. It cannot be just one method. However, using problem-solving as the primary approach helped to bring it all together towards the end.

Good luck for your exam!