AWS certification helps candidates build confidence and credibility by validating their cloud expertise using an industry-recognized credential. In my experience, organizations select skilled professionals for leading cloud initiatives with AWS.
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) certification has helped me excel in cloud computing. It also helped me secure some fantastic career opportunities in the cloud domain. If you want to learn about cloud computing, we recommend you check the Amazon AWS certification cost and then choose accordingly. The chosen course will help you gain necessary skills for deploying, training, and managing workloads on cloud platforms. Let me take you through all about the AWS exam schedule in detail.
What is AWS Certification?
Amazon Web Services, or AWS, is a cloud computing platform offered by Amazon for storage, migration, mobile applications, hosting servers, computing, networking, email, and security. There are several businesses all across the globe which are using this platform.
This creates opportunities for individuals like me who can build, operate, and manage them. Being AWS certified has helped me prove that I am well-versed with the platform and have the necessary skills and knowledge for developing, managing, and maintaining AWS systems. It has also helped me increase my eligibility for specialized cloud computing positions and further my cloud expertise.
This certification has also helped me in increasing my salary. A survey showed that being AWS certified has increased the salary of 73% survey respondents.
AWS Exam Registration Process
If you want to get an AWS certification, there are a few steps that you must follow to register for your examination. The AWS exam registration process has been mentioned below:
Step 1: Make an Account
To register for the AWS examination, candidates must create an account on the AWS certification website. I had to provide my personal information and submit the application to create an account. Next, I had to enter the OTP sent to my mobile phone. You can also choose to receive the OTP in your mail.
Step 2: Sign the Agreement
Every registering candidate must sign the AWS certification program agreement. The agreement specifies the rules for taking the examination. By signing the agreement, candidates confirm they have been through the terms and conditions and are at least 18.
Step 3: Verify your Name
Applicants have to verify their names before proceeding to the next step. AWS needs this for security reasons to ensure that only authorized people can book an examination.
Step 4: Click on the Registration Button
The exam registration button is present on the top menu. Click on it to proceed to the next step.
Step 5: Check out Eligible Exams
All the exams that you are eligible for will appear on the page. Scroll down to seek the ones that you wish to register for. There are several exams that you can choose from, such as Associate, Professional, and Speciality-level.
AWS Certification Levels
There are different levels of AWS certification. Let us discuss the AWS certification exams:
1. Foundational Certifications
This is an entry-level or basic certification for candidates who want to build and validate their understanding of the AWS cloud. This path is ideal for individuals who want to work with AWS cloud in managerial, sales, finance, technical, and purchasing roles. The only exam at this level is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. When I started my career, I cleared this examination, which helped me understand the AWS platform needed at the basic level. You can schedule a cloud practitioner exam according to your convenience.
2. Associate Certifications
This path has been designed for solution architects, solution design engineers, and others who want to learn about developing systems and applications of the AWS platform. This level offers Three examinations: the AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, and AWS Certified Developer.
3. Professional Certifications
This is the higher level of the previous two levels. It is suggested (not needed) to have at least two years of hands-on experience designing and deploying AWS systems. The certificates offered at this level are the AWS Certified Solutions Architect and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer. You can opt for Cloud Bootcamp to become a skilled multi-cloud engineer.
4. Specialty Certification
As I grew in my career, I knew I would need a specialized certificate to enhance my employability, so I opted for the speciality certificate examinations. It taught me specialized skills, which helped me bag some of the best job roles. My experience with AWS is another factor that helped me at this level.
AWS Certification Exam Schedule
When choosing the AWS certification schedule, there are a few steps that you must follow. They have been mentioned below.
1. Creating an AWS Certification Account
The AWS certification account employs single sign-on (SSO) authentication from your AWS training account. If you don't have an aws.training account, visit aws.training, choose the sign-in button, and make an account for yourself as an Amazon employee, customer, or APN partner.
You can then register using the steps mentioned above.
2. Selecting and Exam
The AWS exam dates are flexible and can be chosen according to the convenience of the candidates. To choose an exam date, complete the following steps:
- To choose the AWS exam schedule, login to AWS.training
- Choose the ‘go to your account’ tab and the ‘schedule new exam’ tab.
- Select the exam you want to appear for and choose the ‘schedule with Pearson VUE’ button.
- You will be directed to the Pearson VUE dashboard to choose the exam's testing time, date, and location. Follow the prompts for buying your exam; you will be notified after purchasing.
AWS exam reschedule can also be done, but it has to be done 24 hours before your scheduled exam.
3. Choosing a Test Center or Online Proctoring
You can choose to appear for the certification examination either in a location of your choice or give the exam in the comfort of your home with online proctoring. When choosing a testing center for your AWS certification schedule exam, choose the ideal location for you.
Online proctoring can be availed for all the AWS certificate examinations from two platforms: Pearson VUE and PSI. Both platforms support proctoring in English. Additionally, Pearson VUE offers proctoring in Japanese and PSI in Mandarin.
I was connected to a live proctor monitoring my exam session during online proctoring. The proctor ensured that the environment of the examinations met the AWS security needs and was tamper-free. I did encounter some technical difficulties during my AWS cloud practitioner exam schedule, and the proctor helped resolve them.
AWS Exam Policies and Guidelines
Let us discuss the exam policies and guidelines in detail:
1. Exam Registration and Fees
The exam score can vary according to the type of certification. Here, we will take a look at the prices of different AWS exams:
Exam type | Price in USD | Price in AUD | Price in Euro |
Foundational | $100 | $130 | €90 |
Associate | $150 | $200 | €135 |
Professional | $300 | $400 | €270 |
Specialty | $300 | $400 | €270 |
2. Exam Format and Duration
There are two types of questions in AWS examinations:
- Multiple choice - it has only one correct option
- Multiple responses - it has two or more correct responses
The duration of every exam is different. It can range from 90 minutes to 180 minutes, depending on which certificate examination you appear for.
3. Exam Scoring and Results
Amazon Web Services used the scaled scoring system. As different candidates will test on different forms, the overall difficulty of the questions may vary. Scaled scoring helps provide comparability in reporting across various forms. The passing scaled score is:
- 700 for Foundational exams
- 720 for Associate exams
- 750 for both Professional and Specialty exams
cloudfrontAWS Certification Exam Domains
When appearing for the AWS certificate examination, you should properly understand the various certificates offered and the prerequisites associated with them.
Detailed Information on Each Certification. Let's take a look at each AWS certification:
cdn.sanity.io1. Foundational Certifications
This is the very first level of AWS certifications. When I was a beginner, I registered for this certification. It is concerned mainly with the fundamentals of AWS cloud. I got the only certificate offered at this stage - the AWS-certified cloud practitioner.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
This entry-level AWS certification helps you understand the AWS cloud platform basics. I suggest that candidates applying for this certification should have industrial experience of at least a year in the AWS cloud domain. My experience helped me clear the examination.
- Level: Foundational
- Format: Multiple choice questions
- Duration: 90 minutes
- Cost: USD 100
2. Associate Certifications
Associate certifications require some in-depth knowledge of specific domains. The difficulty level of this stage is higher than the foundational level. This level offers three certifications, which are:
a. AWS Certified Solutions Architect: It is ideal for candidates with at least 1 year of experience designing and implementing solutions in the AWS cloud. The AWS solution architect exam schedule is created according to the candidate's preference, and they will have to show their knowledge and skills in managing, designing, and deploying applications on the AWS system.
- Level: Associate
- Format: Multiple choice questions
- Duration: 130 minutes
- Cost: USD 150
b. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator: This certificate has been designed for systems administrators who have a minimum of one year of professional experience in operations and deployment on the platform. This examination covers the transfer of data between AWS and data centers, management and deployment of applications on AWS, etc.
- Level: Associate
- Format: Multiple choice questions
- Duration: 130 minutes
- Cost: USD 150
c. AWS Certified Developer: This certification is ideal for candidates with at least 1 year of experience in deployment. They must also be fluent in developing and maintaining the application of the AWS platform. You should properly understand programming languages, AWS services, and basic AWS architectural practices.
- Level: Associate
- Format: Multiple choice questions
- Duration: 130 minutes
- Cost: USD 150
3. Professional Certifications
These certificates require expert-level knowledge for role-based selected certification. The previous certificates can be considered as prerequisites for this level. The certifications offered at this level are:
a. AWS Certified Solutions Architect: Individuals having a minimum of two years of work experience as a solutions architect in the cloud industry can opt for this certificate. In my experience, please hold an AWS Certified Solutions Architect certificate (Associate) before appearing for this examination.
- Level: Professional
- Format: Multiple-choice questions
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
b. AWS Certified DevOps Engineer: This certificate is ideal for individuals with two or more years of professional experience. Before appearing for this examination, you should have some hands-on work experience with programming languages and a proper understanding of DevOps.
- Level: Professional
- Format: Multiple choice questions
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
4. Specialty Certifications
There are six specialty certificates offered by AWS that you can opt for. However, you must have in-depth knowledge of the chosen domain as the exam level is relatively high. The examinations are as follows:
a. AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty: This examination helps in validating a candidate's data analytics expertise and ability to design big data solutions with AWS services. You must possess at least five years of experience in data analytics and two years of hands-on experience with the AWS system.
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
b. AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder - Specialty: This is another certification that I got that helped me validate my building, testing, and publishing Amazon Alexa skills. My six-month industry experience building Alexa with an Alexa skills kit and sound programming knowledge helped me clear this examination.
- Duration: 170 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
c. AWS Certified Security - Specialty: This certificate helps validate the candidate's well-versed in the AWS security domain. You should have at least two years of professional experience securing AWS workloads. Also, five years of experience in designing and implementing security solutions in the IT security domain.
- Duration: 170 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
d. AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty: This certificate helps validate your expertise in developing, implementing, and maintaining ML solutions using the AWS cloud. You should have one or two years of experience developing an architecture or ML on the AWS cloud to earn this certification.
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
e. AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty: This certificate helps validate your expertise in handling complex networking tasks on the platform. Candidates should hold an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certificate or some Associate Level certificates, such as operations, architect, developer, etc., before choosing this certificate. You should also have at least five years of experience with the implementation and architecture of network solutions.
- Duration: 170 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
f. AWS Certified Database - Specialty: This certificate helps validate the candidate's expertise in designing and maintaining AWS database solutions according to requirements. You should have at least five years of experience with database technologies and two years of experience on AWS.
- Duration: 180 minutes
- Cost: USD 300
- Exam Objectives and Knowledge Areas: The AWS certificate examinations test the candidates' knowledge of programming languages, database technologies, cloud services, and many more. The objective is to identify and validate eligible professionals.
AWS Certification Exam Preparation
When preparing for the AWS certificate examinations, there are specific resources that can help you prepare. Amazon has taken great initiative in preparing resources from which candidates can learn during their exams.
i. Training Resources
- Candidates who want to become solution architects can explore this training.
- Candidates who want to become cloud practitioners can explore this training.
- Candidates who want to become developers can explore this training.
- Candidates who want to become data analysts can explore this training.
When I was preparing for my examinations, these training resources were very helpful. It helped me prepare in an organized manner.
ii. Certifications
Certifications are a great way to prepare for the AWS examination. You can check out the certified courses KnowledgeHut offers, which will give you the upper hand during the examinations. KnowledgeHut Cloud Computing certification will help you build competency in managing cloud storage, databases, networking, security, and analytics.
Summing Up
Businesses across the globe are looking for professionals with cloud skills who can help transform the company. AWS certificate examinations serve as a batch for candidates, which helps them secure good job opportunities.
As a cloud specialist, I have worked for some leading companies worldwide. My AWS certification has helped me strengthen my employability.
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