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How to Prepare for AWS Certification Exam in 2024

How to Prepare for AWS Certification Exam in 2024

Updated on 14 September, 2023

3.73K+ views

• 11 min read

Richard Salame Raj

Table of Contents

What is an AWS Certification?
Why Should You Choose AWS Certification?
Types of AWS Certifications with Cost
How to Prepare for the AWS Certification Exam [Step-by-Step]
Best Way to Prepare for AWS Certification Exam?
What Types of Jobs Benefit from an AWS Certification?
Conclusion

If you are looking for guidance on the AWS certification exam preparation, you are in the right place!

I am an AWS-certified solutions architect associate. I work in an multinational IT company. I have hands-on experience on AWS for about 4+ years. I never knew that a certificate has this much relevance or weightage in the IT industry. I have received multiple job offers for the roles of Solutions Architect and DevOps engineer and my AWS certificate has played a major role in that.

In this article, I will walk you through your AWS exam preparation process. It includes the Amazon Cloud certification cost, recommended resources, and more.

Let's go!

What is an AWS Certification?

AWS introduced certifications in the year 2013 as a way to validate an individual's knowledge of the AWS cloud and its best implementations. Since its introduction, there are more than 650K individuals who hold associate, professional, or specialty-level AWS certificates.

It is a Pass/Fail type exam. Your score is only visible to you. The average percentage to pass is 72%, but it may vary based on the exam type.

Companies consider an AWS-certified candidate as a credible resource who can help with their AWS adoption. So we have dedicated this article to your aws certification exam prep.

Why Should You Choose AWS Certification?

There are many CSPs in the market. They also have certification programs to validate an individual’s cloud skills. But AWS stands out.

Here are three good reasons to choose AWS.

The cloud computing market is so big that it is projected to reach more than $1,240 billion by the end of the year 2027. The good news is that AWS is the market leader.
Gartner, an IT insights and solutions company, named AWS as the leader in its annual report - Gartner magic quadrant.

Gartner

The average salary for an AWS professional is 3.27% higher than an Azure professional as per shiksha.com. Azure is AWS’s competitor in the CSP industry.

Now you have good reasons to pursue the AWS certification path. And this article is to help with your AWS exam preparation. Besides that, if you want to learn all three major CSP players - AWS, Azure, and GCP consider joining Bootcamp Cloud Computing. You will then become a multi-cloud engineer, it’s pretty cool!

Types of AWS Certifications with Cost

AWS has twelve certification streams that validate different aspects of your AWS knowledge. One foundational-level certificate, three associate-level certificates, two professional-level certificates, and six specialty-level certificates. Check out the top AWS certifications here.

Certificate Overview	Ideal Candidate	Cost
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: It validates your foundational, high-level understanding of AWS Cloud, services, and its language.	Anyone can take this exam after doing their necessary AWS practitioner exam preparation.	100 USD
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate: It validates your skills in the design of cost and performance-optimized solutions and demonstrates a strong understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.	An individual with prior cloud and/or strong on-premises IT experience.	150 USD
AWS Certified Developer - Associate: It validates your ability to demonstrate proficiency in developing, testing, deploying, and debugging AWS cloud-based applications.	An individual with prior IT or cloud experience and in roles like software developer or software engineer who wants to develop or work on cloud-native applications on AWS.	150 USD
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate: It validates your experience in deploying, managing, and operating workloads on AWS.	An individual with prior IT or cloud experience and in roles like cloud engineer, systems administrator, and cloud or on-premises operations administrator, who wants to build, maintain and troubleshoot the company’s AWS infrastructure.	150 USD
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional: It validates your professional-level knowledge and skills in architecting complex solutions to complex problems, optimizing security, cost, and performance, and automating manual processes.	It is for individuals who have extensive IT or cloud experience and are in roles like cloud architect, solutions architect, systems administrator, and cloud or on-premises software developers who want to prove their professional level knowledge and skills in designing, building, and maintaining infrastructure solutions on AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional: It validates your technical expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed application systems on the AWS platform, giving you increased confidence and credibility with peers, stakeholders, and customers.	It is for individuals who have extensive IT or cloud experience and are in roles like DevOps engineer, software developer, and systems administrator, who want to prove their professional level knowledge and skills in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting DevOps pipelines and other DevOps solutions on AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty: It validates your expertise in designing and implementing advanced network architectures for AWS services.	It is for individuals who have extensive IT networking knowledge or cloud networking experience and are in roles like network engineer, network administrator, and solutions architect who want to prove their expertise in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting advanced cloud-native networking solutions on the AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty: It validates your expertise in using AWS data lakes and analytics services to get insights from data.	It is for individuals who have extensive data analytics knowledge and are in roles like data engineer and data scientist who want to prove their expertise in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting advanced data analytics solutions on the AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified Database - Specialty: It validates your expertise in recommending, designing, and maintaining optimal AWS database solutions.	It is for individuals who have extensive database knowledge and are in roles like database administrator and data scientist who want to prove their expertise in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting advanced database solutions on the AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty: It validates your expertise in building, training, tuning, and deploying machine learning (ML) models on AWS.	It is for individuals who have extensive machine learning experience and are in roles like Artificial Intelligence Engineer, Data Scientist, and Machine Learning Engineer who want to prove their expertise in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting advanced machine learning solutions on the AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified Security - Specialty: It validates your expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining security solutions in the AWS Cloud.	It is for individuals who have extensive security experience on on-premise and the cloud and who are in roles like Cyber Security Analyst, Cloud Security Architect, and Chief Information Security Officer who want to prove their expertise in cloud security implementations on AWS cloud.	300 USD
AWS Certified: SAP on AWS - Specialty: It validates your expertise in designing, implementing, migrating, and operating SAP workloads on AWS.	It is for individuals in roles who have experience with both SAP and AWS and who want to prove their expertise in architecting, migrating, and managing SAP workloads on AWS.	300 USD

Cloud certification costs vary based on the exams, so please be prepared before you book your exam.

How to Prepare for the AWS Certification Exam [Step-by-Step]

1. AWS Exam Preparation Guide

Go through the syllabus by yourself to grasp the things to learn before appearing for the exam. I’ve included AWS cloud practitioner exam preparation guide and all the other official guides below.

I’ve provided links to the exam guides for each examination below.

2. Learn the AWS Concepts & Skills

Focus on learning the concepts.

For example, EC2 is an AWS service that allows you to spin virtual machines on the cloud. Instead of memorizing it, understand what is a virtual machine. What are its uses? What are the other ways to spin virtual machines? How AWS distinguishes itself in the market of virtual machines on the cloud. By learning the concept you get a deeper grasp of the service you are learning. It helps you while answering real-world application-related questions.

Skills are developed only when you work hands-on.

3. Hands-On Exposure to AWS Labs

You can understand the theory of a concept by learning, but the only way you master that concept is by practicing hands-on.

Create yourself a free AWS account. Follow along the course by doing the things you learned. Get help when you are stuck and understand why it works the way it works, that is the goal in your AWS exam preparation.

4. Solve Practice Papers

AWS provides official practice question papers to understand the type of questions that are asked during the actual exam to help you with your AWS exam preparation. I’ll leave links to all the practice questions for each exam for your convenience.

5. Join Relevant Discussion Forums

You can join the AWS official forum AWS repost to ask questions and receive answers and clarify doubts if you have any. You can also join stack overflow to get your questions answered, It has an active and helpful community.

6. Practice Exam Questions

Practice exams are essential to pass AWS certification.

I can tell you that, only by taking practice exams you will know the areas you want to work on. Since AWS exams are paid, you do not want to fail even once. We would recommend you make use of the KnowledgeHut free practice exams or take the mock exams your trainer conducts. I do not recommend appearing for an exam without passing mock tests by 80% consistent.

Best Way to Prepare for AWS Certification Exam?

I’ll provide you with the best ways to prepare for a few AWS certificates to give you a head start with your Amazon exam preparation. More advanced-level certifications might be for another article.

AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam Preparation: Preparing for AWS cloud practitioner exam involves four steps. Get to know the practitioner exam and exam-style questions. Learn about exam topics, your AWS cloud practitioner exam prep should mainly focus on clearly understanding the given AWS services. Take the exam prep AWS certified cloud practitioner training. Assess your exam readiness with official practice exams.
AWS Solution Architect Exam Preparation (Associate): Preparing for AWS Solution Architect Associate exam involves understanding the solutions architect exam and exam-style questions. Use online learning materials like the KnowledgeHut online Cloud training to learn about AWS SA exam topics during your AWS solutions architect exam prep. The AWS solution architect associate exam preparation should mainly focuses on building an AWS cloud platform design for any given business requirement implementing the 6 pillars of the AWS well-architected framework as the exam focuses on the same. Do not forget to assess your exam readiness with AWS practice exams.
AWS Developer Associate Exam Preparation: AWS developer associate exam requirements are to be understood first. This exam primarily focuses on your knowledge and understanding of your proficiency in developing, deploying, and debugging cloud-based applications in the AWS platform. Enroll for a relevant developer associate exam prep training program. Appear for mock exams to gauge your readiness.
AWS Solution Architect Professional Exam Preparation: The difference between the solutions architect associate exam and the professional exam is mostly the level of proficiency in building an AWS cloud platform design for any given business requirement implementing the 6 pillars of the AWS well-architected framework. Deep-diving on the AWS SA professional exam topics and taking the AWS solutions architect associate exam prep training then assessing your exam readiness with practice exams will help you get best prepared for this exam.

By now, you would have understood the pattern in the AWS exam preparation but, trying the learned concepts hands-on is one of the best available ways for your AWS exam preparation.

I’ll also provide a few things to keep in mind while doing your AWS exam preparation.

What Types of Jobs Benefit from an AWS Certification?

AWS certification will benefit you directly or indirectly in your job roles. I’ve provided below some example job roles which will be benefited from an AWS certification.

DevOps Engineer: DevOps engineers are the bridge between the development team and the operations team. AWS certification like the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer provides them with skills and knowledge in designing, managing, and automating cloud-based DevOps workflows.
Solution Architect: Solution architects design infrastructure solutions according to the project requirements. A certificate as an AWS Solutions Architect professional validates their advanced knowledge and skills in architecting complex cloud infrastructure design solutions on the AWS cloud.
Application Developer: Application developers build and maintain software applications. AWS Developer certification provides knowledge and capabilities to seamlessly create cloud-native applications using AWS services.
System Administrator: System administrators manage and maintain IT infrastructure, including servers, networks, and security. AWS SysOps Administrator certification provides them with the necessary knowledge and skills in deploying, managing, and securing workloads on the AWS cloud.
Cloud Security Specialist: Cloud security specialists focus on architecting, testing, and implementing cutting-edge security solutions for cloud environments. AWS security specialty certification verifies their competency in creating and implementing security solutions within the AWS Cloud.

Conclusion

You should now have a better understanding of what is an AWS certification exam, the types of AWS certifications, why to get AWS certified and have the helpful resources to best prepare for the exam. I hope this article provided value in your AWS certification preparation.

All the best!

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What study materials and resources are available for AWS exam preparation?

AWS provides official exam guides, sample questions, digital training videos, and a free AWS account to practice. There are also other online resources like KnowledgeHut.

2. How long does it typically take to prepare for an AWS exam?

It depends on how soon you understand the concepts and can apply them to real-world scenarios. The best way to gauge your readiness is your ability to clear the practice exams with 80% consistently.