Ultimate guide to AWS Certifications

Welcome to our short course on AWS Certification Basics. This is a bite-sized guide meant to provide you with high-level information about AWS certifications.

We'll cover background information, such as what certifications are, why they are important, and what some of the certifications currently available from AWS are.

We'll also go over some information about taking the exams, the exam components, and other things you need to be aware of when preparing and sitting for an AWS certification exam.

Make sure you check out the links in the notes, as they'll provide you with additional guidance about the certifications.

We hope you enjoy the article and that it provides the information you need when seeking AWS certifications.

What Is an AWS Certification?

What is AWS certification? This is a question we receive quite frequently. First, it's important to know that an AWS certification is a credential issued by AWS. You, as an individual, not a team or an organization, but rather you, as a person, can earn this credential.

Second, the certifications are industry recognized. AWS created this opportunity for cloud builders and professionals to validate and showcase AWS knowledge and skills. The exams are rigorous, so the industry can have confidence in AWS-certified staff. So, when you put your AWS certification on your resume, it has meaning.

Third, the certifications are created by AWS experts. When AWS creates a new certification or new questions, they gather experienced experts who work at AWS or AWS partners. They decide what's on the exam, what questions to ask, and what it should take to pass so that the exams reflect practical knowledge and skills sourced from people who are actually doing the work themselves.

Last, it's important to point out that AWS certifications are open to anyone. AWS does not require any specific training or educational background.

Why Is AWS Certification Important?

Now, let's review the reasons people who are certified and the people who employ them think AWS certifications are valuable.

First, cloud skills are in demand now. Companies need teams with cloud skills. And we mean companies of all shapes, sizes, and industries are looking for talent.

For anyone who is looking to succeed in a cloud-related role, AWS certifications offer a specific goal with a visible and shareable outcome.

AWS certifications can serve as milestones on your journey, as external validation of your progress, and as a straightforward way to signal your network the expertise you are building. So, while this may be one of many steps on your road to your goal, getting AWS certified can help you chart your path and communicate your progress. And there is data to show that certified professionals report preparing for and earning certifications has an impact. 52% of certified IT professionals say their expertise is more sought after within their organization. They also notice they are more effective in their jobs. Certified professionals say they are faster at completing projects, and deployments are smoother. This actually echoes what we hear from IT leaders regarding the results they see from employing AWS-certified team members.

From a recent independently conducted survey of IT leaders who employ AWS Certified Staff, we know that employing AWS Certified Staff can drive innovation and provide operational benefits like increased productivity and improved security.

What AWS Certifications Are Available?

Now that you know what AWS certification is and why it is important, we will cover the AWS certifications available.

AWS offers a variety of certifications at different levels and for various roles and skills. First, let's explain the role-based certifications.

AWS provides certifications for architects, operations, and developers. With these, AWS validates the knowledge, experience, and skills someone needs to be successful in roles critical for organizations building with AWS. You can think of these as the core cloud roles. And AWS offers these certifications at levels ranging from foundational knowledge to associate level experience, and they progress to professional level expertise.

Finally, AWS has specialty certifications for those with deep expertise within a specific topic area.

If you're just starting out, we recommend you begin by preparing for and earning AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, a foundational level certification. Next, consider the associate level certification that best aligns with your skills and goals. From there, you can validate your unique expertise with a professional level or specialty certification.

What Is an AWS Certification Exam Like?

So, what actually happens in an AWS certification exam? How is the exam structured?

The exam is a timed multiple-choice exam. Depending on the type of exam, it takes 90 minutes to 180 minutes to complete. Most exams are 65 questions long, except for the professional exams, which are 75 questions. Also, some certifications have exam labs as part of the process.

The time differences in these certifications are based on the difficulty of the questions. Foundational exams are designed to be straightforward. The professional questions will really test the experts on how to deal with complex systems. And the associate exams are somewhere in between. Specialty exams are exactly that: specialties. For experts in those specific fields, the questions may seem very clear. For the uninitiated, they may be quite difficult.

But no matter what exam you're planning to sit for AWS, you will find that the certification team builds the questions using a clear format designed not to trick you but to validate your skills.

This is a sample question from the CertVista AWS Certified AI Practitioner practice exam. Let's use it as an example of how to break down a specific question.

Before we get to the answer, let's break down the structure of this item. And by the way, this whole thing, the question, the answers, together, it's called an item. The question part is the stem. This gives you the key elements about the situation. What is happening? Nothing in the stem is accidental or designed to trick you, so read the whole stem carefully. In this case, a company wants to build a chatbot. Now we get to the heart of the stem, the value being judged here. What is the most cost-effective way to do it?

In your exam, you might see things written like the most cost-efficient way to deploy the solution, the lowest latency, or the most durable. There might be many ways to solve a problem, but only one is the most durable or cost-effective.

In this case, there are four responses to choose from. The correct one is the key. The rest are distractors. Response B is correct for this question, making B the key to the item.

The other responses? Distractors. Now, here's the thing about distractors in AWS. Every distractor is plausible but absolutely incorrect. For example, in the case of this item, including all PDF files as context in every prompt would be highly inefficient and expensive. This approach would unnecessarily increase token usage and processing costs for each query, even when only a small portion of the documentation is relevant.

Nothing here is fictional. Every distractor is real, plausible, and absolutely incorrect.

This is critical to understand when taking an AWS certification. If you are choosing between two possible answers and they both seem to be the most cost-effective, then you need to look closer. Or, in some cases, you may be overthinking the question. If you take a response, twist it really hard, and look at it sideways to make it appear correct, you're adding things to the response that were not intended. So, don't overthink your responses.

Some questions require multiple responses. Pick two. In those cases, everything we talked about so far is absolutely still true, except instead of just one correct answer, it now has two or three correct answers. To get the question right, you must get both or all three correct. There is no partial credit.

Okay, the final thing to discuss takes us back to the beginning. AWS exams are timed tests. So time management is critical. Based on the level of exam you are taking, you should know how many minutes per question you have. If you find yourself stuck on a question, move on. You can mark any question to come back to and take a second look at after you've answered the others.

Also, AWS offers accommodations, including additional exam time, to candidates with language or other accommodation needs. You can ask for them when registering for your exam.

There we go. Remember, watch the clock. Read the entire stem and responses before answering. Think horses, not zebras. And don't be afraid to skip an answer and come back later.

One final hint: There's no penalty for guessing the wrong answer. So don't be afraid to attempt every question, even if you are not sure.

What Are the Exam Labs Like?

So you're taking an AWS certification that has an exam lab portion. Here are some things you need to know in advance. The exam lab section is designed to test your ability to do basic functions in the AWS environment. For example, if you were asked to create an Amazon S3 bucket with KMS default encryption enabled, do you know how to actually build it using the AWS tools? This is the difference between theory and really knowing how to use AWS.

Also, the exam lab is part of the complete timed exam. For example, if your exam has 180 minutes of allotted time, that will include the multiple choice and multiple response section and the exam lab section, and you must finish and submit your final answers on the multiple choice and multiple response items before beginning the lab portion. This means you will need to be aware of your time management. To help you with your time management, the starting screen of the exam will tell you necessary information such as how many multiple choice and multiple response items you'll encounter, how many exam labs you'll have, and the suggested time to spend on the exam labs.

The suggested time is based on allowing 20 minutes per exam lab. While your exam lab section is likely to have multiple exam labs, each exam lab can be thought of as a standalone project in a training environment. Only this is not training. You will be given the result you need to create, and it will be up to you to decide on the right steps to take to get there.

Console or CLI? Why not both? You will have a fully operational user login for an AWS account. Well, it is fully operational with IAM restrictions preventing you from doing things like Bitcoin mining, but you will have the permissions you need to create the requested objects. Are you more comfortable in the CLI? Then, from the console, you can launch AWS Cloud Shell and continue operations. The exam scoring doesn't care which one you use, so use the one that makes you comfortable. Once you are logged in, follow the instructions. There may be a number of steps that the exam lab asks you to accomplish, and it's up to you to make sure you don't skip past any of the elements.

However, if you do get any of them misconfigured, there is partial credit for the parts you did configure correctly. Once you finish the steps for one exam lab, you will click Next at the bottom right-hand corner. It will close the screen and launch the next exam lab in a new AWS account. And you won't see anything you built from the previous exam lab. This is a one-way process. Once you click Next to move to the next exam lab, you can't go back. This is why leaving yourself time to not feel rushed here really matters. Once you finish all the exam labs, that's it; you're finished.

Oh, one final note. You may be in a live console, but the environment is locked down for anything outside of what is needed for the lab. For example, attempting to open the AWS documentation pages or other external websites is not going to work. This exam is going to test if you know how to do it, not how to look it up. Good luck with your AWS certification.

Preparing, Registering, and Taking the AWS Exam

What are the mechanics of actually preparing for, registering for, and taking an AWS certification? Let's begin with the part that we are not teaching you here: the subject matter itself. It's an obvious statement, but if you are planning to take an exam, you should learn the content and have whatever hands-on experience is recommended for that certification.

AWS provides all that information at aws.amazon.com/certification. On that page, you'll find all the up-to-date information you need to guide your preparations. Under Get Started, you'll find the certification exam guides and details. Here, you can select the certification you're interested in, which will take you to the associated details page.

Right away, you can see what abilities the certification focuses on and what the recommended knowledge areas are. This details page provides additional details, such as the exact number of minutes, how many questions, or how much the certification costs.

To dive deeper into what is expected, you can download the exam guide. This is a detailed blueprint that shows you exactly how the questions are broken down by subject, letting you know what topics are in play here.

Each exam is divided into domains with their own subdomains. Each domain has a different weight, and the blueprint will tell you the percentage of the total questions on the exam dedicated to those domains. That said, it is important to note that CertVista practice exams are fully compatible with the actual AWS exams and offer complete coverage of the specific exam domains.

Every exam is unique in the points distribution, so review the blueprint to make sure you understand the concepts in all the subdomains.

In addition to the AWS documentation and white papers, AWS offers training courses in these domains to help jumpstart your skills or fill in any missing gaps.

If you want a better test of your readiness for the certification, you can practice with CertVista. For a fraction of the actual exam's cost, you take it at home, and it will simulate an actual exam experience and give you a score at the end.

Once you feel you're ready, you can book your exam. You decide if you want to take the exam at home using an online proctor or visit one of the in-person testing facilities near you. In either case, you will book for a specific day and time. Also, if you need any accommodations, this is the time when those are requested. Additionally, if you plan on taking the exam remotely, this is the time to ensure your machine meets the requirements for the exam, such as having an operational webcam, specific screen resolutions, and so on.

For the exam day itself, here are some additional things to remember:

• Show up early. Your exam is reserved for a specific time slot. If you can't make it at that time, you will have to reschedule for a different day.
• Bring two forms of ID. Your confirmation email will clarify what kinds of ID are accepted, but you will need photo proof of ID to sit the exam.
• Nothing in the exam room. This means no water bottles, no watches, no devices. They have lockers in most testing centers for small things like your keys, but please leave your laptop at home.
• If you are taking the exam online, you will need a private space. This means no people around you in a closed room. No other applications are running. The proctor will make you rotate the webcam around to validate that you are in a private space.

The proctor will give you the rest of the instructions and make sure you're logged into the exam properly. Once that's all done, the clock starts, and the exam begins.

The nice thing is, once it is over, you'll know immediately if you pass the certification or not. It is a pass-fail. The engine will send you information on what your score was, but it won't be an exact percentage of the number of questions you answered correctly because some questions are weighted more than others. And some questions might even be unscored if they were currently being evaluated for future exams.

If you didn't pass, the results will tell you how you did on the different domains to know what to focus on if you want to try again. You only have to wait 14 days to retake the exam, and there is no limit to how many retries a candidate can take, but each retry is the full registration price. If you pass, your certification is good for three years before you have to recertify. And until then, congratulations on being AWS certified.