My tips for achieving all the 12 AWS certifications efficiently
Tags: aws, certification, career, cloud
Published: 2023-01-10 06:11:01

I was formerly one of the AWS and Google Cloud coaches for the Accenture's Global Cloud Certification camp. Accenture has a program that employees such as me could volunteer our time to conduct coaching calls to mentor and encourage aspirants in their journeys for the AWS and Google Cloud certifications.

![Played a small part to contribute 402 certifications out of the 1281 achieved overall for Google Cloud in FY21.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lm5b0uvz54a8gr2mbmny.jpg)

My students were fully aware that I was not a big fan of certifications (truth be told, I'm still not, and will not be), knowing that I had only 1 active certification for more than 10-12 years of my career before joining Accenture, but managed to obtain over 20+ Cloud certifications within 16 months of onboarding the company. Their most commonly asked question in many of my coaching sessions was "_How do you manage to achieve so many certifications within this short span of time with all the work commitments? Can you share your tips with us?_"

This is the intent of the article - to share my own AWS certifications experiences and offer some tips that I think may be useful for anyone taking the AWS exams.

At one time, I had all the 12 active AWS certifications, and before I received that legendary and mysterious Golden Jacket, AWS introduced the new AWS Certified SAP on AWS - Specialty Certification a few months ago on 26 Apr 2022.


![AWS has long retired the Alexa Skill Builder - Specialty certification, and there is a new SAP on AWS - Specialty certification starting from 26 Apr 2022.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7ibwug53abetiy4avze3.jpg)

I have booked the date to take this new certification on 31 Mar 2023, so that once I passed it, I can start bragging about having all the 12 active AWS certifications, again and again. LOL.


![Booked the exam for AWS Certified: SAP on AWS - Specialty](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mwdiodtb0rycz5fe09e2.jpg)

Enough of introduction, let's go straight to the point now.

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## Levels of AWS Certifications
There are 4 levels of AWS certifications, namely:

- **Foundational** - Entry level certifications for people in non-technical roles. It helps to build a good foundation for taking the other role-based AWS certifications.
- **Associate** - Intermediate level certifications that test candidates' good understanding of the commonly used AWS services and how these services can be assembled together as viable solutions to meet the customers' requirements.
- **Professional** - Advanced level certifications that test the candidates' profound understanding of a wide range of AWS services and on how to integrate such services to solve very complex solutions in various scenarios.
- **Specialty** - The type of certifications that showcase the candidates as the go-to Subject-matter Experts for some niche domains, such as Security, Machine Learning and so on.

The below diagram generally depicts the scope and depth of the AWS certifications. In general, the Foundational level (which consists of the Cloud Practitioner only) is the easiest among all, and generally meant for people in non-technical roles.


![Depth vs Scope for Foundational, Associate, Professional and Specialty certifications. For instance, the scope for Specialty exams are much narrower than those of Professional, but the questions are way more in-depth.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/hq7ls71mxubgij3oo99k.jpg)

The exam coverage for the Associate level exams is slightly more than that of the Foundational, and in terms of the depth, the questions are less straightforward and test on candidates' reasonably good knowledge of AWS services in various scenarios. This is unlike the Foundational level exam whereby you are asked to pick the right AWS services for the simple, straightforward and one-two liner type of questions.

Professional level exams are tough nuts to crack. In terms of the scope and depth of the questions, they are way more demanding than the Associate level exams. While one can get away of passing both Foundational and Associate level exams without any practical hands-on experience on AWS, chances for one to achieve that for the Professional level (and Specialty) exams are remotely low.

The last type of AWS certifications is the Specialty level. The scope of the topics to be tested is very narrow but be prepared for very in-depth questions. You need to have a very good understanding of the topics and AWS services, with practical hands-on experience for you to arrive at the right answers out of the very similar options given.

## AWS certifications are stacked
All AWS certifications come with 3 years of validity. Unlike the other Cloud Providers, AWS certifications are "stacked", meaning renewing the certification at the higher level would automatically extend the validity of relevant certification at the lower level (provided you have them as well).


![Assuming you have all the above 6 AWS certifications, passing the recertifications for both Professional level exams would extend and keep all the 6 certifications active.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/z5l326ig5luyei64mvj9.jpg)

For instance, assuming you have the Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect - Associate and Solutions Architect - Professional certifications, you need not have to retake all these 3 exams to renew each of them. All you need is to recertify your Solutions Architect - Professional, and both the expiry dates of your Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect - Associate would be extended at the same time.

## How much time for preparation
Time to prepare for the exams is generally correlated to the level of difficulty. As a general guideline, the easiest ones are Foundational, followed by Associate, Professional, and finally Specialty. The exception to the rule is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional that many would agree it is the most difficult among all the AWS certifications (and arguably the toughest among all the Cloud Providers' certifications as well).

[Adrian Cantrill](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriancantrill?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAADzc8ABQKJ6pL-9HSFWHhSrjsleLr6tBZU&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvI5xeSMKRWWEK2Z%2B0ydepw%3D%3D) summarised that level of difficulty very well,
> "SA Pro will always melt brains"


![My perspective of Level of Difficulty vs Preparation Effort/Time for each AWS certification (excluding SAP on AWS Specialty as I have not attempted it). Individual career and experience vary - what I deemed as challenging could be considered very easy by others.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fkiz3jbts3a4oka0j6u4.jpg)

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## My proposed optimal way of achieving all the 12 AWS Certifications
After obtaining all the AWS certifications, I did some self-reflection and concluded that my journey was not the most effective. For instance, if I could turn back time, I would want to clear both the Advanced Networking and Security Specialty exams before attempting the Solutions Architect Professional certification. The exam has many difficult questions on networking and security, that I believe it is better for me to pass the other 2 exams first.

Below is my suggestion of achieving all the 12 AWS certifications effectively. It is proposed in a manner that the knowledge candidate gained in the prior exams can be effectively leveraged on for the subsequent exams.

![My suggestion of getting all the AWS Certifications. Knowledge gained in the prior exams can be leveraged on for the subsequent ones](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zw0hzaddoffeffihituy.jpg)

## Resources for Preparation
The [official AWS certification site](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/) has a comprehensive list of materials, including the exam guides, FAQs, whitepapers for each certification, and you should consult them before attempting any AWS certifications.

My recommended list of the courses below is meant to supplement your learning, and not to be viewed as the only resources for the exams. You should also visit the [Self-paced Labs | AWS Builder Labs | AWS (amazon.com)](https://aws.amazon.com/training/digital/aws-builder-labs/) to do the practical labs as part of your preparation.

_[Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored advertisement from any of the listed course providers and I do not collect any money from anyone or organisation. I paid for these courses when I prepared for my certifications and recommend them now based on my personal experience.]_

## AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Foundational
I don't think you need to attend any courses for this Cloud Practitioner certification. If you intend to pass this exam only, then probably you just need to read this whitepaper from AWS. Otherwise, you should prepare and study for Solutions Architect - Associate.

When you're ready to take the Solutions Architect - Associate exam, you can easily pass the Cloud Practitioner exam anytime. You can schedule both on the same day or just 2-3 days apart.

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## AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
The best course for Solutions Architect - Associate is from ACloudGuru, and IMHO, for the other AWS Associate certifications as well. Their Associate level courses are concise and straight to the point, and I used them for all my 3 Associate exams.

**Course from ACloudGuru**

- [AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam (SAA-C03)](https://acloudguru.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c03)

---

## AWS Certified Developer - Associate & SysOps Administrator - Associate
The scope of Developer - Associate overlaps significantly with that of SysOps Administrator - Associate, and hence my advice is to prepare and take both exams around the same time. I took both exams in the span of 5 days.

**Courses from ACloudGuru**

- [AWS Certified Developer - Associate](https://acloudguru.com/course/aws-certified-developer-associate)
- [AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate](https://acloudguru.com/course/aws-certified-sysops-administrator-associate) - It seems that this course is no longer supported by ACloudGuru. In that case, I shall recommend the course from [Stéphane Maarek](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanemaarek?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAbq2XwBpFtz5d_yEdSI70Ksq0L2IgnThnE&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvI5xeSMKRWWEK2Z%2B0ydepw%3D%3D) (based on the quality of his other courses that I have purchased before).

**Course from Stephane**

- [AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate](https://www.udemy.com/course/ultimate-aws-certified-sysops-administrator-associate/)

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## AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional
Once you passed all the 3 Associate level exams, you should attempt the DevOps Engineer - Professional exam as soon as possible, so that you can leverage on your newly gained knowledge (while the memory is still fresh).

Another 2-3 weeks of studying and doing the practical labs should be sufficient to clear the exam easily.

For this certification, I would recommend the below course from Stephane as well. I like his courses a lot and find them to be suitable for some AWS Specialty certifications as well.

**Courses from Stephane**

- [AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-devops-engineer-professional-hands-on/)

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## AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty and Database - Specialty
Both the Data Analytics and Database certifications have some significant overlapping in scope, and hence you can prepare them at the same time to maximise your study time and efforts. For both certifications, I highly recommend courses from Stephane.

**Courses from Stephane**

- [AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-data-analytics/)
- [AWS Certified Database - Specialty](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-data-analytics/)

---

## AWS Certified Security - Specialty and Advanced Networking - Specialty
Again, these two certifications have many overlapping areas and hence you can optimise your study time greatly if you prepare them at the same time.

These 2 exams are probably the next most challenging ones, right after Solutions Architect - Professional, and you really need the experts to coach you. For both certifications, I highly recommend the below 2 courses from Adrian Cantrill.

I really love and enjoy Adrian's courses a lot, as they are not meant to prepare you to pass the exams only, but also prepare you to understand the topics thoroughly so that you can do well for your career.

**Courses from Adrian**

- [AWS Certified Security - Specialty](https://learn.cantrill.io/p/aws-certified-security-specialty)
- [AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty](https://learn.cantrill.io/p/aws-certified-advanced-networking-specialty)

---

## AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
IMHO, this is the toughest among all the AWS certifications, and generally, it is better for you to pass both the Security and Advanced Networking Specialty exams first. This would help you to answer many challenging questions on security and networking.

I have students who told me that, indeed by doing so, they could finish the Solutions Architect - Professional exam with more than 35 mins to spare and achieved very good scores. Many others would tell you that they either did not have enough time to finish the exam or failed a few times.

For this course, I'm torn apart of which courses to recommend. I'm a big fan of both Adrian Cantrill and [Neal Davis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealkdavis?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAsq7qMBw0-gVHS9KwIarAiaVM8a6ibALUI&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvI5xeSMKRWWEK2Z%2B0ydepw%3D%3D). Both their courses are equally good and choosing either course should be perfectly fine.

**Courses from Adrian and Neal**

- [Adrian's course on Solutions Architect - Professional](https://learn.cantrill.io/p/aws-certified-solutions-architect-professional)
- [Neal's course on Solutions Architect - Professional](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-professional-training/)

---

## AWS Certified SAP on AWS - Specialty
This is new to me as I have not attempted it before, and it seems that there are no completed courses for this exam yet. There are only a handful in the market right now, but they are still work-in-progress.

Therefore, for this certification, I shall depend on the recommended list from [AWS Certified: SAP on AWS - Specialty Certification | Exam Prep and Resources | AWS (amazon.com).](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-sap-on-aws-specialty/)

---

## AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty
This is probably the most unique exam among all the AWS certifications, as about 50% of the questions are totally non-AWS related and cover the general Machine Learning (ML) concepts. I was a little shocked when I first saw the questions but was fortunate that I was always passionate on AI/ML and had taken both Prof. [Andrew Ng](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewyng?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAAqBL5gBXJ8MGhQh-qHYyxAOW-DYlHM3VLg&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BvI5xeSMKRWWEK2Z%2B0ydepw%3D%3D)'s ML courses prior to the exam. Otherwise, I would have great difficulty in answering the questions, for instance, to pick L1 or L2 regularisation (or neither) among the options given.

Andrew's courses cover more than enough materials for you to answer 50% of the questions confidently. The remaining 50% questions are on AWS Sagemaker and other related AWS services.

**Andrew's ML courses (Highly Recommended)**

- [Machine Learning Specialisation](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/machine-learning-introduction)
- [Deep Learning Specialisation](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning)

This pretty sums up my AWS certification journey. I hope this article is useful for your journey as well.

Good luck and be AWSome!


**Note:**
1. The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s and written in his personal capacity. They do not reflect the opinions of his current employer or any other organisation or individual.
2. The information provided here is based on the author's own experiences which happened a few years ago. Hence, some of the information may not be accurate as of now. Do check regularly for the latest updates at the official AWS certification site.
3. Individual career and experience vary. What I deemed as challenging, for instance, networking and security, could be considered very easy by others, and vice versa.

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**About the author**
CHAN Chee Siong is a Cloud Solutions Architect based in sunny Singapore with many years of IT experience. He has a reputation for successfully integrating complex solutions for clients and building and maintaining strong relationships with them. Certified in multiple Cloud platforms, including AWS and Google Cloud, he also enjoys mentoring colleagues in their own cloud journey. In his free time, he is passionate in constructing Nanoblocks and volunteering for various organisations.