Make the most of year 1 of the #AWSCommunityBuilder program
Tags: aws, awesome, program, learning
Published: 2023-03-16 17:06:08


![AWS Community Builder Logo - White](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/x9hwe2uyhx4kpj3ycw3m.png)

A long long time ago, ok, it was last year, I was infinitely excited to become a member of the #AWSCommunityBuilder program (as the first representative I'd known!). Links at the bottom 🦄♥️

I filled the form in on a whim, genuinely thinking that as I've got no dev experience myself outside of some basic tweaks/prototyping etc, chances weren't great.

Obviously the excitement only ramped up when I was accepted! I've also just been accepted for my second round. So. Excited. 

Firstly, the community is give and take - give what you can back to the community, even if the difference is just your background and approach - everyone likes to read experiences of people like them. On top of that, you get AMAZING access to support people, the Community Builders Team, who are super helpful.

Back to the story - a room in my house caught on fire, I changed jobs, and there was about 12 months that was an absolute write off. 

Heading in to my second round, and with the little experience I did get to sneak a taste of, My advice to new members is:

- Set a goal. I've smashed out nearly 900 digital badges over the last year - I'm going to pivot that, and based on time, should be able to slot in my Solutions Architect exam, and the Associate Developer exam. So that's goal number one.

- Utilise supporting programs, such as SheBuilds(Now Cloudup for her - Cloud Practitioner), CloudU and the Skills Builder - these are generally free (though there is a premium path for the Skills Builder). While you're over playing with Skill Builder, score yourself some neat digital badges free. I've currently got about 10, including these:

![Badge One - AWS Architecting](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kpyt2llg7m66nnxx29sx.png)

![Badge Two - Technology Block Storage](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jexuts85hh65pkvh8nyv.png)

 - You're going to get a subscription to Cloud Academy - I started on it a few days back, and I don't think I've absolutely disgraced myself yet. I've committed to at least 4 hours a week on a combination of Skills Builder and Cloud Academy - calendar appointments are your friend.

![Cloud Academy Score](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vuyi4vrmsr8a0tmz9wi5.png)

 - Be very excited about your incoming swag - my thermos cup keeps ice in my drink for about 14 hours in Australia, and I am yet to break my funky cable. Enuff said. They're nice additions to my daily carry.

 - Work out how much time you want to spend in webinars, and then make sure you spent it! This is chance to learn from people you may never otherwise have access to.

 - When you're ready, lock in that exam voucher and get that cert!

 - Celebrate. Celebrate joining. Celebrate your wins. Celebrate the wins of those in the community! Using the hashtags (on LinkedIn especially) guarantees you some love. 

 - Encourage someone to join - maybe someone who doesn't think they're technical enough. Or who is jumping back in the pond, or an intern, or someone with sooo much sage advice and wisdom to offer - there's honestly loads of benefits for everyone.

 - Set a reminder. Check slack. I have notifications off for almost everything, so this means I don't wake up in two weeks realising I have no idea what's happening and I've missed some amazing sessions.

 - Don't be scared to write and share. Honestly, my first task once I get my creds is going to be to smash up a site for my gallery if urban exploration photos - I know it'll take me all of about half an hour, but fingers crossed it helps someone else on the journey in to the AWS Universe

 - If you can, rope in a mate to study/cram/enjoy the ride with ♥️

 - Make friends with your user group - ours in #adelaide is particularly fine, award winning in fact - thanks mostly to Rick, Andy and Steph as I've been AWOL (remember that fire/sick cat/suck rellies sitch, with the new job etc?) https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/amazon-web-services-user-group-adelaide/ #AWSUserGroupADL

 - Some workplaces give staff paid exam leave - double check if yours does!

Also. Yes. Fangirl. Not sorry.

Join the program next intake! https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/

AWS Cloud Up for her: Cloud Practitioner: https://pages.awscloud.com/cloudup-for-her-cloud-practitioner.html
Solution Architect Digital Learning plan on Skill Builder: https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/public/learning_plan/view/1044/solutions-architect-learning-plan
Digital Badges Overview: https://aws.amazon.com/training/badges/
AWS Training on Future Learn: https://www.futurelearn.com/subjects/it-and-computer-science-courses/aws
AWS Training on Cloud Academy: https://cloudacademy.com/library/amazon-web-services/
4 week Cloud Practitioner Accelerator for Partners: https://pages.awscloud.com/GLOBAL-other-GC-traincert-partner-AWS-Cloud-Practitioner-training-2021-reg.html