From Zero to AWS Certified in 2 Months!
Tags: aws, certification, cloud, amazon
Published: 2020-01-01 13:02:01

## Why AWS Certification?

The first question you want to answer for yourself is why do you want to get certified, since motivation will certainly play a big part in completing the certification. For me, the reason was that despite having 5 years of software development experience, I didn't get a chance to work on the cloud professionally. 

I work full-time in Frankfurt, Germany, but I was applying for positions in Australia to join my family there, and most of the positions required experience with a cloud platform. There began the circle of *(no experience <=> no job)* for some of the positions that I was applying for. An AWS certification was suggested to me as a means to familiarize myself with the cloud and be ready to contribute at a new job without an extensive learning period.

Since I was working full-time, I couldn't spend more than 2 to 3 hours every evening after work. This was enough for me since it is difficult to retain any new knowledge after 2 to 3 hours of intense learning. And repetition is the key to learning. It took me 2 months to be ready for the Solutions Architect - Associate exam, starting with absolutely no knowledge of AWS.

## Step 0

I started by enrolling into the [Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate" course by Stephane Maarek](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c01/) on 09.10.2019. (I have no affiliations with Stephane Maarek and this is not a referral link). The course is sometimes listed at $200 but you can usually get it for $10 on the usual Udemy sales periods or searching for a coupon. This coupon should work right now: **DEC_19_GET_STARTED**. It was a pretty good course with theory, hands-on, quizzes, and a practice exam. I found Stephane to be a good instructor and he keeps the course updated with the new material.

![Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate" course by Stephane Maarek](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/egnx9vwgz7x7n2y2dmy6.jpg)

## Step 1

I started simply by watching the videos every evening to get a feeling for AWS and its various services. I didn't take any notes yet and simply tried to understand and retain any knowledge from watching the videos. The course has 18.5 hours of videos so it will take at least 2 weeks to go through it. I didn't attempt the quizzes at the end of every section yet, and left it for later.

## Step 2

After going through the videos, I went through the entire PDF lecture with ~518 slides that comes with the course. I created an AWS account (free for a year), and attempted the hands-on labs by following the step-by-step instructions in the slides. In addition, I used a mind mapping technique where I jot down all the important points, separated by AWS service, on a single A4 sheet (both sides). This helps me retain the information better, and recall it during the exam. It took 2-3 weeks to go through the entire PDF and understand the information deeply.

*One side of my sheet*
![a4 sheet](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1h2yo86fn8jnqe3einxc.jpg)

##Step 3

Now comes the part to test yourself. I started by attempting the quizzes at the end of each section in the Udemy course. I got the book **AWS Solutions Architect Exam Guide** by Joyjeet Banerjee and only did the questions at the end of each chapter. In addition, I found some other practice questions on YouTube and did them too. Next, I did the complete practice mock exam at the end of the Udemy course. Finally, I purchased the official AWS practice exam for $20. The official practice exam gives you the best feel for the actual questions on the exam.

##Step 4

At this point, I was feeling quite confident and registered for the exam in a week's time. The associate exam costs $150. It has 65 questions that need to be completed in 130 minutes. You can get an additional 30 minutes if English is not your native language by registering on the **Request Exam Accommodations** option before registering for the exam. 

You need at least 720 marks out of a 1000 to pass the test. The week before the exam, I revised the PDF lecture with the aid of my mind mapping sheet, and did more practice questions. As a tip, if you are not a morning person like me, I would suggest you to pick a time around noon for the exam so that you can focus better.

## AWS Certified! 🥳

Finally, I passed the test on 4th December 2019 with a score of 880. I have started preparing for the DevOps Professional certification now, as it is one of the most in-demand skills at the moment. I have continued to apply for roles in Australia, but it has proved to be a challenge since companies need to go through the hoops of providing a visa sponsorship to potential candidates, and recruiters are simply not interested in overseas applicants. Hopefully it works out, finger crossed!