AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate — A journey of preparation

Recently I got certified as an AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate. I was preparing for this exam for the last two to three months. So I thought to share my experience and preparation journey.

It’s not about the exam tips but yes after reading it might help you plan your preparation for the exam.

First of all, let me help you to understand about my work experience with AWS. Mostly I have a web development experience and I used AWS for around three to four applications. Mostly EC2, S3, Mysql, Cloudfront and DynamoDB.

One thing is sure, Either you are a beginner or an intermediate, definitely you can go for this exam. If you don’t have any previous experience working with AWS but you have hosted some applications in any of the environments and have knowledge that how different components interact with each other then surely you will be able to understand the topics and concepts of the cloud.

So I am dividing this journey into four major parts —

1. Go through the topics(syllabus) and identify the quality study materials for preparation.
2. Set the target dates as per topics. Let’s say for S3 you will invest 5 days including reading, understanding and experiment. Target dates will help you to be on track and maintain your interest :)
3. Evaluate your learning by practice exams.
4. Go for the exam.

Let’s discuss these pointers in detail -

1. Study Materials - For my exam preparation I majorly followed this course https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate/learn/lecture/20670044#overview.
   This is a lifetime available course and getting updated from time to time. It’s covering all the topics which come in the exam. During the exam, you will feel that yes I have gone through this terminology.
   Apart from this if you want some more knowledge in depth then go for the AWS documentation i.e https://docs.aws.amazon.com/index.html
   For better understanding and some scenario-based questions just go to the FAQ section i.e https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/?ref=docs_gateway
   This will be sufficient for the exam.
2. Target Based Plan - This is the most important part. All the topics are related and questions are based on scenarios so learning in continuity will be more helpful. In my personal view, try to complete a topic with in a fixed time frame. You will be in sync as well as this discipline will help in boost your confidence.
3. Evaluate your learning - Once you are done with all the study stuff and the practice part, It is very important to evaluate your knowledge before exam. Because exam will be based on some real time scenarios and you will have to choose the most efficient solution. So to evaluate your knowledge, go for some practice exams. You can choose either the AWS practice exam from AWS training portal(same where you’ll have to book for the exam.) or you can choose any practice exam from portal like udemy. Please consider the rating of that exam. This practice exam will be like last nail...
   This will help you to understand the level of your learning and prepare you mentally for the exam.
4. Exam Time - The outcome of the practice exam will help you to take the decisive action. If there is no any hurry just spent some time in revision specifically those topics which seems to be your weakest point.
   Block your exam date and time and all the best :)

There can be a other strategies or plan to pass this exam but to truly know how to use AWS, use it for your work is the best way to learn.