How I passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - LinkedIn

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional is one of the most difficult AWS certifications. To clear this certification, you would need ... Recently,IwroteaboutmyexperiencecompletingUdacity’sAWSCloudArchitectNanodegreeprogram.Iwantedtofollowupwithablogpostonasimilartopic-passingtheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitect-Professionalexam,sinceIreceivedseveralinquiriesaboutitaswell. AbouttheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitect-ProfessionalexamAWSoffersavarietyofcertificationstovalidateyourcloudexpertise.Thesecertificationsrangefrombeginner-level(e.g.,CloudPractitioner)toadvanced-level(e.g.,DevOpsProfessional)certifications.Thecertificationsarefairlywell-documentedontheAWSwebsite,soIwon’tgointodetailaboutthem. ItooktheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitect-Professionalexam,whichisanadvanced-levelcertification.Inthepast,youhadtofirstcleartheAssociate-levelcertificationbeforepursuingtheProfessional-levelcertification.However,in2018,AWSchangedtherulessothatyoucannowpursuetheProfessional-levelcertificationwithoutanAssociate-levelcertification.ThisiswhatIdid.ItcanbehardtopasstheProfessional-levelcertificationswithoutsomepriorAWSexperience.IfyouarenewtoAWS,thenI’drecommendtacklingtheFoundationalandAssociate-levelcertificationsfirst.Accordingtothewebsite:“TheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitect–Professionalexamisintendedforindividualswhoperformasolutionsarchitectrolewithtwoormoreyearsofhands-onexperiencemanagingandoperatingsystemsonAWS.”TheexamcoveredvariousdomainsofcloudexpertiseandspannedanextensiverangeofAWSservicesandcloudarchitecturepatterns. WhyIdecidedtogoforthiscertificationMyspecialtyliesinfull-stackJavaScriptdevelopment.In2020,oneofmyprofessionaldevelopmentgoalswastobecomeamorewell-rounded,“T-shaped”developerwhocancontributetoeverypartofaproject.Iwantedtobecomethekindofengineerwhocouldnotonlybuildanapplicationfromscratchbutalsoscaleitinthecloud.Additionally,Iwantedtogainanin-depthunderstandingofAWSservicesandusecasesthatImightnothaveencounteredsothatIcancommunicatebetterwithotherclouddevelopers.WhydidIchoosetogetacloudcertificationspecificallyfromAWS?TheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitect-Professionalcertificationisoneofthemostdesiredandreputablecloudcertificationsintheindustry.OtheroptionswereAzureandGoogleCloudProvider,butAWSisstilloneoftheoldestandmostestablishedcloudproviders.Moreover,manyoftheconceptsthatyoulearnasyoupreparefortheexamareapplicabletocloudcomputingingeneral,notjusttoAWS,sotheknowledgegainedfromthiscertificationcouldtransfertoothercloudenvironments. Asmoreandmorebusinessesareadopting“cloud-native”orhybridarchitectures,jobprospectsforcloudprofessionalsarealsolookingprettybright,whichIbelievemakesitano-brainertoinvestinthiscertification.HowlongittookmetoprepareforthecertificationThePomodorotechniqueworkedwondersformyproductivity(moreaboutthatbelow).Tocleartheexam,Ispentaround95hoursoffocusedstudyspreadacross3months.SinceeachPomodorosessionlastedfor25minutes,thistranslatedtoroughly228Pomodorosessions.HowIpreparedfortheexamTheAWSCertifiedSolutionsArchitectProfessionalisoneofthemostdifficultAWScertifications.Toclearthiscertification,youwouldneedin-depthknowledgeofcloudcomputingandmanyessentialAWSservices.Priortopursuingthiscertification,Ialreadyhadseveralyears’ofAWSexperienceundermybelt.Moreover,Udacity’sAWSCloudArchitectNanodegreeprogramincreasedmyconfidenceinmycloudskills. Herearemystrategiesforpassingtheexamonthefirsttry:DeviseastudyapproachthatworksforyouIconsideredvariousapproachestopreparefortheexam.IruledoutflashcardsbecauseIdidn’twanttospendtoomuchtimemakingthem.Ialsoruledoutvideo-basedcoursesbecauseIknewIhadaknackforfallingasleepduringthese.Basedonpersonalexperience,IalsoknewIcouldgenerallyreadandabsorbatutorialfasterthanavideoorpersoncouldpresentit.IendeduppurchasingaUdemycoursebyStephaneMaarek.Thecourseincludedaconcise500+pageslidedeckthatcoveredallthecontentneededfortheexam.AsIstudiedtheslidedeck,IalsotooknoteswithinGoogledocs.Describingtheconceptsinmyownwordsfurthercementedmyunderstandingofthematerial.Ifanythingdidn’tmakesense,Iturnedtothevideosforclarification.Attimes,Ialsodescribedtheconceptsoutloudtomyself.Seeingandhearingtheinformationatthesametimehelpedmeabsorbthematerialevenbetter.TutorialDojo’scheatsheetssignificantlyhelpedwithretainingthematerial.Nearthebeginningofmyexampreparation,IhadreadacoupleofAWSwhitepapers.However,sinceIwaspressedfortime,Ididn’tmanagetoreadalloftheAWSwhitepapersbythetimeItooktheexam.ThatsaidI’mnowjustcomingbacktoreadingthemforfun. Sothatwasmylearningapproach.Trytocreateanapproachthatworksforyou.FocusonthebigpictureTheamountofcontentyou’dhavetolearnfortheexamcanbequiteoverwhelming.Itookover200+pagesofnotes.Mymostimportantadviceistofocusonthebigpicture. Itis,afterall,asolutionsarchitectureexam,whichmeansyouwillbetestedonyourabilitytoconnectdiscreteAWSservicestogethertocreatehighlyavailable,scalable,secure,reliable,andresilientarchitectures. Duringthelearningprocess,Ipracticedsketchingoutsolutionsarchitecturediagramsforavarietyofreal-worldusecases(e.g.,fanningoutmessagesusingSNS/SQL,supportingSSLonanElasticLoadBalancer,etc.).IfocusedonhoningmyabilitytoidentifyandjustifytheuseofkeyAWSservicesinvariouscloudcomputingscenarios.Inmyexperience,itwasnotnecessarytomemorizeeverynitty-grittydetailforeveryAWSservicethatexists(e.g.,thespecificRAMlimitsallowedbyaLambdafunction).However,itwashelpfultobefamiliarwithafewballparkfiguresforkeyAWSservices(e.g.,anAWSsnowmobilecanstoreseveralpetabytesofdatawhereasanAWSsnowballcanstoretensofterabytesofdata). Again,focusonthebigpicture.DopracticeexamsJonBonso’spracticeexamswereexcellent-Icompletedallfourofthem.Eachpracticeexamcamewith75questionsaccompaniedbycomprehensiveexplanationsforeveryquestionandasummaryofyourperformanceacrossvariousAWSknowledgedomainstohelpyouidentifyareastospendmoretimeon.Braincertisanotherhelpfulresource.Theirtestpackageincludedsevenpracticetests,ofwhichIcompletedtwo.Inhindsight,I’dratherhavespentmoretimeonBraincertinstead,asIfoundtheirteststomorecloselymirrortheactualexamquestions.Additionally,AWSoffersanofficialsetofpracticequestionsforUSD50.However,itonlycontainsahandfulofquestions.Ididnotpurchasethem,butitcouldbeworthlookinginto.Whendoingthepracticeexams,Icompletedthepracticeexamsunderrealexamconditions,whichinvolvedanswering75questionsin3hours(sotheexamisalsogoingtoputyourmentalstaminatotest!).Notethatthequestionsarequitelong-winded.Learningtopickouttheimportantdetailsundertimepressureisanimportantskill.ImadesuretorevieweveryquestionIansweredincorrectly.IfItestedpoorlyinaparticularknowledgedomain,Iwentbackandstudiedmynotestofillinanyknowledgegaps. Ilearnedhowtoidentifythecorrectanswer(s)byeliminatingthewronganswers.WronganswerstypicallysuggestirrelevantAWSservicestosolveaparticularcloudcomputingproblem.Keepyourstudysessionsproductive SinceIwasholdingdownafull-timejobalongwithafewsideprojectswhilepreparingfortheexam,IknewIneededtobelaser-focusedifIwantedtocleartheexambyacertaindeadline. IappliedthePomodorotechniquetooptimizemystudytime(andanyworkingeneral). Unlikethetraditional25-minuteblock,myPomodorosessionsare50minuteslong,followedbya5-10minutebreak.I’minthemiddleofaPomodorosessionasI’mwritingthisblogpost:)Doagooglesearchifyou’recuriousabouthowtoincorporatethePomodorotechniqueintoyourworkflow.I’dsayifyou’reabletoconcentratefor~80-90%ofthetimeduringeachPomodorosession,thenyouareprobablystillwaymoreproductivethanmostpeople. Don’tfeelbadifyouoccasionallygiveintodistractionsduringeachPomodorosession,especiallyifthistechniqueisnewtoyou.Feelingbaddoesnotmakeanybodywanttokeeptryingsomething!Sojustacceptthatit’samuscleyouwillhavetokeeptrainingovertime.ThedaybeforetheexamTheexamcanbetakenfromthecomfortofyourownhome(provideditisquietandhasminimaldistractions).Youcanscheduleanonlineproctoredexamatyourconvenience.Forme,Ipickedatimeintheearlyafternoonwhenmybrainwouldtypicallyperformatitspeak.Thedaybeforetheexam,Ialsocheckedthatmycomputersetup,wificonnection,andexamvenuewouldmeettheirrequirements. OnthedayoftheexamThemorningbeforetheexam,IgaveTutorialDojo’scheatsheetsandmynotesonelastquickreview.SinceIwasnotallowedtoleavemyseatduringtheexam,Ialsohadabottleofwaterwithineasyreach.Whenthetimerranout,Ireceivedmyresultsinamatterofminutes.WhathappensafteryoupasstheexamShortlyafteryoupasstheexam,youareawardedareallycooldigitalbadgethatyoucandisplayonyourLinkedInprofile.OtherperksincludeaccesstopurchaseAWSCertifiedbrandeditems,membershiptotheAWSCertifiedGlobalLinkedinCommunity,anda50%discountonyournextexam.Additionally,youmaybeinvitedtoserveasaSubjectMatterExperttohelpAWScreateandreviewquestionsforupcomingexams,whichisaprettycoolopportunity.AlthoughIwasn’tactivelylookingforajob,overthenextfewweeks,Ididstartreceivingemailsfromrecruiterswhowerespecificallylookingfordeveloperswithcloudexpertise,soitseemedlikethecertificationmightbeholdingsomeweightwithemployers.Also,notethatthecertificateexpiresafter3years,andyou’dhavetoretaketheexamtorenewyourcertificationthen.Assuch,it’simportanttocontinuetostayup-to-dateonAWStechnologies,whichareconstantlyevolving,evenafterearningyourcertification. Ihopeyou’veenjoyedreadingthispostandmaybeevenfeelinspiredtogetAWScertifiedyourself(letmeknowifyouare).It’snottoolatetomakethisoneofyour2021goals!  104 7Comments Like Comment Share AdolphusColemanIII Thiswasareallygreatread.Congratulationsandkeepupthegoodwork. Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 2w Reportthiscomment KishoreDevarakonda Iamatday1ofmypreparationforthisexam.Yourcontentisagreatkickstarterforme.Thankyou. Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 2mo Reportthiscomment MohammadFirdaus Veryinspiring.Thanksforsharing! Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 6mo Reportthiscomment CalebHollingsworth Wellwritten!Congratsagainonthecertification🙏 Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 10mo Reportthiscomment Seemorecomments Tovieworaddacomment,signin Tovieworaddacomment,signin Gettingintoprogrammingasahumanitiesgraduate Mar5,2021 Learningtocode?Developthistrait... Feb19,2021 ReviewofUdacity'sAWSCloudArchitectNanodegreeProgram Feb13,2021