Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Cert Passed - AWS Solutions Architect Associate

I was able to get through my first AWS certification yesterday with a successful pass. The test experience was quite a bit different from a Cisco or even Juniper certification. Typically when I sit for a test, the testing software has a bit of lag due to the low spec computers test centers use. This wasn't the case with the exam, it was very intuitive and no scary moments where I thought hitting the next button would cause the entire PC to melt down. Also unlike Cisco exams we have the ability to flag questions and go back to them to review, Juniper provides this same feature as well.

Overall the exam was fair but it is without a doubt a mile wide and an inch deep (maybe two). Also this exam is a recently released new version which focuses more on scenario based questions rather than true/false questions, etc. The biggest difficulty for me was answering questions around topics I was not familiar with due to my study process or technologies I wasn't uncomfortable enough around. Such as API security features within AWS.

If I had once piece of advise, it would be to take a look at the acloudguru course. That covered 80% of the material needed even for this new test version. My plans now are to focus time on family and my career for the remainder of 2018. Next year I'm going to take a hard look at continuing my college education. More specifically a Bachelor's in Cyber Security of some form.

With that said, what are your certification/education goals for this yeat?