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Articles about how to pass AWS certification exams are a dime a dozen. I know because, when I was preparing for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam in 2019, I read many. While I managed to glean a few nuggets of wisdom from some of them, I found most of them to be narrowly focused on study materials, practice tests, and laundry lists of topics that did or did not appear on the author’s exam copy.
While useful, such content is highly perishable since AWS continually changes their certification exams to align with an ever changing and expanding AWS ecosystem. It is also somewhat arbitrary since no two test takers will take the same test. I’m taking a different approach.
Instead of trying to make sense of the sea of disparate, sometimes contradictory, and often outdated advice, my advice is that you approach studying for the exam systematically. In other words, organize how you study so that it is effective, less time consuming, and study with the intention of learning how to architect solutions on AWS, rather than learning just enough to pass the exam. Treat it as an opportunity for professional growth, not just as a way to add another credential to your resume or LinkedIn profile. Doing so will give you the purpose and motivation you need to knuckle down and do the work.
Oh … and if you are wondering, I passed with a score of 820 out of 1000. Take that for what it’s worth.
It took me six months to prepare because I had to squeeze study time between full-time work, family obligations, and a forty-minute commute to and from work. “Your mileage may vary.”
While I have software development experience, my cloud computing experience was practically zero when I began studying. I mention this to stress that it is possible for an IT professional to pass the exam, even without extensive hands-on AWS experience, so long as that person puts in the time and effort to learn the material and applies it by working on labs or small personal projects. If you have systems networking or systems administration experience, you’ll have a leg up.
Before delving into how I prepared for the exam, I’ll cover some information about AWS certification exams.
AWS Certification Exams are Difficult
Those of you who have not yet taken one of the AWS associate or professional-level certification exams likely want to know, just how difficult are they? That is one of the top questions Googled about AWS certification exams; I checked. They are difficult for most people, even for many who have practical experience managing, developing, and architecting solutions on AWS. Unfortunately, AWS is tight-lipped about information that could help potential exam takers determine their chances of passing: Percentage of people who pass or fail, scores required to pass, how often exams are updated, which services will appear on the exams, and even how many people have passed the exams.
So, what makes AWS certification exams so difficult? In my opinion, the two main factors are the amount of material covered in the exams and how AWS exams structures and conducts the exams.
The Amount of Material Covered is Huge
This is true for all associate and professional certification exams AWS offers. It is especially so for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam because of the need to understand:
- The capabilities, features and requirements of all of the most used or “core” services in the AWS inventory:
You can bet services like IAM, EC2, S3, EBS, RDS, DynamoDB, and Elastic Beanstalk will be included but what else does AWS consider to be part of the core? Lots of folks on the Internet (especially training companies) have their lists, but AWS does not say.
I took a pragmatic approach by focusing on learning the details of the services covered in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Study Guide and gaining a cursory understanding of other services as I came across them during my studies. Wikipedia states that AWS had 165 services in 2019. I did not study them all.
- How to employ AWS services with respect to the AWS Well-Architected Framework:
Knowing the services is not enough. The AWS architectural approach permeates how AWS works and the formulation of best practices for architecting solutions on AWS. The AWS Well-Architected Framework includes strategies for matching solution workload requirements (e.g., processing, throughput, storage) with AWS best practices to create stable and efficient systems.
Six whitepapers explain the framework. The first, entitled “The AWS Well-Architected Framework” is an overview that introduces the framework’s five pillars: Operational Excellence, Security, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, and Cost Optimization. Each pillar is described further in its own whitepaper.
I read and re-read these whitepapers and tried to keep the concepts covered in mind when learning about each of the services.
How the Exams are Structured and Conducted
AWS exams are timed multiple-choice exams. It is not possible to cover every service in the exams. While I could not find information to back it up, my hunch is that AWS randomizes exam questions from a pool of questions and that the randomization is different for every test taker. So there really is no way to know what any given exam copy covers and to what level of detail.
- The multiple-choice questions are tricky:
First, they are scenario-based questions. AWS is not testing your ability to regurgitate facts or specifications, although you’ll need to know them to arrive at the right answer. They want to see that you understand the concepts well enough to apply them in specific cases.
Second, they employ many types of multiple-choice questions: Single answer, multiple answer, single negative answer (which one of these does not…), and multiple negative answers. One small detail can render an entire answer wrong. Some of the questions ask that you to pick the best out of multiple true answers. You won’t be able to guess your way through the exam.
Taking practice tests is very helpful in getting you thinking in terms of these kinds of questions. Read the entire question and the entirety of the answers. The exam shows the number of answers expected before each question, so pay attention and make sure you provide the right number of answers. You will not get credit for partially correct or incomplete answers. It is all or nothing.
- AWS structures the tests around the AWS Well Architected Framework:
Along with knowledge and understating of the services, AWS tests your ability recognize the tradeoffs between different solution approaches based on the pillars of the AWS Well Architected Framework.
AWS re-contextualizes the five pillars into “domains” that align with the context of each exam. Here’s how the Five Pillars map to the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification exam domains:
AWS breaks out exam scoring across the five domains, not across services. You must understand the implications of each service with respect to each domain. Take the time to understand the domains for your exam.
- The Exams are timed:
The amount of time available for each question is limited. For the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam, different sources place the number of questions at between 60 to 70 questions. Total testing time is 130 minutes. That’s a little over or under two minutes per question.
You don’t have time to ponder. The time pressure forces you to quickly assess the scenario, consider the options (the multiple-choice answers), and determine the best one. The more solid your understanding of the material, the better you’ll be at identifying the obvious wrong answers and considering the rest. Content knowledge plus good testing skills are key.
How I Studied for the Exam
I was clear on why I wanted the certification: Along with passing the exam, my goal was to gain a good foundational understanding of AWS. That is why I chose to study for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam. There is significant content overlap across AWS exams. AWS dropped exam prerequisite requirements, so you have the freedom to take whichever exam you like. Think about what you want to learn and why before expending effort studying for an AWS certification exam.
I also wanted to get the most from my limited study time. I knew I had to get organized, so I chose a set of study materials as my main resources and created a study outline.
The Resources I used
I am not endorsing any of the following resources, just listing what I found useful. New sources of training and information about AWS are popping up all the time, including free AWS-provided online courses, so do your own research and see what makes sense for you from a learning style and cost perspective.
- The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide: Associate Exam (AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official: Associate Exam) 1st Edition:
A new version of this book is available for the current exam (SAA-C01). The book shares quite a bit of the material with the AWS documentation and training web pages, thus saving me from a lot of “hunting and pecking” for information across the vast AWS training library. The book’s organization of the material served as the basis for my study outline notes.
Aside: Make sure you are studying for the latest exam and be on the lookout for when AWS is due to release a new exam! According to AWS, they regularly rotate questions in and out of their certification exams. AWS publicizes major revisions and smaller changes in exam material covered by each exam. You can verify by visiting the “Prepare for Your AWS Certification Exam” webpage.
- Linux Academy: They are an online training provider offering, among other courses, AWS certification exam preparation courses. I signed up with them to get another take on the material, fill in content gaps, identify changes from the book, and gain access to hands-on labs and practice tests. There are similar offerings out there. I only used Linux Academy.
- AWS Documentation Site
- AWS White Papers & Guides
- AWS-Related YouTube Videos Helpful when the written material is unclear or lacking.
My Study Outline
Instead of writing flash cards, I opted to organize the material into an outline. As I read the study guide, I outlined each chapter’s key points and included additional materials from other resources such as diagrams, tables, passages, etc. The time I spent building the outline saved me tons of time in review.
I included a table of contents, chapter titles in each header, and page numbers to ease access to specific material. I used the heading and table of contents functionality in Microsoft Word to keep the document organized. When I felt I had a finished product, I had the outline printed and bound. The end product is much easier to carry around than a book and better organized than flash cards.
The outline brought together information from various sources into one place. It also allowed me to identify when changes to AWS services contradicted the study guide. Knowing how something worked before and how it works now prepares you to answer correctly regardless of the approach featured on the actual exam. Condensing a 350-page book into a third of that, with my own notes and references, made review much easier. The outline also serves as a great reference resource when working with AWS.
In my opinion, the biggest value of building an outline is the practice of leveraging different learning styles at once. Every person prefers different ways of learning. Some people prefer reading, others prefer to learn through watching videos, etc. By combining techniques suited to your preferred learning styles, you become more engaged with the material and, thus, more likely to retain it. Education theory categorizes learning styles into seven categories:
Building the outline got me studying visually, verbally, and physically. Listening to videos and adding relevant material to the outline got me studying visually, aurally, verbally, and physically. I prefer studying alone, so all my activities were solitary. Strive to leverage all your preferred learning styles. Repetition is the key to learning, so covering the same material in multiple ways can only help you.
Practice Exams
The only practice tests I took were those from Linux Academy. I found a lot of contradictory reviews concerning other practice test sources, so I stuck with what I already had access to. Your research may find more or better alternatives. Nevertheless, if you choose to use an online training provider, take full advantage of their tests. Linux Academy recommended getting a perfect score at least three times before attempting the actual exam.
Linux Academy displays a review of every practice test answer (I suspect the same is true of competing services). The review details which questions the test taker answered correctly or incorrectly and the rationale behind each correct answer. I researched questions I got wrong and updated my study outline accordingly. A few times, the practice tests pointed me towards material I had not seen before.
A downside of online practice exams is that the pool of questions may be limited. After a few attempts, you may see repeat questions. While more practice test questions may help uncover learning gaps, I believe that the biggest benefit of practice tests is familiarization with how AWS phrases questions. After a while, you’ll start to pick up on which details the exam may likely cover and in which ways.
Review, Review, and then Review Some More
There is no substitute for hard work. Studying for an AWS certification exam can be a serious time commitment. I spent hours reviewing my study outline and making updates as I found new information. What I found gratifying was finding myself regularly thinking about how to best address customer needs, from both a technical perspective and with respect to the AWS Well-Architected Framework, by leveraging AWS.
Conclusion
Attaining any AWS certification is an achievement precisely because they are difficult to attain. AWS certification exams are steps along learning paths that lead to greater mastery of the platform. Of course, certifications cannot substitute real-word application. However, having a firm foundation of knowledge and understanding about the platform will greatly improve your ability manage, develop, and architect solutions on AWS. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam is a great step along the way to becoming a well-rounded cloud engineering professional.
