Amazon Web Server (AWS) Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam

Overview

AWS is a cloud computing platform provided by Amazon. The test focuses on your knowledge of the different types of services provided by AWS. Becoming certified as a Certified Cloud Practitioner allows you more career flexibility, access to better paying job markets, and greater recognition and career progression. My estimate for the minimum time required to prepare for this exam, is give-or-take one month. The test costs $100 per attempt and is moderately difficult, provided you prepare accordingly.

The Path To Success

There are a lot of training resources available for the Cloud Practitioner Exam, however, most options can waste your time. I recommend beginning with the AWS Skill Builder Cloud Practitioner Essentials, self-paced course. This course is 7 hours long, but it covers every ideology and service that will be referenced on the exam. The only disappointing aspect of this course is the cheesy graphics, which are helpful for the most part, but can be annoying at times. I have also found that taking notes helped me retain the information; if you would like the reference my notes, feel free: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qowja1fYv1_Rs5D5eqpJsMxloKJ0_Fhz?usp=drive_link. Apart from the course, you will need practice problems to help you prepare, I’ve found a GitHub that has practice problems that are incredibly similar to the real exam problems [https://github.com/kananinirav/AWS-Certified-Cloud-Practitioner-Notes/blob/master/practice-exam/practice-exam-21.md]. By utilizing these resources — the learning material in the course provided by AWS and reviewing the GitHub practice tests — you will be more than prepared for this exam.

How To Take The Exam

When I passed my exam, that was actually my second attempt at taking the test. My first attempt took place at ECTS. We failed to connect to the school network and ended up needing to cancel the attempt. My second attempt took place at my house, on a home laptop, and it went much smoother. You will need to provide some form of id — passport, driver’s license, ID card, registration card, etc. — and if you are a minor, you will need someone over 18 to also present their ID. It is also required that you operate in a space void of many objects, so I shoved all my miscellaneous materials in my closet, to clear my room. When signing in for the test, you will be prompted to conduct several tests in order to validate your testing device, such as audio, speaker, and webcam quality. After which, you will be referred to a webpage in order to take pictures of your workspace. You will then enter a meeting with an AWS worker, through your webcam, in order to prove you have nobody else in the room, the walls are bare, and that there is nothing on your desk, among other things.

Tips For The Exam

The exam test questions are all multiple choice. The prompt is typically in the form of choosing the most appropriate AWS resource to implement, given a hypothetical scenario. For example, ‘Your company need to [do some form of action], with [some parameter]. Which of the following services should you use? a). Service A, b). Service B, c). Service C, d). Service D’. The other questions provide a description of a service and prompts you to select the appropriate name. Most of the problems on the exam have 4 possible options, however, there are some questions that have 5 possible options and require 2 answers (they however appear less in the exam than they do in the practice GitHub; this form only showed up once on the test). The exam questions frequently provide some obscure service as an option. If you are stuck between a service you’ve not heard of and an answer you think is correct, more often than not the service you are familiar with is correct because they seem to include strange services as a possible answer to test your proficiency in the services you should know.

Conclusion

I hope you consider taking the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam. It will help you stand out from potential employees in a large way, and the effort required to prepare for the exam is moderate.