Starting from Scratch: Become AWS Cloud Practitioner Certified in 2 Weeks
Many sources say that AWS exams are not a walk in the park if you are unfamiliar with cloud computing. For the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam, AWS recommends that candidates have at least six months of experience with AWS Cloud in any role.
Regardless, I believe this exam is suitable for anyone who is interested in learning and building foundational skills about the AWS Cloud. I had no experience with AWS and minimal understanding of cloud computing prior to taking the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam, but I am here to tell you that you can get certified in two weeks. Let’s get started!
Essential Resources for Passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam
I was studying for two hours from 8:30–10:30 pm after work, and 6 hours during the weekend, for two consecutive weeks. Below are the resources I used when I studied for the exam as well as tips for exam day, which I believe were key to passing above the minimum required (700/1000 or 70%):
Key Resources
- Read this first — it has all the information you need to know about the exam, including the exam content (domains covered and % of each domain you’ll see on the exam), types of questions, how the exam is scored, and what constitutes a passing score.
2. A Cloud Guru: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner 2020 course (PAID)
- I’ll be honest here — I’m not a big fan of reading long technical documents as I can’t visualize what is really going on. If you are a visual or auditory learner, A Cloud Guru’s course will cover what you need to know for the exam. There are quizzes to test your knowledge at the end of each chapter as well as a practice test.
3. AWS Well-Architected Framework and the Five Pillars
4. AWS Shared Responsibility Model and video that illustrates this model.
Practice Quizzes and Tests
6. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Sample Questions (10 questions) (FREE)
7. Whizlabs AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Questions (20 questions) (FREE)
- Explanations for each question are included, and you will be tested in an environment similar to the actual testing environment.
8. Udemy: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: 6 Full Practice Exams 2020 (PAID)
- I cannot emphasize how essential this is to passing. The first time I took the 6 practice tests, my score range was 72–80%. I documented topics I needed to review after each practice test, and went through both correct and incorrect answers, jotting notes for anything that was confusing. I retook each practice test again and my score range was 83–90%. Practice tests 1–3 closely resemble the difficulty of the actual exam, while Practice tests 4–6 are harder. Nevertheless, I would recommend retaking all 6 practice tests until you get at least an 85% on all.
If you go through the A Cloud Guru course and take the 6 AWS Cloud Practitioner Practice Tests from Udemy, scoring at least 85%, you are golden. However, to obtain a full overview of AWS, the following white papers provide more color:
Know the details of the following (not an exhaustive list):
a. Fundamentals of AWS: IAM, S3, EC2, EBS, EFS, Redshift, RDS, DynamoDB, Auto Scaling
b. VPN, VPC, Transit Gateway, Internet Gateway, NAT Gateway
c. CloudFront, CloudFormation, CloudTrail, CloudWatch
d. AWS Security best practices such as IAM policies and KMS
e. What are Region and Availability Zone (AZ) restrictions for different AWS services: Single AZ, Multi-AZ, Single Region, Multi-Region
f. What AWS services are global: IAM, CloudFront, Amazon Route 53, WAF, Amazon Chime, DynamoDB, WorkDocs, WorkMail, WorkSpaces, WorkLink, Service Certificates
g. What AWS services are truly free: Security Groups, Auto Scaling, CloudFormation
h. What AWS services include a free tier for 12 months for new AWS customers: EC2, S3, RDS, CloudFront, DynamoDB*, Glacier*, Lambda*
*Does not automatically expire after 12 months
i. What AWS services are never free (need to pay to use)
- WIREE — WAF, Inspector, Route 53, EBS volumes, ELB
j. What AWS services are serverless
k. What AWS services scale automatically without intervention: S3, Lambda
l. Which data storage options have auto-backup:
- REEDS — RDS, EFS, EBS, DynamoDB, Storage Gateway
Set Up for Success Prior to Exam Day
- Due to COVID-19, the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam is only available online. I took the exam via OnVUE, where you will be monitored by an offsite proctor. Thoroughly read through the system requirements, Pearson VUE policies and procedures, and additional policies and FAQs for taking AWS exams here.
- I highly recommend preparing your exam environment the night before so you will not have to scramble the day of. Clear all papers, books, folders etc., and make sure your environment is equivalent to that of a testing room with only your laptop. To avoid rearranging my room again after the exam, I put a thin bedsheet over my shelf, clipped it with several giant clips, and put my loose papers in there.
- You are allowed to use a Bluetooth mouse, mousepad, and external keyboard during the exam. Prior to beginning the exam, your proctor will tell you to turn your laptop 360° to examine your testing environment.
- You are not allowed to have a glass of water or any drink during the exam, stand up at any moment you are taking the exam, or sound out any words. Your mobile phone must be out of reach, on vibrate, but be turned on. If there are any technical difficulties during the exam, your online proctor will call you.
- For more information, A Cloud Guru provides a good summary of what to expect when you take the exam online via OnVUE.
Exam Day Tips
Can I use an external monitor? Since the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam is conducted in an online environment (I took an online proctored exam in the OnVUE testing environment), you will only be allowed to use one screen that abides by the system requirements. Since it is a closed book exam, you will not be able to use any other web browsers, programs, or external monitors.
Can I jot down any notes? Yes! You can use the digital whiteboard feature provided in the OnVUE testing environment to jot down any notes. Familiarize and practice using this whiteboard before taking the exam as it is identical to what you will be provided in the testing environment.
What if I get the exam jitters? Some Multiple Choice or Multiple Response questions may be harder than others. If you get the exam jitters like I do and tend to get stuck on the first couple of questions, do not fret! Tackle the questions you are confident about and don’t spend too much time on a single question. All questions are worth the same marks and there is no penalty for guessing. Utilize the flagging tool available in the OnVUE testing environment to flag questions you are unsure of and want to revisit. You can always go back and forth between questions — just ensure that you do not accidentally click on the ‘Finish now’ button and prematurely end the exam!
How should I approach Multiple Response questions? Use the process of elimination to cross out answer choices you know are definitely wrong. From completing the Udemy AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: 6 Full Practice Exams 2020 course containing Six practice exams and one Official AWS practice exam, I noticed that there will more likely be two answer choices that are correct.
How do I pace myself throughout the exam? This is where the pace table that you have used while doing practice tests will come in handy — as the timer on the top right of the testing program will count down from 1 hour and 30 minutes, you can easily glance at it to ensure that you’re keeping pace and sparring at least 15 minutes to doublecheck the questions you have flagged before you click on the ‘End Test’ button.
I’ve Passed! Now What?
Immediately after you click on the ‘End Test’ button you will be redirected to another screen displaying your information and whether you have passed or not. A well-deserved congratulations if you have passed! As the scores have to be audited, you will receive an email from Your Acclaim with the Subject: Amazon Web Services Training and Certification issued you a new badge, via the email you signed up to take your exam in the next 24–48 hours (or by Monday evening if you took the exam the previous Friday), with a link to verify your Digital AWS Cloud Practitioner Badge. Clicking on the link will lead you to the following website:
You can show your Digital Badge for exclusive access to Appreciation Receptions and Certification Lounges at AWS re:Invent, the biggest annual event for everything AWS, and other AWS Summit events.
Perks after completing the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam
- 50% discount voucher applicable toward recertification or any other AWS exam.
- Free practice exam voucher applicable toward the next AWS certification you plan to pursue.
- …and more!
A few days after completing the exam you will receive an email from CertMetrics with the Subject: Your exam results have been received. Your score (candidate score out of 1000) is now available to view on AWS!
You’ve Got This!
I hope this brief guide provides some structure for how you can prepare for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam, along with tips to ensure that you will pass on your first attempt with flying colors.
I also have a guide to Becoming Alteryx Designer Core Certified — feel free to check that out as it is an awesome end-to-end self-service analytics platform that can prep, blend, analyze, and manage data, with advanced analytics capabilities, among other available features. You can create and automate workflows with no/limited SQL knowledge.
