How to become an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner —a complete plan
Recently, I passed my Cloud Practitioner Exam in my first attempt. I am from a non-IT background and have worked as a Business Analyst and as a Manager in professional services firms for over 10 years. I developed interest in cloud and wanted to learn more about it. I had to make a start so started with foundational certification— AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner(CCP). I am so happy I did that.
AWS CCP is a good starting point if you are not traditionally from IT background. If you have good understanding of Cloud and/or have a software development background, you can start with AWS Solutions Architect- Associate certification. I strongly believe everything is learnable - we need a good plan, patience, and a lot of hard work. In this article, I want to help people who are like me without a tech background and are interested in Cloud Technology. I will straight go into to the topic and take you through the plan in a few essential steps:
1. Be Patient — Do not fall for catchy 10 days/two weeks etc. plan : Yes, be patient. Hard in today’s time to do that. However, this is exactly what is needed to crack this certification exam at one go. I was also in a race to complete the certification in 10 days but it backfired and soon I realized I have to be methodical in my preparation and patient with my progress. Unless you are a cloud professional or have a strong IT background, do not attempt for such plans. One of the biggest mistake is to rush through the topics. The ideal time period of preparation if you are working full-time is 1–2 months with 2–3 hours every day and slightly longer on weekends. I strongly suggest you give at least one month to prepare for this exam and do not rush through the topics.
2. How to start, what to study?
First, start with AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Essentials on Coursera. This is a foundational course. It will set the ground for you. Concepts are explained in a simple way and concepts covered are the ones which are actually tested in the exam. It helped me a lot.
Second, though the above will prepare you to a good extent but it may not be enough. I suggest you go through A Cloud Guru AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner course by Ryan Kroonenburg . This is by far the best course I have seen to prepare for CCP exam. I wasted a lot of time on a few other courses which was really not required. If you are serious, do not waste time on other resources. Go for this course, and you will not regret. This course will give you the complete preparation needed for the exam.
Third, if you are interested to learn some more Technical Concepts and wants to do hands on practice. Go for AWS Cloud Technical Essentials on Coursera, this helped me to understand well a lot of Technical concepts. I recommend this course if you have some time to go through. I did not want to keep any stone unturned hence completed this course diligently and it helped me in the exam. But if you are fairly comfortable with the concepts and applications after taking the first two course, you can skip this one.
Fourth, take proper notes of each of the modules in the courses while you study . This is one of the single most important factor for my success in the exam. I could easily go through my notes a few times before the exam day and retain in my mind the details of the AWS services ( as there are quite a few services that are tested).
Fifth, go through the three AWS Whitepapers that are recommended for the AWS CCP Exam. This will give you a complete coverage. The whitepapers might seem a bit overwhelming initially but it’s helpful for the exam if you spend some time going through at least the important services. Note - Start with whitepapers only when you have completed the above courses also you do not need to know all the content of the whitepapers for the exam. Use that as a refresher.
Sixth, take at least six practice exam to make sure that you are absolutely thorough with the concepts. Once you start scoring above 85% in practice exams, you can book a slot for the actual exam. I used A Cloud Guru Practice Test(the best) and Udemy. Udemy practice tests were not perfect but it helped to understand the rigor of the test and some of the concepts got solidified by taking the practice exams again and again.
3. Registration and Exam Day Preparation :
I took a morning 8am slot for the exam. Choose a slot that is convenient to you. Check-in process takes 20–30 minutes. I had to wait quit long for the proctor to start the exam. But after I started, it went well without any glitches. I could complete the exam in 45 minutes. I spent 15 minutes to review some of the questions before I finally submitted all the answers. Do not be in a hurry, ready each question carefully( if required twice) . This is not a speed test, rather it’s a knowledge test. AWS checks understanding of services and its applications in CCP Exam.
In Summary,
Time to prepare — One to two month, depends on how much you can study everyday, be patient with your progress
Best Resources — AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials on Coursera by AWS, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner on A Cloud Guru by Ryan Kroonenburg, AWS Cloud Technical Essentials on Coursera by AWS (Optional), and AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: 6 Full Practice Exams on Udemy
Super important topics —IAM, EC2, S3, EBS, EFS, RDS, Trusted Advisor, and Shared Responsibility Model.
If you follow the above plan diligently, you will have the confidence and all the required skills and knowledge to ace the AWS CCP exam at one go. All the best!
Write to me if you need any further help on preparation or want to know more on any of the areas mentioned above, I will be happy to help! :)
