Passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam
In January this year I learned about the #AWSCertified challenge put out by Freecodecamp. Working in AWS has always been intimidating. I’ve only used it to get my small personal projects on to the great big internet (by following the steps prescribed in tutorials precisely). I had never considered certification. After all, Amazon’s official recommendations include at least 6 months of professional experience with the platform!
Then Freecodecamp launched the #AWSCertified challenge and, using content produced by ExamPro.co, released a 4-hour video on the topic of the Certified Cloud Practitioner (CCP) exam. The CCP is the introductory exam targeted at those who need a high-level understanding of the platform (like non-technical managers). I thought to myself, “Four hours and you’re ready? Okay I’ll bite.” So I watched the video and performed the follow-alongs. Ten days later I passed the CCP exam!
I should point out right away that I studied a lot more than four hours. The Freecodecamp video is not perfect preparation by any means. By the time I finished it, I suspected (correctly) that I couldn’t possibly know all that was needed for the exam from the video alone. I tested that theory by purchasing some practice exams through a book on Amazon. The book is “free” through kindle unlimited and is created by the guy behind digitalcloud.training. It contains six practice tests. This proved to be an excellent resource and I would highly recommend it. The best part about the book is that it explains why the correct answers are correct as well as why the incorrect answers are incorrect. This can be hard to find with practice test materials elsewhere.
The first practice test made me overconfident that I was ready. I scheduled my test about a week out. I started working the remaining tests, which immediately hurt my confidence because they seemed to increase in difficulty by asking increasingly obscure questions. Each practice test managed to introduce new material I hadn’t heard of. I failed 3/6 of the practice tests despite ongoing studying! Note: I considered a 72% to be passing, though Amazon doesn’t technically grade on a flat score - I believe that not all of the questions get counted towards the score because they’re always testing content.
I developed flashcards on quizlet for the high-level descriptions of many of the services AWS offers. They are available for anyone to use! Their service works better if you create an account but I don’t think you have to in order to click through the deck. Disclaimer: I can’t claim 100% accuracy in the answers, since I was writing some of these flashcards with incomplete understanding. Please let me know if you see something that's not quite right. :)
I wanted to be extra sure that I was ready for the test, so I also read this book/study guide thanks to my local library. It wasn’t necessary, but did help solidify some things. If you prefer reading instead of video, you could probably replace the Freecodecamp video with this book instead.
Finally, I should add that ExamPro.co, the folks who made the content for the Freecodecamp video, has a helpful platform that offers more than just videos. The videos are broken apart into lessons which is great for taking breaks and picking up where you last left off. They're enhanced with short quizzes and flashcards for you to complete as you go along. They also give motivating 🌟stars🌟 to track your progress. Despite being in my third decade of life, I like getting stars. I did not use the platform for the CCP exam, but I am using it to study for the Solutions Architect Associate exam ($21 at the time). I'm almost halfway through and can recommend it for the extra practice it incorporates as you're going along.
Part of the Freecodecamp #AWSCertified challenge states that you should update twitter every day with any progress you made in your studying. This was a great idea, though I was skeptical. I never use my social accounts for anything more than following developers. This was my first series of posting tweets. Ultimately, I found encouragement this way and also got video recommendations like this one which certainly helped to clarify some things around networking. If you’re going to follow the challenge, don’t be afraid to spam twitter with your progress reports. It’s actually great!
I was nervous the day before the test. Luckily, I had recorded every question that I got wrong in the practice tests. I went back through every question I had missed, and answered nearly every one correctly. This helped me to relax. I got a good night of sleep and did some final review on a few tough details in the morning.
The test ended up being a breeze. The practice tests and study cards had prepared me well because they included quite a bit more detail than the real test. Still, the practice tests are absolutely worth it. I estimate my total study time to have been 25 hours. I was not brand new to AWS but I was very green (i.e. I had interacted with three services, at most).
Onward to the Solutions Architect certification! I have already scheduled the test because I love having the pressure of an exam date on the calendar. That works a lot better for me than searching for internal motivation every day.