Can You Get An AWS Solution Architect Associate Certification While Having A Life?

Anita Adiraj

Last updated 03/01/2024

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Sounds surreal? It sure does!

We all have this idea in mind that we have to sacrifice a lot in order to pass an exam. We need to put a hold on our Friday nights and evening pool sessions and dive deep inside the preparation until we are done with the exam. And the same rule applies to AWS Solution Architect certification. 

Or, does it?

A few days back, I came across an amazing article on medium.com by JT Earl that was based on his AWS Solution Architect Associate certification’s preparation experience. And you know the most interesting thing? He did it while having a life! In JT Earl’s words, “When researching the certification I came across a ton of articles talking about how to get it in a few months. I bought into these articles and began my studying thinking that I would finish in three months tops. What I’ve learned is that those articles are hyper misleading. Can you get your CSAA in a month or two? Sure, but don’t expect to do anything outside of work and study.”

So yes, JK is a normal human being, with a 9 to 5 job and a family, and he did not miss out on fun while preparing himself.

Wondering how that is possible? 

Here’s how:

Know the numbers:

The most ideal approach to keep up your way of life and get certified is to see how long you can focus on examining. AWS suggests around 80–120 hours of studying. Consider how many days and how long a day you can examine. When sorting this out, lowball yourself. It's anything but difficult to figure out that you can consider 7 days every week except when you're knee-somewhere down in DynamoDB documentation on bunch put calls memory restricts you will lament being driven on your time gauge.

JT succumbed to this snare and was eager with my gauge on how long he could contemplate a day. His swagger wound up consuming him on examination. He pushed my test date by around fourteen days to take a break and recuperate before his last enormous push of preparation.

On this topic, JT wrote: “I’ve found that the 80–120 hour estimate by Amazon is very accurate. I spent 100 hours studying for the exam and it wasn’t until around 80 hours that I began to feel comfortable with the material. Other friends that have taken the exam have also been around this time range. You might be able to take the exam before 80 hours but these numbers come from Amazon, the makers of the exam. I would plan to follow their advice then pat yourself on the back if you manage to pass the exam under 80 hours. I got it into my mind that I would be ready to take the exam around 60 hours and became discouraged when I hit 60 hours and realized I was nowhere near ready. Avoid this situation by being realistic and expect to spend the recommended time studying.”

Know your experience:

If you have spent a long time with AWS, then the burden gets lightened automatically.

For JT, it was a little touch there, as he came in with little experience. So he had to  study for almost 20 hours just to learn the basics. But even if you have experience, still 80-120 hours of study time is highly required. 

Outside of saving yourself a little report time there is no compelling reason to know AWS before you start contemplating. Any good course should begin with rudiments prior to getting into complex things. 

There are things that a great many people are probably not going to have insight with that will appear in contemplating. Have you ever moved an information distribution center from on-reason to the cloud? The vast majority haven't either yet that doesn't mean you should go do that prior to taking the test. There is no single thing you can do that will give you a particular favorable position prior to reading for the CSAA test. Having experience in AWS will help; however, don't allow that to prevent you from getting confirmed. The significant part is finding a steady speed so you learn it all and don't wear out at the same time.

JT came up with a trick for this as well: “The most helpful pacing tool I found was using a Pomodoro timer on my phone. It allowed me to track my study time and give myself breaks when needed. You don’t have to use the Pomodoro technique but I do recommend keeping track of time spent studying. It always gave me a feeling of accomplishment seeing how long I had spent studying. Seeing the time invested encouraged me to think back to how much I had learned 10, 20, and 30 hours ago.”

Immerse yourself in the cloud

The CSAA test works admirably of having questions dependent on true situations, and the most ideal approach to prepare for that is to have confronted comparable situations to those. On the off chance that you get an opportunity to utilize AWS at work, I am energized to do so. Utilizing AWS at work will save you some time that you would somehow need to spend concentrating after work. 

On the off chance that you cannot get an AWS introduction at work, look at nearby or far-off AWS meetups. JT found a neighborhood get-together in Charlotte that meets once per month. It gave him a great introduction to how AWS is being utilized and introduced him to administrations that he might not have examined. Remember, the general purpose of getting affirmed is to pick up information to help you, not to have an identification you can flaunt. Going to month-to-month meetups was a decent token of that for me.

In JT’s words, “I recommend waiting to try out anything you learn until after you pass the CSAA exam. At the start of my studying, I decided to try out a few things I had learned and built a small website. That small website ended up eating into hours that I could have been studying or spending with family. I came away from it not having gained any more knowledge on AWS. I found myself always wanting to try out some of the services I was learning about, but those services will still be there after the exam.”

Conclusion:

AWS Solution Architect Associate exam looks tough, but with a little dedication and proper planning, it doesn’t seem tough at all. The key point here basically is, you have to be interested in the syllabus, and mostly in love with AWS. If you are that, then like any other lovestories, this too will work out well in the end.

And we are here to have your back if you are lacking proper guidance. In our AWS Solution Architect training, our expert trainers training delivery method will make you fall in love with AWS for sure even if you aren’t there yet.

So join today! Would you?

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