AWS Certification validates your AWS cloud skills that may help you get your next job or get. To get an AWS Certificate, you must take and pass a test provided by AWS. This article answers common questions about AWS Certification including What is AWS Certification? How to get AWS Certificate? And what types of AWS Certifications are available? Also find which AWS certification is right for you.
AWS cloud is the #1 cloud in the world and AWS certified developers and AWS certified architects are the most in-demand AWS certifications, today. If you’re new to cloud, check out What is Cloud Computing and here is a list of
Top 10 Cloud Service Providers.
Who should get AWS Certification?
AWS Cloud is not just for developers or webmasters. It is for everyone involved in IT, from software developers to database administrators. If you’re a software architect, team lead, developer, system administrator, network engineer, DevOps engineer, enterprise architect, security engineer, or specialty software developer, AWS has a certification for you. The only AWS Certification is missing for is, the testers and QAs.
So, anyone who is interested in building a career in cloud filed, AWS certification is for you.
If you are a software developer, software architect, cloud developer, cloud architect, or DevOps engineer and looking to expand your horizon and add extra skills to your toolbelt, AWS Certification is for you. There is a high demand of AWS certified professionals and as a matter of fact, if you are AWS certified, you may end up fetching more salary compare to a non-certified professional.
AWS certified candidates are more likely to get called for an interview compare to the one who are not certified.
So, if you’re looking to change your job or trying to move up in your organization or trying to make more money or get a consulting gig, AWS Certification is going to help you.
AWS Certification Salary
AWS certified developers and AWS certified architects are one of the highest paying software professionals. If you look at the following numbers, the salary of the AWS Certified DevOps engineer is $124,190.
AWS Solutions Architect position is one of the most in-demand jobs in the industry. The average salary of the AWS Solutions Architect is $148,456.
As you may very well be aware, the salaries of software professionals vary based on a company, location, and number of years of experience. An AWS Software Architect may easily make more than $250k a year in a large city such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
AWS Certification Path
There are several AWS Certification paths depending on your skill set, area of expertise, and number of years of experience. The path to become an AWS certified professional is broken down into the following four categories,
- Professional
- Associate
- Fundamental
- Specialty
AWS Professional certification requires two years of experience designing, operating, and troubleshooting solutions using the AWS Cloud. This path has two certifications, AWS
Certified Solutions Architect Professional and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional. Even though this certification requires just two years of experience, this is for professionals who have been building and deploying software applications for several years.
AWS Associate certification requires one year of experience of solving problems and implementing solutions using the AWS Cloud. This path has three certifications, AWS
Certified Solutions Architect Associate, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate, and AWS Certified Developer Associate.
AWS Specialty certification is designed for specific technical specialty. This path has six certifications, AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty, AWS Certified Security Specialty, AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty, AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty, AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty, and AWS Certified Database Specialty.
AWS Fundamental certification requires six months of fundamental AWS Cloud and industry knowledge. This path has one certification, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner only. This is the basic certification one will start with to understand cloud fundamentals. This is a good for students and cloud beginners.
Which AWS Certification is right for me?
AWS offers certifications for various IT fields, depending on number of years of experience, skills, roles, and expertise. The following table breaks down AWS Certifications based on the IT field and experience.
|
IT Field
|
AWS Certification
|
Prerequisites
|
|
Architect
|
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
|
Two years of experience designing, operating, and troubleshooting solutions using the AWS Cloud.
|
|
Architect
|
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
|
One year implementing solutions using AWS Cloud.
|
|
Development
|
AWS Certified Developer Associate
|
One year implementing solutions using AWS Cloud.
|
|
DevOps
|
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional
|
Two years of experience designing, operating, and troubleshooting solutions using the AWS Cloud.
|
|
Operations
|
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate
|
One year implementing solutions using AWS Cloud.
|
|
Security
|
AWS Certified Security Specialty
|
Technical knowledge of IT security.
|
|
Data
|
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty
AWS Certified Database Specialty
|
Technical knowledge of data analyst and databases.
|
|
Networking
|
AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty
|
Technical knowledge of IT networking and operations.
|
|
Emerging Tech
|
AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty
|
Technical knowledge of machine learning and Alexa skill development.
|
|
Cloud Beginner
|
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
|
Six months of using AWS Cloud.
|
How much AWS Certification cost?
How much does the AWS Certification cost? The cost of AWS Certification is between $100 to $300 depending on the certification. If you don’t pass a certification, you can try it multiple times but you will have to pay the certification cost every time you take the exam. The following table summarizes the cost of various AWS Certifications.
|
AWS Certification
|
Cost ($US)
|
|
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
|
$100
|
|
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate
AWS Certified Developer – Associate
|
$150
|
|
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
|
$300
|
|
AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty
AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty
AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty
AWS Certified Database Specialty
AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty
AWS Certified Security Specialty
|
$300
|
How long AWS Certification last?
AWS Certification is valid for three years. After three years, you can get recertify. To recertify, there is 50% off voucher on regular price.
Which AWS Certification to take first?
Foundational certification is the first one to get started with AWS cloud. For every higher certification, you will need to clear the first certificate. After that, Associate as you can see from the above certificates paths.
Which AWS Certification should I get?
It depends on your area of expertise, years of experience, and interest. If you are a cloud architect, the Professional Solutions Architect certification is good for you. If you are machine learning engineer, you may want to look into machine learning certificate. You can see more about which certificate is good for you from the below paths and available certificates.
If you are a developer, AWS Certified Developer certification is for you. Similarly, if you’re working with Alexa and building Alexa Skills, you may want to look into Alexa Skill Builder certificate.
Where to take AWS Certification Exam?
There are two places you can take your AWS Certification exams – online or testing centers.
Online proctoring is a testing environment that allows you to take an exam from any private space, such as your home or office. You use your own computer for the exam, and converse with a proctor who remotely monitors your exam via both a screen-sharing application and your webcam. Exam appointments are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Testing centers are facilities operated independently from AWS that offer in-person proctoring as well as the technical equipment required for an exam, such as a computer that meets system and security requirements. You will use the testing center computer to take your exam, and on-site staff will assist you with checking in and storing your belongings. Appointment availability varies by testing center.
Learn more and schedule your example
here.
How long does it take to get AWS Certification?
There is no set time for passing AWS Certification. If all depends on person to person, their experience, level of expertise, and hands-on experience. People who are experienced with AWS may get it done much faster than the one who have no work experience or knowledge of AWS cloud. There are some academies and training institutes they can put you in programs of 3 to 4 months to get you experienced and certified.
How much is AWS Certification?
As you can see from the above table, the cost of AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certified Associate, AWS Certified Professional, and AWS Certified Specialty is $100, $150, $300, and $300 respectively.
How hard is AWS Certification?
It all depends on you. If you are working with AWS and have good understanding of an area, it should not be hard at all. If you do not have any hands-on experience and do not have understanding and working knowledge of AWS, you may find it difficult. However, if you are willing to learn, work hard, and put time in, its not that difficult.
How to start for AWS Certification?
There are many paid and free AWS certification trainings available online. You can start learning AWS Certification online for free provided by AWS. See below.
Where can I get AWS Certification training?
AWS provides a self-paced learning training modules that you can learn from your living room or home office for free.
Here is the AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials self-paced training course. This course is for individuals who seek an overall understanding of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud, independent of specific technical roles. You will learn about AWS Cloud concepts, AWS services, security, architecture, pricing, and support to build your AWS Cloud knowledge. This course also helps you prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.
This course is for beginners with duration of 6 hours.
This course includes video presentations, demonstrations, links to resources, and knowledge checks.
In this course, you will learn to,
- Summarize the working definition of AWS
- Differentiate between on-premises, hybrid-cloud, and all-in cloud
- Describe the basic global infrastructure of the AWS Cloud
- Explain the six benefits of the AWS Cloud
- Describe and provide an example of the core AWS services, including compute, network, databases, and storage
- Identify an appropriate solution using AWS Cloud services with various use cases
- Describe the AWS Well-Architected Framework
- Explain the shared responsibility model
- Describe the core security services within the AWS Cloud
- Describe the basics of AWS Cloud migration
- Articulate the financial benefits of the AWS Cloud for an organization’s cost management
- Define the core billing, account management, and pricing models
- Explain how to use pricing tools to make cost-effective choices for AWS services
Intended audience
This course is intended for Sales, Legal, Marketing, Business analysts, Project managers, AWS Academy students, and Other IT-related professionals.
Prerequisites
We recommend that attendees of this course have General IT business knowledge or General IT technical knowledge.
Get started with AWS Certification
To get started, visit here and register. You will need to register with AWS and have an AWS account before you can start learning.
Summary
AWS certification is one of the most in-demand cloud certifications for employers. If you’re looking for a career change or get a better paying job, AWS certification might just be the right certification for you.