Why Becoming an AWS Certified Solutions Architect is Worth Your Time

1. Why Becoming an AWS Certified Solutions Architect is Worth Your Time AWS Solutions Architect Certification Certification allows you to demonstrate your ability to design and build large, scalable, and cost-effective distributed applications on the AWS platform by preparing you to pass the official AWS Solutions Architect - Associate exam which covers topics such as: Configure and use VPCs, EC2, Elastic Beanstalk, S3, RDS, SQS, SNS and SES. Configure and maintain identity and access management including security groups, IAM policies and roles. What does it mean to be a Solutions Architect? AWS makes it possible for enterprises to tap into computing resources and services on-demand, allowing companies to scale their IT infrastructure quickly while reducing operating costs. AWS offers a broad range of solutions, but experts recognize that when working with AWS, it’s crucial to hire and consult with AWS certified professionals. An AWS certified solutions architect (AWS CSAA) has extensive knowledge of building applications on top of AWS to achieve better business outcomes and overall IT efficiency. This makes them invaluable when you’re looking for guidance in selecting and deploying appropriate cloud solutions. To illustrate how valuable they are, here are just a few things they can do What does the exam consist of? The exam consists of 55 multiple choice questions, each with a time limit of 75 seconds. Each question you answer incorrectly will be marked incorrect on your score report. There are four versions of the exam (English, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese) and although there may be some English language overlap between versions, all questions on a given version must

2. be answered in that language or else it will not count towards your overall score. You'll need to pass all four versions to earn certification. You may take one 90-minute attempt at each version for a $205 fee, but you only have 30 days from registering for that version to complete it before you must pay another $205 fee if you still wish to pursue certification. Is this certification transferable? This is not necessarily a simple question. For certain positions, certification can be worth your time. An AWS certified solutions architect, for example, is more likely to have very specific knowledge than a general IT infrastructure engineer. When applied correctly, certification shows employers that you are putting effort into mastering your subject matter and might even get you a higher salary or benefits. The important thing to remember about IT certifications? They’re not supposed to be cheap shortcuts. Earning them takes hard work and commitment that should be enough motivation in itself! How long is the certification valid for? The certification is valid for two years. After that, you'll need to recertify by completing additional requirements, such as earning a certain number of professional development units (PDUs). You can earn PDUs by attending conferences or classes. If you're employed at a company that requires you to have the credential and you haven't recertified, your employer can give you negative performance reviews or even terminate your employment. This keeps professionals on their toes and ensures they are up-to-date on industry trends. How many questions are there on the exam? There are 175 questions on the exam, so you’ll have at least five minutes per question. That may not sound like a lot of time but if you focus on just one or two questions at a time, you should be able to pass in that timeframe. Expect there to be less than one hour between when you first walk into your exam room and when they start passing out papers for your grade. Each test has four parts: multiple choice, design scenario (involving multiple short answer and multi-select questions), code snippet, and multiple select design scenario so don’t spend too much time on any single part of it. Note that there is no final exam; rather, three different tests are given throughout a year. What can you do after you become an AWS Certifications expert? Once you’ve made your way through AWS training and taken their certification exam, you can apply for a number of jobs that are searching for qualified applicants. While most job postings simply say AWS certified solutions architect, there are other jobs that would love to add more

3. AWS experts to their team. For example, if you work in DevOps, cloud architects frequently use AWS to set up scalable and flexible environments that make it easier for devs to build new products. If being a developer interests you, taking advantage of AWS services can also help speed up your workflow by storing information on Amazon S3 buckets as opposed to using locally stored data on your machine or laptop. What job role would benefit from getting this certification? If you are interested in Cloud computing, or working with Amazon Web Services, then getting certified as a AWS solutions architect Associate would be beneficial. You can either pursue your certification on your own or get help from several training schools such as bluecrest and cloud academy. Having a AWS solutions architect associate on your resume will help you stand out to employers. Also note that these certs only last for 2 years so be sure to get them within those two years if you plan on using them for job searching.