How to get AWS Certified Series: in this series, we’ll be talking to a variety of cloud experts and sharing their knowledge and experiences working and training in the cloud space. In this post, we’ll be talking to an all 5 AWS certification holder who will share his experiences for how to get an AWS certification using the resources and preparation strategies that have worked for him.
Stephen Wilding is the founder of Hydras, a London-based AWS cloud consultancy that specializes in designing, building and operating secure, automated cloud solutions. He works as an AWS Solutions Architect where he designs, builds, and secures cloud-based systems. Stephen is also a co-organizer of the AWS user group in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
After a career in chemistry and science, Stephen decided that it was time for a change. His lifelong interest in computers and an abundance of well-paying tech jobs at the time made IT a natural choice for a career change. He started out as a UNIX sysadmin, spent around about four or five years as a dedicated sysadmin, and then moved into security administration.
After nearly six years doing security administration and security architecture, solution architecture was the next logical step. Stephen got into AWS as a sideline around 2012 and quickly saw the cloud, and AWS, like a breath of fresh air because “you can do things so quickly compared to what you can do in traditional IT environments.” He also saw it as a business opportunity. He started his consultancy, Hydras soon after.
When Stephen began to look into how to get an AWS Certification, he saw it primarily as a personal challenge to test his AWS knowledge. Because Hydras is an AWS partner, they are required to have a certain number of certifications within the company. While there is no requirement to get all 5 certifications, he saw it as a real opportunity to get out of his comfort zone and study areas that he wouldn’t normally touch on a day-to-day basis.
In 2015, Stephen got his last three AWS certifications within just five weeks!
If you want to know how to get an AWS Certification, Stephen has a lot of wisdom to share about the certification process. From choosing your route to certification (where to start?), to how to study in order to successfully pass the exams, those preparing to take one exam (or all five) can learn a lot from his experiences.
In considering AWS certification, a common question is, “I want to know how to get an AWS Certification, but where do I start?” If you’re interested in how to get an AWS Certification, the first step is choosing how you will approach the AWS exams. There are a variety of strategies that you can follow: Start with the one you think is the easiest, or go with the exam that is most relevant to your job or role. Stephen recommends choosing your exam by role or job type because you’ll have a more natural understanding of how it works. “If you’re an architect it’s probably more logical that you go the architect route, whereas if you’re more a DevOps person you may want to go the sysops, straight developer route.”
However, if you’re coming into AWS from outside, or if you’re brand new to IT and you want to start a career in the cloud, he would recommend going for the developer exam first, followed by solutions architect, and sysops as your last of the five certifications.
Once you’ve chosen your AWS certification path, it’s time to start thinking about how to prepare for these rigorous exams. Stephen Wilding recommends the resources that have worked well for him in successfully achieving his AWS certifications.
As someone with all five AWS certifications, Stephen would say that while getting certified may not be essential for every scenario, it is important that you have good, solid knowledge. As it happens, the process of undertaking certification is valuable for really reinforcing your knowledge and being sure that you’re getting things right. “Actually having knowledge of AWS for moving something to the cloud,” he says, “is really, really going to help you.”
“The thing is, it’s a very good do-it-yourself platform but do-it-yourself often means getting a few things wrong, and I guess it’s a bit like DIY at home. You can do stuff, but have you done it well? Some things fall apart because they haven’t been done well; some things get hacked because they had been left wide open. I think having that knowledge of what you’re doing certainly helps. It’s fairly easy to set up things in AWS but getting an architect correctly is another matter, especially when it comes to issues such as security. Then anyone can set up something within the cloud, but having it done correctly is another matter.”
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