Category Archives: Certifications

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Which AWS Certification Should You Take First? The Definitive Answer.

When it comes to looking for jobs or just improving your career in the cloud industry, you only need 2-3 seconds (roughly 😉) on the internet before it’ll be recommended to you to get certified. I’m guessing that happened to you, because you’re now in the market for an AWS certification—did I guess right?

Well, now comes that first question: where do you start? And if that is your question, you’re in the right place, because today we’ll be talking through the AWS certification that’s right for a beginner.

Which AWS Certification is best for a beginner? The best certificate for a beginner is the AWS cloud practitioner, the foundational AWS certificate, followed by an associate certificate, e.g. the solutions architect associate.

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How Long Will It Take To Learn AWS? And How To Speed The Process Up!

So, you’re thinking of learning AWS, but of course, you’ll need to know at least roughly how long it’s going to take you, right? AWS is huge, so finding an answer to how long it might take can be tricky. I remember logging into AWS for the first time (around 10 years ago now!) and being completely overwhelmed, so I understand how you may be feeling right about now.

How long will it take to learn the basics of AWS? You can start to understand AWS core services in a few days, gain practical knowledge with those core services in a few weeks, and in a month or two, you could expect to be undertaking professional work in AWS.

There’s two big questions I often get asked on the topic of how long to learn AWS, firstly that’s: what’s the relevancy of an IT background? And secondly: will I need to learn to code? Let’s discuss these topics first, then I’ll share some more general tips on structuring and speeding up your AWS learning.

There’s quite a lot to cover, so let’s get into it.

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Best Resources For AWS Certifications: An Extensive & Opinionated Guide (So You Pass The First Time!)

When it comes to passing your AWS certification, it’s one of those “1000 open chrome tab” type situations, right? There’s just so many different options available that it can make your head hurt: from books to Udemy courses.

I’ve been writing about cloud for years, and after taking and passing the exams myself—which also included searching the internet for hours!—I’ve compiled a complete yet opinionated list of resources to help you pass your AWS exam.

But, I’m not just going to throw links at you, I’ll take you through the different options, show you why they’re important, and at the end, I’ll make a recommendation on what I’d suggest you do for your next steps.

Sound good? Let’s get started.

Best Resources AWS Exam

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How Much Do AWS Certifications Cost? Including All The Extras

If you’re looking to take an AWS exam, you’re going to want to know how much it’s going to cost, right? If you do, you’re in the right place. After spending a ton of time researching, and taking the exams myself, I’m going to talk you through not only what the exams cost, but what you can expect to pay for all the optional extras you can spend on to pass your AWS certification.

Let’s get straight to the point…

How much do AWS certifications cost? Sitting the AWS certification exam costs: $100USD for Cloud Practitioner, $150 for the Associate-level, and $300 for the Professional-level and Specialty. But, there are also hidden costs to be aware of: most spend an additional $20-$100, but on the extreme side, some spend $2000+.

How Much Do AWS Certifications Cost?

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ACloudGuru: Is It Worth The Money? And Your Main Options For Learning Cloud

So I’m guessing you’ve been thinking of learning cloud, or taking a cloud certification and you’ve stumbled across the company ACloudGuru in your search. Now you’re wondering if ACloudGuru is worth the price tag, and what your other options are for learning about cloud? Did I guess right?

Is ACloud Guru Worth It? If you want to get certified in cloud, ACloudGuru is a good option. For a monthly fee you get access to a lot of video content designed to help you pass cloud certifications, and the site is constantly being updated. Other options include: one-time payment courses on Udemy, learning platforms like Pluralsight, and freely available content.

acloud-guru-is-it-worth-it

Even after writing many blogs and articles about exactly this topic—learning cloud—I still can find the cloud learning space very confusing. There’s a huge amount of options, and sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Today I’ll run you through how my experience has been with ACloudGuru and help answer the question of whether it’s worth it, or not.

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ACloudGuru Review: AWS SysOps Exam Prep.

Have you thought about taking an AWS certification? If you have you might have stumbled across a learning platform called ACloudGuru?

I had thought about taking an exam for quite some time to help with various projects. But I finally got around to it and I’m currently about half way through my preparation for the AWS SysOps administrator exam using a site called ACloudGuru.

Today I wanted to talk you through some of my initial impressions using the ACloudGuru product and my motivations for taking an exam. Lastly I’ll give you some insight into the whole process to help you better understand if taking an AWS exam could be for you and whether ACloudGuru could help.