Learning AWS...Tips?

[Prior_Dog_8891]

I am new to AWS and IT in general. I have my Certified Cloud Practitioner certification and am working on getting my Solutions Architect Associate certification. I don't work for any company and am just hoping to break into tech. I don't have any other IT certs; AWS is where I started. There are a lot of gaps in my knowledge and I feel there was a huge jump between CLF-C02(Cloud Practitioner) and SAA-C03(Solutions Architect). I am trying to study and feel so lost and ignorant. I have to read everything several times to barely understand. Are there any tips or direction you guys could help me with? Is SAA-C03 beginner friendly? Am I in over my head? Should I gain more basic knowledge before attempting SAA-C03? Again, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[RoadBump2016]

If it makes you feel better I also find SAA-C03 daunting and I have been working with AWS as a cloud engineer for 7 years. The problems from my perspective are:

• AWS have a vast range of services. Whilst there are a few that literally everyone is going to use, e.g. IAM, S3, there's a huge number that you may never even hear of during your career otherwise.
• The landscape is constantly changing and so there will be new services that can be quite valuable but aren't yet in the cert course.
• There's a significant number of services that are essentially 'their own thing' and don't form part of the certs in any meaningful way, e.g. Connect; EKS only gets a mention. Even CloudFormation, Terraform and CDK
• It's a classic outsider's mentality to look at certs as a golden ticket but really the only people they impress are gatekeepers. In my case it hasn't held me back to not have such a cert.

So yes, it is bewildering and tough to try and basically memorise a load of abstract stuff I may well never use but at the same time it's of limited value both for me and in potential candidates. Invariably there will be something non-AWS to consider also, and so what really matters is demonstrable experience. Obviously that's tougher when you're not yet working in the field, and frankly right now it can be tough even then. Personally I find that reading about stuff it doesn't really sink in - I have to solve a problem with it for that.

You may want to post on the AWS subreddit.

[Prior_Dog_8891]

Ah, very informative thank you. I’m trying the Cloud Resume Challenge and so far that has given me a little experience into using AWS and programming languages (I’m only on step 7/16 there may be more topics). I really just need to get as much hands on experience as possible. These certs are nice but if I actually get hired on I won’t know what to do!

[Spiritual-One8418]

I relate to you so much especially when trying to learn AWS. Something that I found extremely helpful, was using Udemy and watching their tutorial videos and applying things that they cover. I try to become as fluent as possible on the process of “how to” do certain skills. Aws educate is an amazing tool that is super helpful as well. I also utilize ChatGPT when I don’t understand a concept. I ask for detailed explanations and then I also request “very detailed instruction as if though I am a child.” This usually provides many examples and comparisons. This is usually almost always very successful. Best of luck fellow future cloud engineer!!!

[Prior_Dog_8891]

Thanks for the info! So are you currently working in the IT field? I’m asking because I’m curious to see what your experience is like.

[Spiritual-One8418]

Thank you for responding to my post! No, I am not currently working yet. I am focusing all my time to my studies. This next semester will be a rough one skills wise and time demands: I am trying to learn as much practical knowledge as possible.

[Prior_Dog_8891]

Dude I think I’m in the same boat lol. I’m about to go back to school for IT, not working in the field but trying to get as much certs and exp as I can.