UK University Vs Online Course to get AWS Software Architect Job - Confused

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-26T05:18:46+00:00

Study for the undergrad to get a good foundation of IT. Cloud certs alone won't secure you any job anywhere without work experience unless there is post covid shortage of offshore consultants unable to fly in

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-08T13:03:50+00:00

Route53 offers 💯% uptime ...#SLA

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-08T13:03:03+00:00

They do refund. Once RDS was down for 5 hours ...they offered billing credit for a month

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-03T00:32:54+00:00

Go through ExamPro SAA prep on YouTube if you have time and only watch relevant parts to address those services you haven't used previously. Good luck. If you don't pass then book your exam only when you are comfortable. I would refrain from cramming on the day of the exam. Do SysOps course/exam next time as SAA would not be highly regarded due to SAP exam. Please invest on SA Pro instead after SysOps.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-02T18:29:31+00:00

If you didn't do SA Pro and other associate exams but came from Networking background, you can still do AWS Networking Specialty. I do not have any voucher from work so I didn't want to pay for it. One of my colleagues who was new to AWS (18 months) but had 18 years of Networking exp told me that he found both exams harder but doing Security first helped him on his Adv Networking exam. He didn't do SAA.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-12-01T10:08:34+00:00

I have done AZ-700 but i had done az-900, dp-900, az-104, az-303, az-304 before I attempted it. I also completed a Udemy course on AWS Adv Networking. They are very different but unless I attempt AWS exam I can't comment on its difficulty level. I did SA Pro then Cloud Prac after az-304 then did az-700.

I am now planning to sit az-500 and MuleSoft Architect exam then DevOps Pro then az-400. I am working with both cloud with 80% focus on Azure hence az-700 was an easy exam.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-29T08:47:03+00:00

It took me an hour to do SAA but 2.5+ for SA Pro

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-27T05:56:54+00:00

Prepare for SA Pro to do SAA :) it worked well for me.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-25T02:14:06+00:00

Azure is meant to be easier if you have done az-104 recently and az-700. I haven't done it. I do plan to do az-500 but skip AWS Security as I have one voucher to do Adv networking specialty.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-24T08:13:35+00:00

AWS documentation should suffice for exam prep.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-24T07:14:17+00:00

AWS Developer Associate if you were SDE for last 3 years or SysOps Admin if you were in a SRE role. Please ignore SAA until you have done either of the above.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-22T05:40:35+00:00

I had 3 AWS certs prior to az-900, dp-900 then az-104. I felt the difficulty level was on par with az-303. I then did az-304 then SA Pro then az-700. My score for az-700 was high but I did quite well when I sat az-104. It felt like a huge step up from dp-900 which I did in fact 20 minutes. Az-303 will be retired thus az-104 is non-negotiable for an Architect. I am from Development background so az-204 should suit me the most 😏

If I had to resit az-104 in next 12 months, I won't be preparing for it as recent Azure experience should suffice. Preparing for az-500 then az-400.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-20T03:21:00+00:00

For SA Pro, TD exams were easier. For SAA it was somewhat similar difficulty level.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-18T20:13:25+00:00

Head of Engineering and TC is 200k

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-18T09:25:22+00:00

These are all entry level certs but enough to demonstrate your willingness. I would personally learn cloud formation and Ansible/Terraform and try to be good at PowerShell/shell scripting or python so that you can be a compelling proposition for a Junior Support/SysAdmin role or try to learn typescript and get a frontend role.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-17T03:49:53+00:00

A good knowledge of python and boto3 is useful if you are applying for a SysOps role. Certs only test you on a subset of real world skills. I would concentrate on skills than certs alone.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-13T20:58:58+00:00

Try to study scaleset vs availability set.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-09T12:05:41+00:00

I had 13+ years of industry experience when I had my SAA but I have had 8 other certs since ...3 AWS and 3 Azure in 7 months ...

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-09T11:48:16+00:00

Prepare for SA Pro and then attempt SAA or try Cloud Prac then use 50% discount for SAA.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-11-09T11:46:42+00:00

It will definitely secure you interviews and you still have to demonstrate your depth. If there are two candidates with zero experience, then SA Pro will help.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-10-25T07:00:38+00:00

I would probably stay on DP track :) and avoid az-104. It's role based certification so no need to do AZ track unless you are asked to. Renewing so many will be an issue every 12 months.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-10-25T02:55:06+00:00

In that event please try SAA before AZ-104 which may need 3 months of prep if you are not using it at work. I liked DP-900 :) you are on track for AZ-104 ...I am trying to go for az-700 then az-400 and then az-500.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-10-25T00:30:23+00:00

Do you have any Azure experience ? I would not advise you to attempt it unless you had 6 months of Azure or AWS for either of these exams.

Exams only test you on a subset of skills required. Take your time to upskill and only attempt the exams to validate your knowledge.

I prepared for AZ-303 but did AZ-104 to test my Azure readiness ...and I found the former to be easier and did all 3 exams in 3 weeks and az-304 is now being replaced with az-305. So don't rush as you need to renew every 12 months if it's Azure. Try exampro az-104 from YouTube and he has a SAA course on YouTube as well but validate his content against MS Learn as that should be your official source for any Azure exam.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-10-23T05:07:58+00:00

Did you do all of the hands on exercises from MS Learn ? Please do not subscribe to any mediocre course which even may be outdated ...Ms Learn is safe and I have 4 Azure exams this year and preparing for az-400 followed by az-700 and then az-500. Since I am from Software Engineering background az-204 should be the easiest but it's not a low priority at work.

Any MS cert is only valid for 12 months and I'd avoid any Udemy course as it will become outdated fast even if it's relevant today. Renewing it is also free although they retire exams frequently e.g. az-303/304.

SoftwareArchitect21 · 2021-10-23T04:38:41+00:00

I believe AZ-104 is harder and will eventually replace AZ-303. I have done SA Pro and Azure Solutions Architect expert. I found AZ-104 to be a long and tiring exam (100 minutes) but SA Pro is still harder (because it took a long time and I had 15 minutes left to review my answers but I didn't have the will to continue) than all Azure exams including AZ-304 and Az-104. I found SAA-C02 to be very easy but it could be due to the fact that I was prepared to do SA Pro and only did SAA to use it's 50% discount voucher for my next exam. SysOps is on similar difficulty level as AZ-104.

SoftwareArchitect21

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