My journey to AWS ‘All 12’. How I did it, and how you can too!

Well, that’s it! After an interesting journey (8 recertification of expiring certs and collecting 4 new ones) I’ve completed the personal challenge I set myself, to achieve all the AWS certifications available, ‘all 12’. I want to share with you what worked for me, and hopefully enthuse you on your training journey and let you know that it’s achievable if you set your mind to it and put the effort in.

My story with AWS starts in early 2017. I’d just completed the 16th year of my career, which started with desktop / laptop support, had progressed to server support and project work, through to architecture and then lead architecture across traditional IT, workplace and data centre migrations and transformations. I saw the need to retrain in cloud, I saw the market was changing and I needed to change to stay relevant. Serendipity certainly played it’s part, as I happened to join a webinar on becoming ‘future fit’, where a colleague presented on AWS certifications and a corporate agreement we’d put in place to leverage the ACloudGuru platform.

Most of us have busy lives, I needed to find a way to fit the training in, whilst juggling the projects I was leading and still having sufficient work/life balance to spend time with my family, and I didn’t want to put it off…

‘What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.’ (President Eisenhower)

I realised effectively using my time was the key. I tended to work at home on Monday and Friday, whilst Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays were for client visits, either driving or using trains, depending on where I was going. My daughter was often at basketball or cheerleading practice on weekday evenings, or the weekend. On the days I worked at home I’d do some training before work, if I was on a train I’d do training on the commute (assuming I’d got a seat!), and when I was being ‘Dad’s taxi’ I’d spend time sat in gym / school car parks doing training. I’d managed to find myself several hours a week and all I’d really lost was reading the news on my phone or listening to the radio for a couple of hours sat in the car.

When I set out I think there were AWS 7 certifications. I gained the associates with in around 4 months, around 20 hours per cert of training, hands on learning, practice exams, then another 4 months to get the pros at around 40 hours per cert, and another 3 months for the Big Data and Networking specialties. By the time I’d finished them AWS had moved the goalposts and there were 9 certs, so 2 months later I sat the security specialty in the morning and finished ‘all 9’ with the cloud practitioner in the afternoon.

I’d rediscovered learning and realised that the pace of change in the industry was such that I needed to continue my learning. I did a number of other courses and in the intervening period AWS released some more certifications, however I didn’t manage to get around to them, save for a failed attempt at the Machine Learning specialty at the end of 2019 (the only time I’ve failed one, 723/1000 when I needed 750/1000!).

Recertification time!

Wow, 3 years went by quickly! Before I knew it it was time to think about recertifying. Fortunately AWS renewals are 3 yearly, and renewing the pro exams takes care of the Cloud Practitioner and Associates, unfortunately there were now 4 certifications I didn’t have, whilst the Big Data Specialty that I did have had been retired. It had also been announced that the Alexa Specialty would be retiring in early 2021.

I was now working exclusively on AWS, I was also helping others to learn AWS through running an AWS Coaching Hub. Also as we were well into the Covid-19 pandemic I was working at home 100%, this meant that every morning before I started my ‘day job’ I spent time training, as there was no lost time commuting.

So 2 exams renewed 6 certs, another 2 exams rounded out the 8 I could renew. 3 more exams (Alexa, Database and Data Analytics) got me to 11, including a very stressful experience of taking the Alexa exam on the last day. I’d saved what I felt was the hardest until last, the only one I’d ever failed, Machine Learning. At my second attempt, and having recently gone back through the entire set so rebuilt my wider body of knowledge I was successfully second time around, my journey to ‘all 12’ was complete.

What have I used?

I’ve used both ACloudGuru and Linux Academy courses. I’ve found these courses to be a useful grounding, but for the professional and specialty certifications them alone felt insufficient. I supplemented them with AWS whitepapers, hands on learning and AWS and Whizlabs practice exams, which I used to test my knowledge areas to target further study, not to learn answers verbatim. Of course the more practical experience you have the better, that certainly shows in my results.

Which exam is easiest / hardest?

I get asked this from time to time. Certainly Cloud Practitioner would be the easiest, unsurprising given it’s pitched as the entry point into your AWS training journey. I’d personally have to say the Machine Learning specialty exam was the hardest, I guess I would say that given it’s the only one I’ve failed! But it certainly feels like a unique exam in the AWS Certification family, as it’s the only exam where it’s as much about pure Machine Learning theory and techniques, as it is about the application of the AWS services in this area.

On reflection though I think the question is somewhat subjective, as it depends on your background, it’s a bit like asking ‘what’s the best dish in this restaurant?’, not everyone’s going to agree but everyone’s opinion is valid. In my work as an lead architect I was used to working across a broad range of technologies, I had also spent a significant amount of time working with networking and security. This meant I found the DevOps pro exam harder than the SA Pro exam, at least first time around in 2017. I also found the networking and security specialities easier than the others. This was reflected in the scores I achieved and the confidence levels I had when hitting ‘end’ on the exams, so maybe tailoring the time spent preparing to topics you’re less familiar with is a good idea.

So what have I learnt?

Well a fair bit about AWS of course! Joking aside I’ve learnt a lot more beside.

I’ve learnt how to effectively use my time, learned to identify where my unproductive time was and how I could better use it to improve my skills. I’ve learnt that if you can be disciplined and structured with your time a lot can be achieved. Set achievable goals, even if they’re waypoints for a longer journey, no-one climbs Everest in one go, there are camps along with way for a reason.

Getting hands on experience really helps. If you’re looking at a question and you’ve learnt some theory, you’re looking for what you think the answer is, if you’ve done it you know what the answer is. If you can’t get on an actual project then search out opportunities to get hands on. Many training providers have hands on labs, AWS run hands on events like Immersion Days (scripted deep dives into certain technologies), or Gamedays (unscripted events where you have problems to solve and really test your skills). My 2020–2021 exam scores were much higher than my 2017 exam scores, and I think that was the benefit of the hands on experience I’d gained in the intervening years.

Finally I’d say that if you’re wondering if you could do something similar the answer is I think you can. We all learn at different paces, but if you stick at it a lot can be achieved as a small amount, but often, is cumulative and in my opinion much more likely to stick than attending a bootcamp, passing an exam and then going back to what you were doing before. Don’t get put off by the jargon, AWS love a cool name for a service, but there’s a good chance you’ll have come across something similar, at least for the base services, it just won’t have been as easy to use. If your work provides access to free training and exams then take advantage, however if it doesn’t you can pickup a fair bit of training that’s heavily discounted and it’s well worth investing in your own future, be that time or access to training platforms if self funded, I think you’ll find a positive ROI. Most people spend more money on coffee these days than the online courses from the popular providers cost….