Like most of the system admins or Cloud engineers, AWS CAA exam was one of my first planned certifications as I entered into my Cloud journey. I was preparing for it on and off, however couldn't complete it until 2020. I know most of you would also have sailed through this stage that I am going to tell you in sometime.
Back in 2017 when I was just trying to decide about the cloud solution that I should choose to get some proficiency, AWS undoubtedly was the first one on my mind but I wasn't finding a proper course to get started. After checking online and also with few of my friends, I understood that Ryan Kroonenburg's course on acloud.guru was the best(trust me its still is the best) among the available courses. The reason I chose this particular course was because Ryan's clarity on the topics and the way the curriculum was designed(Short duration videos without much fuss) is totally unmatched with any other providers.
So I thought I shall complete the course in one shot but couldn't do it. The reason being I got an opportunity at work to get my hands dirty in one of the projects. So I left the thought of learning the course and learnt it while I started to work. Cut short, in 2020 when it was time for me to get any latest IT certifications, I wanted to get this ticked off as it was long pending. So I bought the updated course of Ryan from Udemy (Links at the bottom of this article) and was able to complete all the videos(13+ hours approximately) in 3-4 days. I then felt confident about my knowledge on AWS and went and booked the slot for March 7th, 2020(Later rescheduled to 9th to complete few more practise tests).
So even though I completed the videos, I still wanted to have some practise tests to test my knowledge and also to check on the time management. My friends suggested that I go with Tutorials Dojo practise exams from Udemy. I think this was the best decision I took as those practise exams were very helpful in me clearing the exam. To be honest, after doing the practise exams my knowledge has doubled. The great part of this practise exams were the solutions for every question(once the practise test is submitted) along with cheatsheets on every topic. This helped me gain more knowledge on AWS and has given me the confidence that I can clear the exam without any doubt. OK, Now this is the most important part,
What are my exam tips(Ryan's style) ? :D
Go through the videos as per your pace and complete them at-least 1 week before the exam date(Read on for the reason)
You will have 6 practise tests in the Tutorials Dojo and I would suggest to write as many tests as possible. Make sure you are spending time to go through the answers or reasoning for every answer after you submit. They are the critical ones and keep the cheatsheets handy for your revision. So a week before the exam with Dojo practise tests should make you ready for the exam.
Exam is timed for 130 minutes(2 hours 10 minutes). In my opinion, exam can be easily completed in 1 to 1.5 hours, But the important part of the exam is reviewing the answers once you complete answering them. You will change many answers while reviewing them for sure as your mind will be at a different clarity level after getting tested on the topics deeply. So don't miss to review.
Expect a lot of tricky questions in this exam. I am not scaring you but if you have prepared well, you should be able to pass the exam easily. Just think through the solutions 2 to 3 times.
You will be allowed to reschedule your exam twice without any charges. Only rule is that you can ask for a reschedule maximum before 1 day of the exam. You cannot reschedule within 24 hours of exam time. Check the AWS certification site for more details on it.
Finally, I passed my exam with a 767 on March 9th, 2020. :-)
I hope this blog has helped you with some insights about the exam. Do let me know if you need any other information.
AWS Course on Udemy:
Tutorials Dojo on Udemy:
