Recently, I took and passed my second AWS exam, which was AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03). In this article, I want to share with you the resources I used and some tips for the exam.
Exam Preparation
- During the course, I reviewed the official documentation of each service to gain a deeper understanding of its specific details.
- Took a Video Course by Jon Bonso – Gained a comprehensive overview of AWS services, which gave me a good understanding of their features and functionalities at a high level.
- Did some SAA-C03 Practice Exams by Jon Bonso. It provides an excellent explanation for each question, and the exam format was very similar to the actual one. I recommend that you get 90% on these practice exams to ensure readiness for the test.
Exam Tips
- Don’t be surprised if there are services or scenarios that you haven’t reviewed because, according to AWS SAA-C03 Exam Guide – “The exam includes 15 unscored questions that do not affect your score. AWS collects information about candidate performance on these unscored questions to evaluate these questions for future use as scored questions. These unscored questions are not identified on the exam”
- Majority of the exam content revolves around the core services such as S3, ELB, EC2, SQS, VPC, and others. While studying newer services can be beneficial, it’s only necessary to obtain a high-level understanding of them.
- One way to assess your understanding of an AWS service is to consider questions such as:
What is the purpose of this service?
When is it appropriate to use this service?
How does it interact with other services?
What security features does it offer?
By answering these questions, you can gain a deeper understanding of the service and how it fits into the broader AWS environment. - In certain questions, you may encounter multiple answers that are technically valid. In such cases, carefully review the question again, as it may include language such as “most cost-effective” or “with the least operational overhead,” which can help you determine the most suitable solution. Consider this pattern when making your final selection.
- Leave no stone unturned – don’t be complacent. Study as hard as you can and go through all the Exam Guides, practice exams, free courses, etc.
Conclusion
Earning the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) certification is a difficult but valuable accomplishment. It involves both theoretical understanding and hands-on expertise with AWS services. Using a range of resources, including online courses, practice tests, and official documents, can help you get ready for the exam. The key services and their use cases, as well as the best practices for security and high availability, should all be thoroughly understood. Passing the SAA-C03 exam can open up many prospects for a career in the cloud computing sector by investing the time and effort to study and practice.