Amazon Web Services (AWS), a prominent name in the world of cloud computing, offers certifications for aspiring candidates to prove their worth. AWS has a wide range of products and services that can address the various cloud infrastructure requirements of enterprises. Most important of all, AWS is presently the market leader among public cloud service providers, thus AWS career is a considerable option for aspirants.
Therefore, an AWS career could be easily one of the most reasonable alternatives for an aspiring cloud professional. However, aspiring candidates generally encounter many issues regarding the choice of a specific job role in the AWS landscape. So, if you are one of the aspiring candidates, then you need to know one thing clearly.
Enroll Now: AWS Certification Training Courses
The path ahead to a career with AWS could become a lot clearer with AWS certifications. So, it is important that candidates who want a career in AWS should learn about the importance of AWS certification. The following discussion would present a description of the AWS certification model and the different ways it can benefit your career. Most important of all, you can identify the ideal certifications for the job roles that you want to pursue.
Latest Updates: AWS will launch a new associate (intermediate) level exam – AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate beta.
Its registration starts on October 31, 2023.
Also Read : How to Become an AWS Data Engineer: A Complete Guide [2023]
What are AWS Certifications?
One of the first things to focus on is the purpose of AWS certifications. Basically, AWS certifications aim at validating the cloud expertise of professionals. So, certified candidates can pursue an AWS career by showcasing their capabilities in in-demand skills.
Enterprises rely on AWS certifications for creating efficient and innovative teams for their cloud ventures based on AWS. Most important of all, AWS certifications follow a role-based model, thereby providing valid recognition for expertise in distinct cloud-based roles. You can find four different categories of AWS certifications as follows.
- Foundational
- Associate
- Professional
- Specialty
Each of these certification categories, except the Foundational certification, contains different certifications suitable for specific job roles. Let us find out the certifications that you can find in each category.
The foundational AWS certification can gain you entry into the AWS Cloud landscape. The only certification in this category is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam.
In the associate certifications category, you can find three AWS certifications. They are,
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
- AWS Certified Developer Associate
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate
- AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate [Coming Soon]
The professional certifications essential for your AWS career includes the following,
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional
The specialty certifications in AWS include the following,
- AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty
- AWS Certified Database Specialty
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty
- AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty
- AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder Specialty
- AWS Certified Security Specialty
So, as you can notice clearly, the different categories of AWS certifications showcase the path that you must take for your AWS career. You can start at the basic level with the foundational AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certifications. Then, you can choose the associate certification according to your skillset and career preferences.
As a result, you can gain access to many promising jobs related to AWS. Then, as you gradually gain professional experience, you can opt for professional AWS certifications. Professional certifications such as DevOps Engineer certification can help you establish a formidable career in DevOps specialization.
The specialty certifications can serve as a formidable boost to your AWS career. You can gain promising skills in particular specializations such as data analytics or security, thereby adding value to your career profile.
Check out the details of all the AWS certifications here and choose the right AWS certification for you to get ahead in your career!
Reasons to Pursue AWS Certifications
Now, let us see the reasons which can clarify your doubts regarding the demand of AWS certifications. Here are the notable benefits that you can get exclusively with AWS certifications only.
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Tangible Proof of Cloud Skills
As discussed above, certifications provide a tangible instrument to validate your skills in different areas of AWS operations. In addition, you can carry ahead your AWS career along with promising levels of professional development. You can achieve professional expertise by training for each certification exam that can also strengthen you skills as an AWS professional.
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Recognition in Professional Circles
Recognition is one of the foremost factors that can separate you from the rest of the crowd. Certifications ensure that you are among the preferable candidates for different AWS jobs. Most important of all, AWS certifications also earn you digital badges, which you can showcase on social medial and email signatures.
As a result, you can gain more exposure and easier access to various exclusive AWS-sponsored events. In addition, the reputation of AWS in the cloud market clearly establishes AWS certifications as one of the industry benchmarks of professional expertise.
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Cost-Efficiency
Qualifying certifications can also provide cost-efficient measures to advance your career with AWS certification. When you qualify an AWS certification, you also earn a 50% discount for recertification or any other exam of your choice. Therefore, aspiring cloud professionals could make the most of these opportunities to achieve professional development with limited financial resources.
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Advantages of Professional Networking
The value of professional networking is also one of the prominent benefits that you can get in an AWS career. You should understand the fact that professional networking is the only proven tool that delivers reliable results in terms of job search. Certifications provide your recognition in the AWS Certified Global Community.
As a result, you can access the AWS Certified Linked Community and connect with your peers. So, you can explore the different career opportunities at your disposal and the requirements to move ahead in your career. Professional networking with certified AWS professionals also helps in improving the insight of candidates on the existing cloud market. In addition, you always have the assurance of professional guidance from experts in the community.
AWS Certifications bring a number of benefits to one’s career. Here are the top AWS certification benefits that will make you go for one of the AWS certifications and take your career forward.
Which Certification is Suitable for Which AWS Job Role?
Now, let us see which certification you should choose, based on your cloud computing career objectives.
- As mentioned earlier, if you want to kickstart your AWS career, then the AWS certified cloud practitioner certification is ideal for you.
- The AWS Certified developer associate certification is ideal for you if you want to pursue a cloud-based development role.
- The AWS Certified SysOps administrator associate certification is ideal for you if you want to work in an operations or system admin role.
- The AWS solutions architect associate certification is ideal for you if you have an interest in creating AWS systems.
- The AWS solutions architect professional certification is ideal for you if you have more than one year of experience in the management and operations of AWS systems.
- The AWS DevOps engineer certification is undoubtedly one of the credible tools for a promising AWS career. You can gain access to higher job positions with the DevOps engineer professional certification.
The specialty certifications are intended to improve the capabilities of professionals in certain skill areas. Here are the skills that you can develop with each AWS specialty certification.
- AWS data analytics specialty- big data analysis
- AWS advanced networking specialty- complex networking tasks
- AWS machine learning specialty- designing, implementation, deployment and maintenance of machine learning solutions
- AWS security specialty- security of AWS workloads
- AWS Alexa skill builder specialty- building, testing and publishing Amazon Alexa skills
- AWS database specialty- advanced database administration and data management tasks
How to Take Your Career Ahead with AWS Certification?
With the information presented above, you can easily find out the reliable options for building your AWS career. Most important of all, you need to know the best practices to follow for achieving the right career path.
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Set a Long-Term Vision for Your Career
First of all, you need to have a long-term vision for your career on AWS. Before preparing for AWS certifications, you need to understand your motivation behind the same. You should have a clear idea regarding the position you want to achieve as a cloud professional in a few years. As a result, you can have fewer troubles in finding the right certification and put your career on a promising track.
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Enhance Your Knowledge of Cloud Technology
The next important pointer for achieving your AWS career objectives is the awareness of cloud technology. You have to start preparing right away for the certification you choose with the help of various learning resources. Professionals and aspiring candidates can explore many online training courses, hands-on labs, and practice tests for their preparations.
You have to dedicate considerable effort to hone your skills before the certification exam. Along the course of your preparation, you can develop promising command over cloud technology required for the certification you choose.
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Achieve Hands-on Experience
Candidates should obtain hands-on experience by participating in open-source projects and hands-on labs. Basic open-source AWS projects can help candidates strengthen their awareness of the practicalities of AWS. Subsequently, they can improve specialization for performance-based tasks in the certification exams as well as real scenarios.
Preparing for an AWS Interview? Go through these top AWS Interview Questions and get ready to ace the interview.
Are You Ready to Start a Career in AWS?
So, you can clearly notice that AWS certifications can play a considerable role in providing a boost to your career. With an AWS career, individuals could earn higher salaries, better recognition, and favorable opportunities for professional development. On the other hand, the effort required for qualifying the certification exams can deliver promising results in professional responsibilities.
The structured certification model on AWS is the most interesting factor as it does not present any ambiguities for aspiring professionals. The focus on the evaluation of technical skills and responses to real-time scenarios in AWS certification strengthens their credibility further.
Therefore, you should rely on trusted and competent learning resources such as training courses and practice tests for your career. Check out our AWS certification training courses and take the first step right now!
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Your post gives detailed insight into the topic. It is really helpful for someone who is thinking of taking his certification. Thank you for sharing this article.