Cracking the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam: My Journey and Tips for Success.

In December 2022, I cracked the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam, and this was a milestone in my journey with the Cloud.

How did I do this, and how can you do it too?

Well, I'm here to tell you 😊

First off, it's important to know what exactly the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam (CLF-C02) is about.

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam (CLF-C02) is the foundational AWS (Amazon Web Services) Certification that validates one's high-level understanding of AWS Cloud, its services and terminologies.

This certification is for individuals who may have no prior IT or cloud experience/expertise, but are looking to switch to a cloud career. It is also for those in other career fields, just simply looking to have fundamental cloud literacy.

During my internship in 2021, I was first exposed to working with AWS, and I remember hearing about the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam, so I decided to go for it.

By 2022, I had gained some good experience working with AWS. However, there were still some crucial steps I had to take on my journey to passing the certification exam, and in this article, I'll be letting you know those steps:

The first of these steps was taking a course that helped me completely grasp, at a high level, the fundamental services and terminologies of AWS.

The course I took was by Stephane Maarek's course which is now titled; "Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 2024"

Link to course: https://www.udemy.com/share/103a093@U0aRNxvww0vGBRi827IjWokIxATXxJi1E46uimfLlrOiAYI2_85TGvOcHYe-FRrXRg==/

This course is amazing, It covers all the essential AWS services needed for anyone starting their cloud journey.

It also is a sure knowledge bank for passing the AWS CLF-C02.

Secondly, I practiced a lot, unlike high school or university where we are just pumped with a lot of theoretical knowledge, and little practical work on that knowledge.

In the real world, knowledge is validated through practical application.

It would do you no good to simply learn the concepts and theories of what AWS is about, but have no real hands-on experience, which is another benefit to Stephane's course. For every concept covered, there were hands on tutorials also.

Hence, the second thing I did to pass was practice, practice, practice!

AWS also has a lot of educative hands-on tutorials, that you can work on, even beyond Stephane's course. However, make sure to stay within the free-tier 😉.

P.S: If you don't know what free-tier means, subscribe to my blog, you'd get to know more of that in subsequent articles 🤓

The final step I took to prepare for the AWS CLF-C02 exam was reviewing practice exams

There are a lot of practice exams online. I went through a number of them, and boy, were they helpful!

Going through practice exams boosted my confidence by allowing me to test the knowledge I had gotten from the course.

For this, I recommend Jon Bonso's Practice Exams, It really does the job.

Link to exam: https://www.udemy.com/share/1093IG3@_2KlVtLpWx2N5q7xrieeooAxgz-WYrsNtxsW5ZIXfglhKBAGvp2H0oM8XenGe_vKmw==/

These three major steps were all I needed to successfully pass the AWS CLF-C02 exam.

And honestly, If I could do it, you can do it too!

Passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam is an achievable goal for anyone willing to put in the effort.

So Go for It!

And remember, the journey to certification is not just about passing an exam; it's about gaining practical skills and knowledge that can move your career forward in the cloud computing industry.

Whether you're just learning about the cloud from scratch or looking to improve your existing expertise, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification is a valuable step in your professional development.

I hope my experience and tips have inspired you to embark on your own certification journey.

If you have any questions or want to share your experiences, feel free to connect with me!

Stay tuned for more insights and resources on how to kill it in your Cloud and DevOps Journey.

Best of luck as you go ahead to crack your AWS Certification Exam!